Wofford vs. UNC-Greensboro: 2018-19 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

In a key Southern Conference battle, defending champ UNC-Greensboro hosts Wofford on Thursday. Which team will come away with the all-important victory?

TV Schedule: Thursday, January 10th, 7:00p.m. ET, ESPN3

Arena: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina

The Southern Conference gained some notoriety early in the season as Furman knocked off defending national champion Villanova and Final Four participant Loyola-Chicago in the span of eight days. Those wins vaulted the Paladins into the top 25, but the SoCon is more than just Furman as the conference’s two undefeated teams face-off on Thursday when defending tournament champion UNC-Greensboro Spartans (14-2, 3-0) welcomes the Wofford Terriers (12-4, 4-0).

Both teams can put the ball in the basket but the traveling Terriers average over 83 points per game while shooting the ball at 49%. Offensively their biggest weapon is the three-point shot, where they shoot it at 39.6%, which is the 16th best number in the sport and their 10.6 three-point makes per game is 13th in the country. 429 of Wofford’s 1007 field goal attempts have come from beyond the arc, and most of those, 169, have come from the team’s best player, senior guard and potential conference Player of the Year candidate, Fletcher Magee. The 6-4 Magee has nearly as many three-point attempts on the season as the next three players, Nathan Hoover, Tray Hollowell, and Storm Murphy who have put up 199, the rest of the team has put up just 61.

Magee leads the Terriers in scoring with over 18 points per game and Hoover is third at 13.3, but another big key for Wofford is in the middle. Senior forward Cameron Jackson is a load at 6-8 250lbs. He is also the team’s only other double-digit scorer at over 15 per game, he pulls down 7.8 rebounds, is third on the team with his 2.1 assists, and leads the team with 1.6 steals per game, while shooting over 59% from the field.

On the other side of the ball, Wofford gives up just 64.9 points per game and while none of their other defensive numbers look elite to the naked eye, the Terriers have been consistent on the defensive end. When they have lost, they have given up an average of 80 points per game to North Carolina, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Mississippi State. In their victories, that number drops to 59.6 and they have given up over 70 just three times in 12 wins.

The home team in this matchup scores a mere 79.4 points per game in comparison, but they do it in a much different manner than Wofford. UNC-Greensboro, who is 13-1 since losing to LSU in their second game of the season and the loss coming at Rupp Arena to Kentucky, get scoring from everywhere. They have seven players who average at least seven points per game. They too have three players averaging at least 10 points per game and are led by a senior guard, Francis Alonso. The 6-3 Alonso is, like Magee, averaging over 18 points per game, while his backcourt mate, sophomore Isaiah Miller adds 14.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. In the frontcourt, 6-8 forward Kyrin Galloway nets 10.8 points and grabs 4.3 rebounds. Like Wofford, the Spartans have a key in the middle, with 6-10 junior forward James Dickey who averages 7.6 points and 7.3 rebounds, but Dickey had pulled down double-digit rebounds three times in nine games before he missed six games with a foot injury, he returned in the team’s last game against VMI.

The Spartans are also one of the better defensive teams in the country, giving up just 65 points per game, but UNCG is elite when it comes to turnovers, both holding onto the ball and forcing their opponents into them. As a team, they commit just 11 turnovers per game, which is 27th best in the country and force a 20th best 17.1 per game, which includes 8.7 steals per game which is the 25th most and the Spartans turnover margin of 6.3 is the 4th best number in the country.

Key matchup

The key matchup in this game will come in the trenches, watching who gets the better of the Terriers’ Jackson and the returning Dickey, who is also the conference’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year could decide who wins this one. While both teams shoot the ball well, neither is a top rebounding team, so controlling those missed shots will be key and both these guys should be front and center on the glass.

Prediction: This game will be tight, but I see the scoring depth of UNC-Greensboro offsetting the three-point shooting prowess of Wofford and with the Spartans owning the turnover game, they get the win by five or less.