Longwood University Athletics

Game 15: Longwood (5-9, 0-1 Big South) vs. USC Upstate (5-9, 0-1 Big South)
Date	Saturday, January 4, 2020
Time	3 p.m.
Location	Farmville, Va. (Willett Hall)
Game Notes	Longwood (PDF) | USC Upstate (PDF) | Big South
Statistics	Longwood (HTML) | USC Upstate (PDF) | Big South (HTML)
Live Stats	Longwood Live Stats
Radio	WVHL 92.9 FM Kickin' Country
Video/TV	ESPN+
Social Media	@LongwoodLancers | @LongwoodMBB

The Opening Tip
•    Longwood returns to Willett Hall for only the second time in the past seven weeks to host USC Upstate in the Big South home opener. Longwood is 4-1 at home this season but has played eight of its past nine games on the road entering Saturday's matchup against the Spartans.
•    Longwood's lone loss on Jerome Kersey Court this season was a three-point, triple-overtime defeat against The Citadel on Dec. 19. The Lancers are 14-6 at home in two seasons under head coach Griff Aldrich. 
•    The last time Longwood and USC Upstate met, the Lancers won 83-79 in overtime in Willett Hall. 
•    Longwood has won three of its past five Big South home openers, including last year's 67-62 win over UNC Asheville.
•    Longwood freshman Leslie Nkereuwem and USC Upstate guard Dalvin White played high school basketball just 12 miles apart outside of Atlanta, Ga.

Last Time Out
•    Winthrop point guard Chandler Vaudrin amassed a triple-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists to send the Eagles to a 91-67 win over visiting Longwood in the Big South opener Thursday evening at Winthrop Coliseum. 
•    In a showdown between the top two three-point shooting teams in the Big South, Vaudrin conducted a lineup full of hot hands and orchestrated a team-wide 16-of-36 shooting performance from beyond the arc to send Winthrop to its third straight home victory.
•    Winthrop guard Hunter Hale and forward Josh Ferguson scored Winthrop's first 22 points. Hale finished with a team-high 29.
•    Longwood sophomore Christian Wilson scored a career-high 25 points off the bench, sinking three of Longwood's five three-pointers. 
•    JaShaun Smith scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while freshman Heru Bligen scored a career-high eight points off the bench.

By The Numbers
•    In the last meeting against USC Upstate, Longwood's now-senior quartet of Sean Flood, Shabooty Phillips, JaShaun Smith and Jaylon Wilson all scored in double figures to power the Lancers to an 83-79 overtime win. Those four combined for 60 points in that game, including 13 of the team's 14 points in overtime.
•    With Christian Wilson's career-high 25 points Thursday against Winthrop, Longwood has at least one 20-point scorer in three of the past four games. Shabooty Phillips and Jaylon Wilson have two 20-point games apiece in that span.
•    Opponents average a team-low 63.3 points per game when redshirt freshman forward Abraham Deng is on the floor. Deng boasts a plus-minus rating of +2.74 per 40 minutes this season, second-best on the team behind junior Jordan Cintron's +3.24.
•    Longwood is 4-1 in Willett Hall this season with the lone loss coming 102-99 in triple overtime against The Citadel. 
•    The Lancers have outscored their opponents by an average of 16.6 points per game at home.
•    Longwood has surpassed 80 points in three of its five home games and has scored no fewer than 73 points in any of those five games this season.
•    Longwood has allowed only four 20-point scorers in 13 games this season. The Lancers went their first 11 games without allowing a 20-point scorer.
•    Following his 25-point outburst against Winthrop Thursday, sophomore newcomer Christian Wilson is the No. 2 bench scorer in the Big South at 8.6 points per game. He has scored in double digits six times, second most on the team, while coming off the bench in every game. 
•    Longwood's bench averages 30.8 points per game and has scored at least 30 points seven times, including 43 the last time out against Winthrop.

Quotable
"That's encouraging. He's been a lot more aggressive, taking the ball to the basket, scoring around the rim a little bit. That's something we need to be able to do and not just rely on the three."
—  Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich on Christian Wilson's 25 points Thursday against Winthrop

Series History
•    Longwood and USC Upstate meet for the third time as members of the Big South and the first time in 2019-20 Saturday in Willett Hall.
•    USC Upstate holds a 6-1 lead in the all-time series and won the first six meetings before Longwood pulled out an 83-79 overtime victory in last year's series finale in Willett Hall.
•    USC Upstate's coaching staff includes former Longwood assistant coach and Big South Hall-of-Famer Dr. Ron Bradley, who served on Longwood's bench for two seasons from 2016-18.
•    Seniors Sean Flood, Shabooty Phillips, JaShaun Smith and Jaylon Wilson all scored in double figures in the last matchup against USC Upstate. 

#GoWood