UNCG announces 2008-09 men’s basketball schedule
GREENSBORO, NC -- UNC Greensboro men's basketball coach Mike Dement unveiled Thursday his team's 2008-09 schedule, which includes a return to the Greensboro Coliseum among its 12 home contests.
The Spartans will host Davidson at the Coliseum on Thursday night, February 5. UNCG last played at the Coliseum two years ago when it hosted Virginia Tech. It will be the third time in the last four years that UNCG will play a game in the Coliseum.
"We are happy to be able to face Davidson in such a great venue this coming season," said Dement, who returns 12 players for the 2008-09 season. "Obviously, after the incredible run they had in the tournament last March, Davidson is going to be a big draw in a lot of places. We, too, want our fans to pack the house for what we hope will be a great night of basketball at the Coliseum."
UNCG will open the season on Friday, November 14 at Charlotte. The Spartans will face Webber International in their home opener on November 17. After trips to Central Arkansas and North Carolina State on the following two weekends (November 22 and 30, respectively), UNCG will open conference play at home on December 4 against The Citadel at 7 pm.
The remainder of the month of December is no easy task as it has UNCG hosting College of Charleston on December 6 as part of a doubleheader, traveling to East Carolina (December 13), Kent State (December 18) and Dayton (December 20), and then returning back to Fleming Gym to face Akron on December 31. In fact, the East Carolina game begins a stretch of seven out of nine away from the friendly confines of Fleming.
"The schedule has its share of challenges, there is no question about it," said Dement. "We face teams from the Atlantic 10, the ACC, Conference USA and the Mid-American, which makes up six of our nine non-conference games. It is no secret that we graduated the best player in our program's history and one of the best in the history of the Southern Conference in Kyle Hines. We'll have our work cut out for us.
"However, so much of what we do in the non-conference is to prepare for our conference play and those four days in March for the NCAA automatic bid."
UNCG will begin the new year at historic Jadwin Gym taking on Princeton on January 3, followed by a weekend road swing to Western Carolina and Appalachian State on January 8 and 10. The Spartans come home to face Georgia Southern on January 15 and then head up the interstate to face backyard rival Elon on January 17.
The Spartans, who return starters Mikko Koivisto and Ben Stywall along with last year's key reserves Pete Brown, Landon Clement, Daniel Oliver and Kendall Toney, will play five home games in the month of February, beginning with the Davidson game at the Coliseum. UNCG will also host Wofford, Appalachian State, Western Carolina and Elon in February.
The Southern Conference Tournament will be played at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, TN on March 6-9.
Season tickets for UNCG home games will go on sale Tuesday, September 2 through the UNCG Athletics Ticket Office. Spartan Spirit season ticket packages for men’s basketball are available for $120 for adults and $95 for youth and seniors with accompanying Spartan Club membership. A limited number of MVP Courtside tickets are available for $450 per seat with a minimum of two in the purchase a qualifying Spartan Club membership required. Additional ticket information may be obtained on the Web at www.uncgspartans.com or by calling 336-334-3250.
Single-game tickets will go on sale October 1. Information and pricing of tickets for the Davidson game will be released prior to the October 1 sale date.
AGATE
2008-09 UNCG Men's Basketball Schedule (subject to change for television; *denotes SoCon game): Oct. 25 Blue-Gold Scrimmage, 5 pm; Nov. 14 at Charlotte, 8 pm; Nov. 17 Webber International, 7 pm; No. 22 at Central Arkansas, 7:30 pm; Nov. 30 at North Carolina State, 2 pm; Dec. 4 *The Citadel, 7 pm; Dec. 6. *College of Charleston (DH) 5:30 pm; Dec. 13 at East Carolina, 7 pm; Dec. 18 at Kent State, 7 pm; Dec. 20 at Dayton, 7 pm; Dec.31 Akron, 2 pm; Jan. 3 at Princeton, 2 pm; Jan. 8 at *Western Carolina, 7 pm; Jan. 10 at *Appalachian State, 3:30 pm; Jan. 15 *Georgia Southern 7 pm; Jan. 17 at *Elon, TBA; Jan. 22 *Chattanooga, 7 pm; Jan. 24 *Samford, 2 pm; Jan. 26 at *Furman, 7 pm; Jan. 29 at *College of Charleston, TBA; Jan. 31 at *The Citadel, 7 pm; Feb. 5 *Davidson (at Greensboro Coliseum), 7 pm; Feb. 7 at *Georgia Southern, 7:30 pm; Feb. 9 *Wofford, 7 pm; Feb. 12 at *Samford, 8 pm; Feb. 14 at *Chattanooga 7 pm; Feb. 19 *Appalachian State 7 pm; Feb. 21 *Western Carolina, 3 pm; Feb. 25 at *Davidson 7 pm; Feb. 28 *Elon (DH), 5:30 pm; March 6-9 at Southern Conference Tournament (Chattanooga, TN), TBA.
