A&T STATISTICAL LEADERS: G Marcus Watson (17 pts, 6-for-14 FGs, 8 rebs); G Tyler Maye (17 pts, 7-for-13 FGs, 4 rebs); F Justin Whatley (7 pts, 8 rebs).
UNCG STATISTICAL LEADERS: G De'Monte Buckingham (28 pts, 9-for-15 FGs, 5-for-10 3FGs); F Mohammed Abdulsalam (8 pts, 3-for-4 FGs, 11 rebs).
WHY A&T DIDN'T GET THE "W": It was a tough night shooting the ball for the Aggies, who went just 2-for-20 (.100) from three, and 19-for-59 (.320) from the field. Those struggles transitioned to the free-throw line, where the Aggies went 13-for-22 (.591) for the game.
WHY UNCG GOT THE "W": Timely shot-making, particularly from graduate guard De'Monte Buckingham, who tied his career-high with 28 points. A&T led 49-48 with just over three minutes remaining before Buckingham drained two-straight 3-pointers to give UNC Greensboro a five-point advantage.
CRUCIAL: The Aggies led by as many as eight in the second half, but poor shooting down the stretch doomed A&T. The Aggies went 1-of-13 from the field to finish the game and allowed UNCG to outscore them 29-22 in the second half. Graduate guard Tyler Maye made a technical free throw with 6:51 left in the game, but the Aggies went scoreless over the next 4:02 before a free throw from graduate guard Kameron Langley ended the drought, but not for long. A&T went scoreless for the next two minutes. A Marcus Watson 3-pointer with 16 seconds left was the only bucket A&T scored for the remainder of the game.
GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T Aggies dropped their season-opening contest to the UNC Greensboro Spartans, 57-53, inside the Greensboro Coliseum on Tuesday night.
The first bucket of the season and the game's first points belonged to Langley, who had a quiet night offensively. The graduate guard shot 1-for-6 with four points.
The game was knotted at 8 when Maye checked into the game for the first time, and he got to work quickly, scoring on the next two possessions.
Trailing 16-12, senior forward Justin Whatley knocked down a quick 3-pointer to cut UNCG's lead to one. In the following defensive possession, Maye anticipated a play, jumped into the passing lane, and raced down the floor for a layup despite being fouled. However, Maye missed the free throw, foreshadowing a growing problem for the Aggies down the stretch.
UNCG (1-0) led 28-26 with just over three minutes left in the first half, but Maye and Watson combined for five points, and the stifling Aggies defense held the Spartans scoreless to take a 31-28 advantage into the locker room.
A&T scored the first seven points of the second half and jumped out to their largest lead of the game, 38-28, with 17:47 left in the contest. The 7-0 spurt culminated in a thunderous alley-oop jam from Watson, with Langley assisting on the play.
The Aggies went cold from that point forward, shooting 5-for-27 (.185) from the field for the remainder of the game. Over that same span, UNCG outscored A&T, 29-15. After shooting 6-for-9 from the free-throw line in the first half, the Aggies shot 7-for-13 from the stripe in the second half, including 2-for-6 in the final seven minutes.
In the game, the Aggies were outrebounded by 17, 51-34, leading to a 12-6 advantage in second-chance points for the Spartans.
One bright spot for A&T despite the loss is that they took care of the basketball, turning it over only five times while forcing 18 UNCG turnovers.
QUOTABLE: "I felt like we had control of the game for about 30 minutes, and then the last 10, we took some tough shots. We stopped sharing the basketball, they dominated us on the glass, and we didn't make our free throws. They were able to get the momentum in their gym and come out with the victory, but I think the things that we need to correct are right in front of us, and they will be corrected."
A&T Head Coach Will Jones after the game Tuesday
