CHICAGO, Ill. — The UNC Greensboro men’s basketball team from Greensboro, N.C., heads to the Midwest on Monday with a 1-1 record, looking to bounce back from a Friday setback against Elon when it meets a UIC team that has started the season 2-0.
The game is set for Credit Union 1 Arena. It is only the second time the two programs have met. The Spartans took the first one by a single point, 58-57, on Nov. 26, 2023, on the way to a tournament title in Nassau, Bahamas.
Greensboro lost 74-65 to Elon at Schar Center on Friday. The Phoenix controlled the glass by a 45-22 margin, including 14 offensive rebounds. The Spartans did shoot better from deep and at the line in that loss.
The UNCG roster is mostly new this year, with 12 newcomers, eight of them transfers, and just two returning players. Last season the Spartans went 15-19 and 9-9 in the Southern Conference, where they led the league in 3-point shooting at 36.1 percent.
Early scoring has been spread around. Greer leads the Spartans at 16.5 points per game, and Grant and Neal are each scoring 15.0 a night, with Mani adding 13.0. Grant also tops the team on the boards at 7.0 per game, and Neal is handing out 6.0 assists, second best in the league.
Defense has been the calling card so far. Opponents are hitting just 21.2 percent from beyond the arc against UNCG, the best mark in the Southern Conference, and the Spartans rank second in the league in scoring defense at 58.5 points allowed.
UIC, coached by third-year head coach Rob Ehsan, went 19-16 a year ago and won nine of its 14 home games. The Flames scored about 75 points a night last winter, and Ehsan has taken the program to an NIT berth for the first time since 2003.
UNCG then comes home to Bodford Arena to face Division II Lees-McRae at 7 p.m. Wednesday, the season opener for the Bobcats. The only previous meeting between those two schools was an 86-47 UNCG win on Jan. 9, 2013.
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