GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T never got into an offensive rhythm in their first test against a Division I opponent in 2014-15, falling to South Carolina Upstate, 63-46, at Corbett Sports Center Monday evening.
“We got outworked tonight,” said A&T third-year head coach Cy Alexander. “That's what I am most disappointed in. We're definitely a work in progress.”
Alexander called his team a work in progress because of the youthfulness of his guards. Freshman Austin Williams, redshirt freshman James Whitaker, sophomore Trey Brown and former walk-on guard and junior Ahmad Abdullah played most of the minutes. They were a combined 1-for-13 from beyond the arc.
As a team, the Aggies (1-1) shot 32 percent from the floor. Bruce Beckford led A&T with 12 points and nine rebounds.
“When our shots didn't fall it caused our effort level to not be what it needed to be,” said Alexander. “We've got to understand shots are not going to fall all the time, but you've still got to play hard.”
Meanwhile, the Spartan guard trio of Ty Green, Mario Blessing and Fred Miller controlled the game's tempo throughout. Green finished with 20 points, three assists and five rebounds on 4-for-7 shooting from 3-point range. Blessing knocked down two of his four 3-pointers and Miller was 3-for-3 from the arc for 11 points, three assists and three rebounds.
Green helped Upstate take control of the game in the second half with back-to-back threes that gave the Spartans (2-0) at 40-26 lead 13:38 to play. A Damian Goodwin steal then led to a Green layup to put the Spartans up 16. The Aggies did get the lead to down to 12, 46-34, on a Beckford layup with nine minutes to play.
But the Spartans responded by running off the next nine points to take their biggest lead of the game at 55-34 with 4 ½ minutes to play.
At the outset of the season, Alexander was hoping to start the season with two home wins before having to play away from Corbett Sports Center for 12 straight games, a stretch that goes from Nov. 19 when the Aggies play at Northern Kentucky until they come back home on Dec. 28 to face N.C. Wesleyan.
“We have no choice but to grow up on the road now because the next time we play at home on Dec. 28 we will be a heckuva lot better,” said Alexander.
