2024-25 Indiana non-conference opponent preview: UNC-Greensboro

  • Jul 30, 2024 8:53 am in

Indiana’s 2024-25 non-conference schedule was finalized on July 9 and Inside the Hall will have a team-by-team look at each opponent. Today: UNC-Greensboro.

After taking on its first high-major opponent of the season, South Carolina, Indiana will host UNC-Greensboro for its final non-conference tuneup before the Battle 4 Atlantis.

The Spartans, members of the Southern Conference, finished the 2023-24 season 21-11 and No. 147 in the final KenPom ratings and No. 141 in Bart Torvik.

According to Pomeroy, UNC-Greensboro had the nation’s 118th-best offense and 202nd-best defense last season. The Spartans finished eighth nationally in 3-point shooting percentage and scored 40.7 percent of their points on 3s, which ranked fifth in the country.

In Torvik’s 2024-25 season projections, UNC-Greensboro is currently 183rd nationally and is projected to have the 170th-best offense and 200th-ranked defense.

Indiana leads the all-time series with UNC-Greensboro 2-0. The first meeting was in the 2003-04 season under Mike Davis. The Hoosiers won that matchup 71-64 in Bloomington. More recently, Indiana beat UNC-Greensboro 87-79 on Nov. 28, 2014, in Bloomington.

The Spartans are coached by Mike Jones, who is entering his fourth season with the program after 10 seasons at Radford. Jones owns a 232-188 record over 13 seasons as a coach and is 1-1 all-time in the NCAA tournament.

Last season, UNC-Greensboro won its only road game against a high-major team 78-72 against Arkansas on Nov. 17.

The Spartans lost their leading scorer, Mikeal Brown-Jones, to Ole Miss via the transfer portal. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 18.9 points and pulled down a team-best 7.5 rebounds last season. Two other starters, guards Keyshaun Langley and Kobe Langley, graduated.

The headlining returnees are guard Donovan Atwell and forward Jalen Breath. The 6-foot-5 Atwell is coming off an excellent sophomore season where he averaged 11.2 points and shot 42 percent from 3. Atwell made a team-high 89 3-pointers for the Spartans and also shot 94.7 percent from the free-throw line.

Breath averaged 6.6 points and 6.1 rebounds, second on the team behind the departed Brown-Jones.

To try to account for the loss of the Langley twins, UNC-Greensboro landed a pair of guards from the transfer portal in Kenyon Giles and Ronald Polite III. The 5-foot-11 Giles, who previously played at Radford, averaged 14.3 points, 2.8 assists, two rebounds and a steal last season. Polite III averaged 7.5 points last season at George Mason but shot just 30 percent on 3s and is a career 29.7 percent 3-point shooter.

Another George Mason transfer, forward Malik Henry, should also be part of the frontcourt rotation. The 6-foot-8 forward shot 64.3 percent and averaged 2.9 points and two rebounds in limited minutes for the Patriots.

Guard Joryam Saizonou, a native of the Netherlands, returns as another backcourt option who can shoot. Last season, Saizonou shot 35.6 percent from distance and averaged 5.9 points in 19.9 minutes per game. He made three starts.

Other returnees who could figure into the rotation include 6-foot-10 big man Domas Kauzonas and 6-foot-3 guard Akrum Ahemed.

The matchup with UNC-Greensboro falls in an interesting time in the IU non-conference schedule, sandwiched between South Carolina and the Battle 4 Atlantis. The game with South Carolina should provide the best atmosphere in non-conference play in Assembly Hall and the Battle 4 Atlantis will provide the most anticipated non-conference games for the Hoosiers.

The Hoosiers, however, can’t afford to look past the Spartans, who should be a more than capable opponent. UNC-Greensboro won’t be as good a shooting team as it was a season ago, but it will have a 3-point-heavy offense capable of getting hot from distance.

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