Saturday night in Greensboro the most important Southern Conference basketball game in a long time takes place when the UNC-Greensboro host the Wofford Terriers.
TV Schedule: Saturday, February 16th, 7:00 ET, ESPN+
Arena: Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium
Note: National statistics through Feb. 13
Saturday night is a big night in the Southern Conference as the top two teams square off for the final time, in the regular season. The Wofford Terriers (22-4,14-0) are one of five remaining teams that remain undefeated in conference play and they play host to the UNC-Greensboro Spartans (22-4,11-2), whose league losses was a 29-point beatdown at the hands of the Terriers on Jan. 10 where the Spartans scored a season-low 43 points and last time out to Furman.
There are other things at play here as top teams in conferences face each other all the time, but in this season, in particular, both of these teams are on the radar of the NCAA selection committee for an at-large berth to the tournament, that is a position the conference has rarely, if ever found itself in this late in the season with one team, let alone two.
Mike Young’s Terriers are currently 29th in the NCAA’s new NET rating entering this game and their signature win in the non-conference was a 20-point win over a South Carolina team that is currently 4th in the SEC. This is a huge week for Wofford as their next game comes a week later at a Furman team who cracked the top 25 for the first time in school history earlier this season. If Wofford enters their final two regular-season games still undefeated, the thought of two Southern Conference teams getting into the NCAA Tournament becomes more of a possibility.
They average 83.5 points per game and since their 59-54 win over Furman on Jan. 19 they have put up 88 per contest. They are led by seniors Fletcher Magee and Cameron Jackson and Junior guard Nathan Hoover is the team’s third double-digit scorer. Magee throws down 19.9 points per game and has led the team in scoring in seven of the Terriers’ last eight games, averaging 25 over that time. Magee has also attempted 280 three-pointers on the season which is 74% of his field goal attempts on the season.
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Jackson leads the team in rebounding at 7.5 per game, while also shooting 58% from the field and adding 14.8 points per contest. Jackson and sophomore forward Keve Aluma have led Wofford in rebounding in all but three of their games. Aluma pulls down nearly as many rebounds (6.8) per game as points scored (7.0) for the Terriers. Hoover is a 6-4 junior guard from Tennessee who adds 13.2 points worth of production for Wofford. When it comes to conference play, Wofford leads the SoCon in points per game (84), field goal percentage (51%), three-point field goal percentage (43.8), and defensive rebounding (27.2).
Wes Miller’s Spartans are looking to avenge their worst loss of the season that saw them score just 16 first-half points while shooting 33% from the field and were just 4-19 from three-point land and only 5-12 from the free throw line. The loss is also the only blemish on their record at home, the other three losses the Spartans have been to the teams that are 2nd and 3rd in the SEC, Kentucky and LSU. The Spartans are firmly on the tournament bubble and a split with Wofford would help cement that status.
Offensively, they are also led by a senior guard, Francis Alonso who scores 16.9 per game and fellow guard Isaiah Miller adds another 15.3, but what makes the Spartans tough is that they have five other players that net at least six points per game. On the defensive end, they come away with nine steals per game, which is the 10th best number in the sport and the 9.5 they swipe during conference play is best. They are also tops in the conference in turnover margin with 5.85, and their 6.6 season turnover margin is the best in the country. The forward duo of James Dickey and Eric Hamilton are going to be key for UNCG as they net 14.9 points and 12.4 rebounds per game, but in the first matchup, they only managed seven points and 10 rebounds.
Key Matchup
The key matchup will involve Magee, but not Alonso on the UNCG side, it will be Miller. Miller has really stepped up in SoCon play, outscoring Alonso 17.5 to 15.7 and has scored at least 20 points in four of his last five games. In the first matchup, Alonso and Miller combined for 18 points while Magee netted 23. If Miller can continue his good play and knock down shots early it will not only help offset production from Magee but will also psychologically help the Spartans get off to a better start this time around.
This game will be a lot closer than the first meeting but Wofford will continue its undefeated run in conference play and hand the Spartans their second straight league loss. We can only hope we get a third meeting between these two teams that are proving they belong in the NCAA Tournament.