Game 19: Longwood (12-6, 3-1 Big South) vs. USC Upstate (8-8, 3-2 Big South)
Date & Time	Saturday, Jan. 14 | 7 p.m.
Location	Farmville, Va. (Willett Hall)
Game Notes	Longwood | USC Upstate | Big South
Statistics	Longwood | USC Upstate | Big South
Live Stats	Live Stats
Video/TV	ESPN+
Radio	WVHL 92.9 Kickin' Country FM
Social Media	@LongwoodLancers | @LongwoodMBB

The Opening Tip
•    Longwood heads home to host USC Upstate to open a two-game homestand in Willett Hall.
•    The Lancers are 7-1 in Willett Hall this season and 23-2 overall at home over the past two seasons.
•    Six teams in the Big South are separated by one game, with Longwood and UNC Asheville tied atop the standings at 4-1. USC Upstate, Gardner-Webb, Radford and Charleston Southern all are tied at 3-2 in league play.
•    In a schedule quirk, the Lancers play seven of their nine Big South home games on Saturday while traveling in the midweek for seven of those nine games.
•    Nine different players have led Longwood in scoring this season, tied for the most in the nation with James Madison.
•    Nine different Lancers average at least 6.5 points per game, with Isaiah Wilkins leading the team at 13.1 points per game.
•    Wilkins was named to the Watch List for the 2022-23 Lou Henson Award, which is given annually to the top mid-major player at the Division I level.
 
Last Time Out
•    A second-half run led UNC Asheville past Longwood in a defensive affair, 54-46, snapping a seven-game winning streak for the Lancers.
•    Asheville stayed unbeaten at home behind a 19-point, 14-rebound from Big South Preseason Player of the Year Drew Pember.
•    Isaiah Wilkins led Longwood with 10 points and a career high 15 rebounds.
•    On a night when shots weren't falling, the Lancer defense was strong in the first half. Longwood led by as much as 10 in the opening 20 minutes and 27-22 at the half.
•    However, a 23-5 UNC Asheville run over a 13-minute stretch turned the game after halftime as Asheville stretched the lead to nine points with three minutes to play.
•    Isaiah Wilkins scored five straight in the final two minutes to cut the lead to 49-46, but UNC Asheville answered with a layup to ice the game.
 
By The Numbers
•    Longwood is 7-1 at home this seasn and 49-18 in Willett Hall in five years under Griff Aldrich.
•    The Lancers are 23-2 in their past 25 home games.
•    Nine players average at least 6.5 points per game for Longwood, with three averaging in double figures.
•    The Lancer defense has held an opponent to fewer than 30 points in a half 11 times this year. Most recently, Longwood held UNC Asheville to 22 points in the first half on Thursday, Jan. 12.
•    The Lancers have had nine different players lead or tie for the team lead in scoring in a game, tied for the most in the nation.
•    Longwood's bench has had a big say in that success, with the Lancer bench ranking 15th in the nation at 30.4 points per game.
•    This season, the Lancers are 7-1 when four players score at least 10 points. The team is unbeaten if five or more players achieve the feat (5-0).
•    The Lancers have one of the top three-point attacks in the nation, shooting .372 from three, which is 50th in the nation. The percentage is third in the Big South.
•    The Lancer defense lead the Big South in turnovers forced. Longwood forces 15.2 turnovers per game.
•    In addition, the Lancers boast the best turnover margin in the Big South with a +2.9 advantage. That turnover margin ranks 47th in the nation.
•    The Lancers have attacked the glass and average 11.7 offensive rebounds per game on the season. Longwood has grabbed one third of its own misses, per Kenpom, and ranks 47th in the nation in offensive rebounding percentage.
•    The Lancers have the second-best field goal percentage defense in the Big South, holding opponents to a .425 shooting percentage.
•    Longwood is No. 137 in the NCAA Net ranking and No. 135 in Kenpom, both the top mark in the Big South.
 
Quotable

"The problem is you have to train yourself on the practice floor to be urgent and not just rely on when its game day [that you flip a switch], and that's our philosophy-its what we believe in as a program. And we haven't been doing that. We'd been doing that for about a month, but the past couple of days, we haven't. We talk about pouring into the root, and sometimes the fruit isn't what you want. We got what we deserved tonight because we didn't come prepared"
—Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich after UNC Asheville.
 
Series History
•  Longwood won both meetings between the two sides last year.
•  In the Big South tournament, the Lancers erased a 16-point deficit to win 79-70 and advance to the Big South Championship game.
•  Justin Hill and DeShaun Wade had 18 points and Isaiah Wilkins added 13 points and seven rebounds in the win.
•  In the first meeting last season between the two teams, Longwood had five players score in double figures. DeShaun Wade had 23 points with Isaiah Wilkins and Zac Watson each adding 16. DA Houston chipped in 13 points while Nate Lliteras finished with 10.
 
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