Spartans Last Stand Falls Short
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Southern Conference
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This was a tough pill to swallow. The UNCG Spartans men’s basketball team fell to the upset-minded VMI Keydets by a final score of 64-57. VMI essentially played only 5 players., This was one of the more absurd Iron Man performances I have ever seen in college basketball. 4 of the 5 starters for VMI had 36 minutes or more, while the 5th had 31. Hats off to the Keydets for an incredible showing. Coach Mike Jones didn’t mince words.” We picked the worst day to have our worst performance of the year.
FINAL
UNCG – 57
VMI – 64Ronald Polite III leads the Spartans with 18 points and Demetrius Davis adds 15 points. #letsgoG pic.twitter.com/eX2Tuhd32V
— UNCG Basketball (@UNCGBasketball) March 8, 2025
I thought it was top to bottom our worst, and that’s all on me. I thought I had done a good job of getting the team ready, but apparently, I did not, because we didn’t come out of the gates ready to play in the right way. I’ve got to look at what I do to make sure the team plays better than we played today. We’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves.” In what seemed like a scary moment, forward Malik Henry went down with an injury and was taken back to the locker room. I asked Coach Jones for an update. “At one point the trainers said he was okay to come back in, but that was after he had been out for several minutes, Malik has been the behind-the-scenes leader for our team all year long, so we definitely missed him in those minutes he wasn’t out on the floor.”
The Spartans were completely stifled by the Keydets defense, posting an abysmal 14 percent shooting beyond the arc, and only 36.5 percent from the field. For the best 3-point shooting team in the Southern Conference, it’s difficult to win when your best shot just isn’t falling. This is likely going to be a difficult offseason for Coach Jones and the Spartans, with lots of roster turnover. Four seniors and three grad students all will likely move on from UNCG, meaning Coach Jones will certainly have his work cut out for him in the transfer portal.
ANDDDD ONEEEE ‼️
2H | 1:52
UNCG, 54 | VMI, 56#letsgoG pic.twitter.com/SrYVhk2OZA— UNCG Basketball (@UNCGBasketball) March 8, 2025
It can be difficult for some P5 programs to replace a couple of key players, but it is a daunting task for a mid-major to replace, essentially, half their roster. Some unhappy fans were calling for UNCG to move on from Coach Jones. I think that would be completely ridiculous. You already need to replace 7 players, losing your coach would decimate the roster even further and only make recruiting, both in the portal and out of high school, that much more difficult. Stability is needed right now in Gate City, but with Coach Patterson and the women’s team bringing hardware back to Tournament Town, it’s safe to say things might be getting a bit warm for Coach Jones.
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