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GREENSBORO — The party starts early, and later this evening UNCG jumps headfirst into uncharted waters.

The Spartans (0-2) take on No. 22-ranked Clemson (2-0) in UNCG's first game this season in its new full-time home: the Greensboro Coliseum.

The game tips off at about 7 p.m., but the parking lot opens at 4:30 p.m. for tailgating, and an official tip-off party is 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the Coliseum Pavilion.

Bottom line: It's not just about the basketball.

UNCG announced plans to move home games off campus last December, leaving 1,800-seat Fleming Gym for the 23,000-seat coliseum in a bid to raise the university's profile through higher-visibility athletics.

The cavernous building will be configured to seat 7,617 for Spartans home games, although there is room to grow if more fans show up. As of 4 p.m. Thursday, 2,155 UNCG students had tickets.

The teams playing the Spartans here certainly are impressive. UNCG's non-conference schedule has already included games at Duke and at Virginia Tech. Four more ACC teams will visit the Coliseum: Clemson tonight, then Wake Forest, N.C. State and Maryland during a seven-day stretch Dec. 28 through Jan. 3.

"If we can hang with them, we can be really good in conference play," UNCG freshman point guard Kyle Randall said after playing at Duke in his first collegiate game.

So far, UNCG has hung with its ACC opponents. The Spartans couldn't match Duke's size, but 6-foot-5 senior Ben Stywall had a big night against the Blue Devils' much bigger frontcourt, and freshmen Randall, Korey VanDussen and Brian Cole looked fearless in a 96-62 loss. At Virginia Tech, the Spartans led early and kept up with the Hokies until a turnover-filled stretch late in the second half of a 59-46 loss.

"It's fun," UNCG coach Mike Dement said of the tough schedule after the Duke loss. "The kids are having fun getting ready for it. It's not easy, but that doesn't change that it's fun. It's a real battle, and in battling these teams, when we look at the videotape we can show positive things. It shows them that, hey, when you battled we played with them. I think we'll grow with that."

Now the question is this: Will the Spartans grow as much as their home court? The first clue to the answer can be found tonight.

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com