It will be a battle between Atlantic Sun opponents when the Jacksonville Dolphins (15-13) welcome the USC Upstate Spartans (9-19) to Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. The game starts at 7:00 pm ET on Thursday, Feb. 18 and will air on ES3.
The Dolphins lost big to Kennesaw State 90-69 the last time they played. J.R. Holder finished with 18 points to lead the team. The Spartans, meanwhile, are coming off an 85-83 win over Stetson in their last outing. Michael Buchanan had a good game and claimed his fourth double-double of the season, accumulating 23 points and 14 rebounds.
Holder has really been playing well as of late for the Dolphins, averaging 19.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.6 blocks, and 1.8 three-pointers over the last five games.
The Dolphins should be expected to protect the ball well in this contest. They rank 21st in the nation at avoiding errors (TO% of 15.6%). Meanwhile, USC Upstate forces the 62nd-fewest turnovers in the nation (16.9%).
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Dolphins won the first game 77-68. In the loss, Buchanan had a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds.
Notes
In its last game, Jacksonville lost by a margin of 21 points. USC Upstate is 2-5 in games decided by a margin of 18 points or more. Jacksonville has a 4-4 record in blowouts.
The Jacksonville Dolphins average 71.4 possessions and 1.068 points per possession in games this season. The USC Upstate Spartans average fewer possessions with 68.6, as well as fewer points per possession with 1.052.
Jacksonville has an average effective field goal percentage of 51.1%. USC Upstate is an underachieving 2-15 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
On average, Jacksonville attempts 22.0 three pointers and USC Upstate attempts 20.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the Jacksonville Dolphins have an 11-9 record while the USC Upstate Spartans have a losing 5-12 record.
Jacksonville ranks 89th in rebounds per game with 38.2 and USC Upstate ranks 73rd with 38.5 rebounds per game.
The Jacksonville Dolphins average 6.1 steals per game. When giving up 6 or more steals, the USC Upstate Spartans have an abysmal record (4-13) this season.
