By Brandon Boyer , Staff Writer

Published in print Dec 3, 2014.

The UNCG Men’s basketball team was on the road this week, but it was not simply a trip to some no name, Division-II or Division-III school. On Black Friday, the Spartans traveled to face against the hallowed Indiana University Hoosiers and Assembly Hall in a game where UNCG faced off against one of the nation’s biggest collegiate basketball programs.

The Spartans have been off to one of their worst starts to a season in quite a while, going without a win since their exhibition match against Chowan. This streak entailed losses to UNC Wilmington, Longwood, Eastern Michigan, and Youngstown State. This form, combined with the legendary opponent in Indiana, made for what looked to be a foregone conclusion for the Spartans.

It was not to be however.

Thanks to a legendary display from Nicholas Paulos and Clay Byrd in the three-point department, the Spartans were able to scare the Big Ten juggernauts, but were unable to muster a win as the team fell by the score of 79-87.

Paulos and Byrd combined for 12 of the 14 three-pointers made by the Spartans, keeping the visitors in the fray and breaking a record in the process. The 14 three-pointers scored broke a 44-year-old record for the most three-pointers scored by an opponent at Assembly Hall all-time, beating the record of 13 three-pointers scored by Ohio State in 2013.

The first half was all Hoosiers, as freshman guard James Blackmon Jr. led the hosts out to 31-50 lead by halftime, controlling the game with nine points, seven rebounds, and two assists in the first half. Coming into the game averaging 20.8 points, Blackmon would hold off the second half charge by the Spartans by chipping in with 24 points.

It was all about the Spartans in the second half however. The Spartans came out of the half with nerves clearly on show until Byrd nailed a three pointer to set the half on the right course for the Blue and Gold. Following a 15-4 run by UNC-Greensboro, the 19-point lead from halftime was narrowed down to eight points with just under nine minutes to play.

Fouls were the theme of the night for the Spartans, as the amount of fouls ramped up and kept the young Hoosiers team from garnering any sort of rhythm on offense. UNCG accounted for 23 fouls on the night, with RJ White fouling out and five other Spartans with three or more fouls apiece. This meant a lot of time outs and rotations for head coach Wes Miller in the second half, as the threadbare Spartans were down to only seven healthy players for this trip north.

Despite the record amount of three pointers and keeping the lead at single digits down the stretch in the second half, the Spartans simply gave up too many turnovers and missed too many easy shots in a game that could have been much closer.

Point guard and 2013-14 SoCon Freshman of the Year, Tevon Saddler, accounted for seven turnovers on the night and went 7-19 from the floor, missing both attempts from behind the arch. Saddler did manage to contribute on defense, however, grabbing six rebounds and three steals during the Spartans march back in to the game.

The Spartans finished with a season-high 17 team assists, a much-needed boost against such a strong opponent.

“We have guys on our team who can really make catch-and-shoot 3-pointers,” said head coach Wes Miller to UNCGspartans.com. “Clay and Nicholas are two of the best at that in Division I and they showed that tonight. We are really beat up with injuries right now and as soon as some good things started to happen for us in the second half, you saw our team start playing with confidence in a hostile environment.”