Men's Basketball | 1/29/2022 12:10:00 PM

USC Upstate at North Carolina A&T
 When: Saturday, January 29, 2022, 4 p.m.
 Where: Corbett Sports Center (East Greensboro, N.C.)
 ESPN+: Donal Ware, pxp; Cy Alexander, analyst 
 
A&T Team Leaders (minimum 1.5 shots per game for percentages)
 Points: Demetric Horton (12.3)
 Rebounds: Marcus Watson (5.7)
 Assists: Kameron Langley (4.9)
 Blocks: Harry Morrice (1.0)
 Steals: Kameron Langley (1.4)
 Field Goal Percentage: Webster Filmore (.548)
 3-point Field Goal Percentage: Demetric Horton (.396)
 Free Throw Percentage: Tyler Maye (.714) 
 
A&T Big South Leaders (Top-10)  
 Rebounds: Marcus Watson (5.8) – 9th
 Assists: Kameron Langley (4.9) – 1st
 Blocks: Harry Morrice (1.0) – 7th
 Steals: Kameron Langley (1.4) – 8th 
 Free Throw Percentage: Marcus Watson (.708) – 6th 
 3-point Field Goals Made: Demetic Horton (2.1) – 8th 
 Assist/Turnover Ratio: Kameron Langley (2.1) – 2nd
 Offensive Rebounds: Webster Filmore (2.2) – T-3rd; Tyler Maye (2.1) – 7th 
 Defensive Rebounds: Marcus Watson (4.4) –9th 
 
A&T National Leaders (Top-100)
Assists: Kameron Langley (4.9) – 50th 
Total Assists: Kameron Langley (98) – 32nd  
Assists/Turnover Ratio: Kameron Langley (2.1) – 78th 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA A&T AGGIES (9-12, 4-3 BIG SOUTH): The Aggies are looking to get back to their winning ways after dropping their last two ball games. In a matchup of the top two teams in the Big South Conference Northern Division, the Aggies lost a tough road game to the Longwood Lancers, 79-71. The Lancers overcame a 12-point second-half deficit and were aided by a late technical four on the Aggies bench. 
 
A&T will also look to get back on track at home after losing its first home game to a conference opponent in five years when the Campbell Fighting Camels defeated the Aggies on a buzzer-beater, 73-72, last Saturday at Corbett. 
 
The Aggies hope to get some of their scoring punch back from their top scorers. Second-leading scorer Marcus Watson had only two points on three field goal attempts at Longwood. Point guard David Beatty finished with only four points on just four field goal attempts. Guard Demetric Horton had an excellent overall game with 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists as he recorded his second double-double of the season. 
 
Head coach Will Jones is in his third season with the Aggies after taking over on an interim basis on December 24, 2019. Jones is 23-8 (.742) against conference opponents, and he is 34-28 (.548) overall as the Aggies headman. Last season, Jones led the Aggies to their first regular-season title in 31 years, and in 2020 he was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) coach of the year. 
 
USC UPSTATE SPARTANS (8-11, 5-2 BIG SOUTH): The Spartans are coming off a difficult 95-91 overtime loss to the top team in the Big South Southern Division in Winthrop. The loss snapped the Spartans five-game winning streak. However, the Spartans got two outstanding performances from 5-foot-10 guard Dalvin White and 6-4 guard Jordan Gainey.   
White finished with 30 points on 6-for-8 shooting from 3-point range and 6-for-6 shooting from the free throw line. Gainey, whose father played collegiate basketball at N.C. State, had 24 points on 7-for-11 shooting and 8-for-9 shooting at the free throw line. Josh Aldrich, a 6-8 senior forward, contributed 18 points.  
 
The Spartans have found their rhythm offensively since conference play started. In their seven conference games, the Spartans are shooting 48.7 percent. In addition, they have the best scoring offense in the league over that span at 76.5 points per game. During their recent five-game winning streak, the Spartans shot 49.4 percent from the floor and 42.3 percent (44-for-104) from 3-point range. Bryson Mozone, a 6-6 guard out of North Augusta, S.C., leads the Spartans in scoring at 14.2 points per game. 
 
Dave Dickerson is in his fourth season as the headman at USC Upstate. Dickerson has had assistant coaching stops at six Division I schools, including spending seven seasons as the associate head coach at Ohio State under Thad Matta. He spent five years as the head coach of Tulane before going to Ohio State in 2010. He is 100-159 (.386) as a head coach and 32-75 (.299) at Upstate. 
 
THE SERIES: Saturday will be the third meeting between the two teams. Upstate has won all three games. Their only meeting at Corbett on Nov. 17, 2014, was a 63-46 Upstate win. The two teams played twice that season as the Aggies returned the game on Dec. 4, 2014. Their last meeting came on Jan. 5, 2015, at Upstate. 
 
QUOTABLES: "(Upstate) coach (Dave) Dickerson was a guy I spent some time with in a mentorship-type situation. He is a fist-class guy, and he is a guy from South Carolina like me. He's done an unbelievable job throughout his career. He's got his guys playing at a high level.
   
GAME NOTES: 

• In conference games only, guard Demetric Horton ranks sixth in scoring (16.1), sixth in rebounding (6.6) and fourth in field goal percentage (.543). 
• Collin Smith's 22 points and Horton's 20 against Campbell marked the second time two different Aggies have scored 20-plus in the same game this season. Marcus Watson and Horton did the same against Samford on November 26. 
• A&T is 19-4 (.826) at Corbett Sports Center under head coach Will Jones. 
• David Beatty has turned the ball over only nine times in seven games since becoming the Aggies starting point guard on January 5 against Presbyterian. He hasn't turned the ball over in three of his last four games, including the previous two. 
• Graduate guard Kameron Langley's 855 career assists rank 19th all-time in NCAA history. He needs 45 more to become one of only 15 NCAA Division I players with 900 career dimes. 
• The Aggies have the second-best attendance in the Big South, averaging nearly 2,000 fans per game. High Point leads the conference, averaging 2,730 fans per night.
• All six of A&T's Division I wins have been decided by less than 10 points this season. This season's largest margin of victories was eight-point wins over Presbyterian and Hampton, respectively.