UNC Greensboro Basketball: 3 reasons the Spartans can upset Gonzaga

1. Defense, defense, defense

In their first game of the season, the UNC Greensboro Spartans scored just 48 points. They surrendered 60 points to the Virginia Cavaliers, the eventual No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Little did anybody know then that both of those teams would finish as two of the top six defenses in the country.

Virginia’s defense gets plenty of attention for their sheer dominance of opponents, night in and night out. It’s the engine that could very well propel the Cavaliers to a title this spring.

But the Spartans have a top-notch defense of their own, giving up just 62.4 points per game. In their run through the Southern Conference Tournament, they surrendered 58, 55, and 47 points.

This is not a defense to be trifled with.

Let’s take a closer look at the Southern Title win over East Tennessee State. The turnover battle between the two teams was even, so that wasn’t the way the Spartans asserted their dominance on the defensive end.

Instead, it was forcing the Buccaneers into bad shots late in the clock. East Tennessee State heaved up 16 three-point attempts in the loss, but made just three of them, good for a paltry 18.8% They only attempted three less total shots (and the same amount of free throws), so that perimeter defense made the difference.

Mark Few is going to need to make offensive adjustments throughout the game.