Norgaard and Younger ring in new year for UNCG

By Josh Noel (@Josh_DDH)

GREENSBORO, N.C. — For the first 39 minutes of Thursday afternoon’s game against Chattanooga, Noah Norgaard had a day he would like to forget.

UNCG’s freshman from Denmark shot 0-for-6 to that point, and was staring down his second scoreless effort of the season. 

Then, in the final minute, Norgaard drained a corner 3-pointer to break a 69-all tie and lift the Spartans (5-9) to a 77-72 victory over Chattanooga (6-8) in the teams’ 2026 SoCon opener. 

“It's one thing to play well, to be close,” head coach Mike Jones assessed. “It's a different thing to finish. We created a lot of deflections and a lot of turnovers, which allowed us to get out in front.”

Norgaard’s shot may have been a surprise in the context of the game, but Jones and his staff weren’t at all surprised that he rose to the occasion. 

“We have a lot of confidence in Noah,” said Jones. “When we recruited him, we knew that he was a tough character. He got out there quick, created a little separation, and just was confident enough to knock that thing down.” 

After a defensive stop and timeout, Jones drew up another play to feature Norgaard. Once again, the freshman delivered by gliding from the right elbow to the left side of the lane and laying the ball home to create a two-possession lead. Norgaard added two free throws to ice the game by scoring seven of the Spartans’ final eight points. 

“We had a choice to put the ball in his hands, which we did,” said Jones. “He saw an opportunity and just took it. He's one of our most aggressive guys in terms of playing with force, playing downhill, and he was a big-time player today.”

Norgaard’s heroics to give UNCG the win wouldn’t have been possible without a career-high 24 points from KJ Younger. Younger, a fellow freshman, scored 15 or more points for the fourth game in a row. Jones had two simple words to describe Younger. 

“He played like a grown man tonight,” the coach said. “He powered through a lot of the contact like a running back. He’s shown us that he has no fear since the first practice in June. Sometimes it gets him in trouble, but I think he has a belief in what he does, and he makes us believe in him.” 

 

Justin Neely scored 13 of his 17 points and grabbed eight of his 11 rebounds in the second half to record his eighth double-double of the season. Jones appreciated how Neely adjusted to the unique Chattanooga game plan, which tried to prevent his involvement.

“It was another experience for (Neely) seeing not two, but three, guys running at him sometimes,” said Jones. “He got to be a playmaker in those situations until we made them pay with other guys. I thought in the second half, we moved the ball more, so he was able to get in space a little bit better and get to the offensive glass. He’s a consistent force.” 

The Spartans threw the first punch Thursday, jumping out to a 15-7 lead before the Mocs found their offensive footing. With Neely’s offensive input limited, Chattanooga reached its largest lead at 32-27. A mini 6-2 closing of the first half, capped off by a Donald Whitehead, Jr. jumper to beat the first-half buzzer, shaved the Spartans’ deficit to 34-33. 

UNCG emerged energized from the locker room and rattled off a 10-0 run to begin the second half, including a thunderous dunk by Younger in transition that brought the Bodford Arena crowd to its feet. Chattanooga responded with six straight field goal makes, including four 3-pointers, to bring the game level at 50. 

The Mocs found openings in the Spartans’ interior defense and converted several well-schemed layups to establish some breathing room. Chattanooga matched its largest lead at 69-64 with 3:03 to play following a Josh Bowman jumper. The Spartans would then close on a 13-3 run over the final three minutes to emerge victorious.  

UNCG imposed its tough-nosed identity in multiple ways Thursday, outshooting Chattanooga 31-9 on free throw attempts and outrebounding the Mocs, 41-25. 

“We thought coming into the season that we could be a physical, gritty team,” said Jones. “A lot of that stems from Justin and KJ. Those guys set the tone. When they're rebounding the ball with force like they were today, it makes the whole team better. KJ, in the last few games, has really started to understand he's got a superpower in rebounding the ball.”

 

Johnson led the Mocs with 15 points, while Brennan Watkins, Jordan Frison, and Collin Mulholland added 12 points each. Chattanooga will continue their road trip to begin SoCon play when it travels to VMI on Saturday at 2 p.m.  

The entirety of the game stayed within 10 points. UNCG’s victory marks its fourth in five games and the fourth win in five seasons for Jones to open SoCon play. The Spartans will quickly turn around to face Samford on Saturday at home, but while Jones knows how good this win feels, his team cannot rest on its laurels.

“It’s human nature to have a letdown after a game like this,” he said. “With a team as good as Samford coming in, we can’t do that. Hopefully, the guys will be able to learn from the good stuff but also learn from the stuff that we didn’t do well, and fix that for Saturday.”