SAMFORD BASKETBALL UNVEILS 2008-09 SCHEDULE
- Games against Ohio State, Saint Louis, Belmont and Davidson highlight the Bulldogs’ slate -
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford basketball team officially released its 2008-09 schedule Thursday, announced Head Coach Jimmy Tillette. The Bulldogs’ upcoming slate includes road games at Ohio State, Saint Louis and Belmont, as well as home-and-home matchups against 2008 Elite Eight-finalist Davidson.
“We’re playing against a lot of good teams this season,” said Tillette. “We have a good mix of opponents in our non-conference schedule and then we’re starting play against a new conference. To open the season, we’re playing at Belmont and they are an NCAA Tournament team. We’re also playing at home against Lipscomb and Louisiana Tech, and those games will also be tough.”
Samford will begin play in the prestigious Southern Conference this season after officially joining the league in July. The Bulldogs’ first SoCon game will be at Georgia Southern on Dec. 6, while their first home game in the SoCon is scheduled for Jan. 8, against Furman.
Samford will once again play a 20-game league schedule this season, similar to the Ohio Valley Conference, but the Bulldogs will not play a home-and-home series against all 11 SoCon opponents. This season, Samford will only play The Citadel and the College of Charleston once.
The Bulldogs are slated to play at the College of Charleston on Jan. 12, and at home against The Citadel on Jan. 26. Samford will play each of the other nine SoCon opponents twice in a home-and-home series.
“Once again, it’s going to be a very long conference season,” Tillette said. “We’re playing 20 games and it’s going to be even longer for us, because we weren’t able to schedule at least four of them before Christmas. We’ll have to play three games in five days a lot down the stretch and that’s going to be hard for our student-athletes.”
The Bulldogs’ most high-profile games in the conference this season will be at Davidson (Jan. 3) and at the College of Charleston (Jan. 12), as well as home games against both Appalachian State (Jan. 17) and Davidson (Jan. 31). Last season, Davidson won the SoCon title and advanced to the Elite Eight of the 2008 NCAA Tournament behind the play of junior All-American Stephen Curry.
Following a pair of home exhibition games against Covenant College (Nov. 6) and Tennessee Wesleyan (Nov. 10), Samford will open its 2008-09 schedule Nov. 14, against Belmont in Nashville, Tenn. Last season, the teams played in the inaugural game held in the Pete Hanna Center and Belmont rallied for an 82-73 victory.
On Nov. 17, the Bulldogs will begin a three-game homestand against Spring Hill, Campbellsville and Lipscomb before traveling to Columbus, Ohio, for a matchup against Ohio State.
Samford’s meeting with Ohio State on Nov. 29 will be its second matchup in six seasons. During the 2003-04 campaign, the Bulldogs played against the Buckeyes and dropped a hard-fought 80-62 decision.
After opening SoCon play at Georgia Southern on Dec. 6, Samford will remain on the road to play against the Rick Majerus-led Saint Louis Billikens on Dec. 13. The Bulldogs then return home to face Louisiana Tech in a return game from the 2008 ESPNU BracketBusters Challenge. Samford defeated Louisiana Tech in Ruston, La., last season 73-70 (OT).
Samford’s last two non-conference games of the 2008-09 campaign are at Chicago State (Dec. 20) and at McNeese State (Dec. 30).
“This season, we are playing at Chicago State as a hometown game for (junior forward) Jim (Griffin) and then we’re going to McNeese State for (junior guard) Trey (Montgomery),” said Tillette. “The McNeese State game will also be a huge recruiting tool for us because that’s where we do a lot of recruiting. We’ve been trying to get down there more often, but Hurricane Katrina has put things in disarray.”
The Bulldogs will end their regular-season schedule with a three-game SoCon road trip against Chattanooga (Feb. 21), Western Carolina (Feb. 26) and Appalachian State (Feb. 28). Samford will then begin play in the 2009 SoCon Tournament from March 6-9 at The McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tenn.