Upstate cruises past Piedmont for Richter’s first win

Mister Dean led USC Upstate with 25 points on a perfect night from the floor as Spartans defeated Piedmont for Marty Richter’s first win. (Photo by Seth Garber/USC Upstate Athletics)

By Justin Mathis (@J_Math23)

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – After a tough opening contest against NC State Monday, USC Upstate took its home court at Eddie and Ann Payne Arena against the Piedmont University Lions.

 

The Spartans took care of business and gave head coach Marty Richter his first win at the helm, as they cruised past the Lions, 103-70.

 

A Caleb Lesch triple put the Lions ahead by a 13-8 margin just over four minutes into the contest, but then a Carmelo Adkins three set things into motion as Upstate uncorked a 30-6 run over the next eight-plus minutes of the contest. During the flurry, Mister Dean threw down a pair of thunderous dunks, Karmani Gregory notched a layup, Chico Johnson and Isaiah Skinner each swished a triple, and Brit Harris added two free throws.

 

“We were getting (into) my pace like I wanted,” said Richter. “The only thing I don’t think we did a great job of is getting enough paint touches. We got some in-and-out stuff and thought that was really good. We’ve got to clean up a couple of things on the defensive side. We did a poor job again with our transition defense. We looked like Jordan Love throwing the ball to the other team and then they’d score. You have defense once you miss and get back, but you don’t have defense when you just throw it to the other team and it’s a scramble situation.”

 

Andrew McConnell scored his first points in a Spartan uniform with 3:57 left in the half on a 3-pointer that made for a 44-21 Upstate lead.

 

Nic Book scored six of the Spartans’ first eight points to begin the second stanza, which pushed the advantage to 58-34 at the 17:44 mark. Kanye Jones went on a personal 5-0 run in less than a two-minute span, which added up to an 85-58 Upstate lead with 7:11 remaining at that juncture of the contest.

 

Dean led all scorers with 25 points on a perfect 12-for-12 shooting night from the floor. Five other Spartans also finished in double figures, as Johnson and Book scored 16 and 14 points, respectively, Adkins and McConnell each tallied 12, while Jones added 10 points. Book was 7-for-7 from the deck, while McConnell was 4-for-4.

 

“It was beautiful,” Richter added. “Between those two guys (Dean and Book), they were 19-for-19 from two-point range. The beauty is that they grabbed 17 of our 44 rebounds. They really went and pursued the ball. Nic is unbelievable and has a nose for that ball. He’s like nobody I’ve coached in a long time. Mister’s ability to get through small cracks when he drives it is really good. He’s very slippery. I want our pace, communication, and toughness to travel (on this road trip).”

 

Next up for USC Upstate (1-1) is a two-game road trip as the Spartans travel to Virginia Tech on Friday, followed by a midweek trek to Wake Forest on Wednesday. Both games are slated to tip off at 7 p.m.