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Coach: Mike Dement (312-313 overall, 107-126 in eight years during two stints at UNCG)

Home court: Greensboro Coliseum (7,617/23,000)

2008-09: 5-25, 4-16 Southern Conference

Tickets: Prices vary by opponent and seat location. For information go online at www.uncgspartans.com or call 334-3250.

Local radio: WPET 950, WUAG-103.1

Official team Web site: uncgspartans.com

Scoring: Mikko Koivisto and Ben Stywall should be the leaders. Koivisto provides outside punch, although his shooting dropped from 46.1 percent as a sophomore to 38.1 percent last season. Stywall can score inside or from the perimeter. Kendall Toney is another whose FG percentage dropped dramatically (43.1 to 36.0) and he needs to be more consistent.

Rebounding: Stywall is a proven rebounder despite being undersized at 6-foot-5. Darrius Sellers should help, and someone from among Pete Brown, Brian Cole and DeAngelo Jackson will be needed, too. UNCG will be undersized against most non-conference opponents, but could be OK in Southern Conference play.

Defending: This was a weakness last season. Since there's no established shot-blocker, the Spartans must force opponents into as many bad shots as they can. While Dement prefers man-to-man, he won't hesitate to use zone, which may be the Spartans' best bet, at least early on.

Coaching: Dement has been through a similar scenario when UNCG entered the Division I era in 1991. The coaches know this team is overscheduled, but stepping into the Coliseum is a long-term process that has to start somewhere. Patience is the key, which the coaches must impart to the players.

Intangibles: While the young players look forward to the rest of their careers in the Coliseum, the five scholarship seniors have one season. That should spur them, if they don't get too discouraged by non-conference losses.

Projection: The Spartans are likely to go 2-9 or 1-10 in their tough non-conference schedule. If they keep the big picture in mind, those games should toughen them for conference play, where six or seven wins are possible. Best guess: 7-11 in the league, 8-21 overall

SCHEDULE

NOVEMBER: Friday, at Duke, 7 (Fox Sports Carolinas); 17, at Virginia Tech, 7; 20, Clemson, 7 (Fox Sports Carolinas); 24, at USC-Upstate, 7; 28, East Carolina, 4.

DECEMBER: 5, at Samford, 2; 7, College of Charleston, 7; 13, Princeton, 1; 18, at Akron, 7; 22, at Richmond, noon; 28, Wake Forest, 7; 31, NC State, 6 (Fox Sports Carolinas).

JANUARY: 3, Maryland, 1; 7, Wofford, 7; 9, Furman, 4; 11, at Chattanooga, 7; 14, at Western Carolina, 7; 16, at Appalachian State, 3; 21, Chattanooga, 7; 23, Samford, 4; 28, Elon, 7.

FEBRUARY: 4, at Furman, 7; 6, at Wofford, 7; 8, Appalachian State, 7; 15, Western Carolina, 7; 17, at Elon, 7; 20, at The Citadel , 1 (Sport South); 24, at Davidson, 7.

MARCH: 1, Georgia Southern, 7.

TV information subject to change

UNCG ROSTER

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