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GREENSBORO — If the UNCG Spartans thought life would get easier once they returned to the Southern Conference from the ACC, the Wofford Terriers informed them otherwise Thursday night.

Bolting to an early lead with crisp post-entry passes and keeping it with the long ball, the Terriers did away with the Spartans 79-62 before 1,565 at the Greensboro Coliseum.

UNCG (2-12, 1-2 SoCon) hoped the evening would represent a fresh start after an unofficial membership period in the ACC, which handed the Spartans three losses in the new year’s first week. They hoped — and still do — that the exceedingly difficult schedule would mold them rather than fold them, and they still have seven weeks to derive the benefits. But the Renaissance is on hold.

“We definitely put extra emphasis on conference games,” said Ben Stywall, who had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Spartans, “and so we wanted to have a good showing. But we came out flat. We didn’t do what they coaches had taught us.”

The Terriers (9-7, 1-2) asserted immediate control with seven field goals in the paint in the first seven minutes, and they never let the home team think it was in charge.

“We couldn’t be consistent on defense. All night,” Spartan guard Kendall Toney said. “Those guys were hitting shots and finding the open man.”

More often than not, that man was named Junior Salters, who went 6-of-11 from downtown.

UNCG scored the first eight points of the second half to cut the deficit to 10, but any club averaging 62 points a game and trailing by 18 at the break is among the longest of longshots.

As far as Wofford coach Mike Young was concerned, the only downer was his team’s 19 turnovers.

“When I expire,” he said, “it’s going to be after a turnover. I just hope I have a Heineken in my hand at the time.”

Once Wofford rebuffed the immediate charge, it compelled UNCG to go to a zone trap in the name of creating turnovers.

“Then Salters lost his mind, which he can do,” Young said.

Specifically, Salters dashed to the corner when the ball was at the top of the key. The Terriers responded with perimeter passes that found him. When he knocked down trifectas on three straight possessions, the visitors were up 22.

“I thought we had a good attitude, but they jumped on us right away,” UNCG coach Mike Dement said. “Once we got into desperate defense, scrambling and trying to make things happen, they did some things.”

Wofford is going to end up as one of the SoCon’s elite teams. The Terriers dropped their first two league games, but they got the conference’s attention with victories over Georgia and South Carolina and credible performances at Pittsburgh and Michigan State.

“We knew they were hungry,” said forward Tim Johnson, who collected 13 rebounds. “They were on their home floor. It’s a SoCon game. But we were prepared because we were hungry, too.”

UNCG doesn’t have much time to dwell on this one. The Spartans host Furman on Saturday.

“We’re going to try to fix it with a good practice (today) and have a good showing against Furman,” Stywall said.

WOFFORD (9-7) — Diggs 2-5 1-1 6, Johnson 3-5 2-4 8, Dahlman 5-6 3-5 13, Salters 6-13 0-0 18, Loesing 3-4 0-2 6, Rundles 1-4 0-0 3, Parker 2-4 1-2 5, Giltner 4-5 0-0 12, Wagener 0-1 0-0 0, Steelman 0-0 0-0 0, Dawson 0-3 0-0 0, Tecklenburg 0-0 0-0 0, Godzinski 0-2 0-0 0, Martin 1-2 4-4 6, Rinksalis 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 27-55 13-20 79.

UNCG (2-12) — Stywall 10-17 1-2 21, Brown 2-5 3-4 7, VanDussen 1-1 0-0 2, Randall 4-11 2-2 10, Evans 0-3 0-0 0, Sellers 0-0 0-1 0, Dilmore 0-0 0-0 0, Koivisto 1-2 2-3 4, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 1-2 2-2 4, Toney 5-12 0-0 12, Hardiman 0-1 0-1 0, Bone 0-0 0-0 0, Cole 1-6 0-0 2, Jackson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 10-15 62.

Halftime—Wofford 44-26.
3-point goals—Wofford 12-24 (Salters 6-11, Giltner 4-4, Rundles 1-2, Diggs 1-3, Wagener 0-1, Godzinski 0-1, Dawson 0-2), UNCG 2-13 (Toney 2-7, Koivisto 0-1, Cole 0-1, Hardiman 0-1, Evans 0-1, Randall 0-2).
Fouled out—None.
Rebounds—Wofford 38 (Johnson 13), UNCG 34 (Stywall 12).
Assists—Wofford 19 (Johnson 6), UNCG 6 (Koivisto, Randall 2).
Total fouls—Wofford 13, UNCG 17.
A—1,565.