Upstate cruises past Brevard College in dominant opening-night showing

USC Upstate and Brevard College tip off Monday in Spartanburg. (Photo by Justin Mathis/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Justin Mathis (@J_Math23)

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – It was a big night around the Hub City as the USC Upstate Spartans opened their 2022-23 campaign against Brevard College before a packed house inside Eddie and Ann Payne Arena.

 

There was a lot to like for the home side, as the Spartans cruised past the Tornados for a 90-42 victory.

 

It took only 16 seconds for Jordan Gainey, a Big South preseason first team selection for the Spartans, to break the seal on the scoring with a triple. A couple of possessions later, Khydarius Smith maneuvered his way down the left baseline for a reverse dunk, staking the Spartans to an early three-point lead.

 

“Over the last 48 hours, we’ve talked about being connected as a team through the good and the bad,” said Upstate head coach Dave Dickerson, who is in his fifth season at the helm. “I thought we did an excellent job with that tonight. Jordan is a good player. We’re moving him around a little bit this year.

“Last year, he primarily played the two, but now he can play the one, two and three. We’re trying to get him more opportunities in different spots on the floor.”

Midway through the opening stanza, Upstate used a 13-3 run over a near-seven-minute span to build a 15-point cushion, which was a big credit to its effort on the defensive end of the floor. A pair of underclassmen also left their respective imprints on the contest.

 

With time dwindling down in the first half, freshman Justin Bailey recorded his first collegiate points on a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer, giving Upstate a 47-18 lead at the break, while redshirt freshman Floyd Rideau, Jr. also knocked down three of his first four shots from the field in the frame. In the second half, the Spartans continued their strong showing on the defensive end, holding the Tornados to just 15 made shots on 52 total attempts from the field.

 

“Those two guys (Bailey and Rideau) are key to our team,” Dickerson stated. “They play with a lot of activity on the defensive end and can turn defense into offense pretty quick for us. I loved how hard we played defensively for 40 minutes. We didn’t look at the scoreboard and played hard.”

 

Smith put the exclamation mark on the game for the Spartans with less than nine minutes left in regulation, bringing the capacity crowd to its feet with a thunderous one-handed jam on a fast break, which made it a 73-31 Upstate lead at that juncture of the contest.

 

Three Spartans – Bailey, Rideau, and Seny N’Diaye – each finished with a team-high 12 points, followed by Gainey with 11 and Smith with 10 points, respectively. LB Boyette scored a game-high 16 points for Brevard.

 

Next up for USC Upstate is a pair of road games against ACC foes as the Spartans visit Duke (Friday, November 11) and Clemson (Tuesday, November 15) before returning home to face Coastal Carolina (Friday, November 18).