SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Five Terriers finished in double figures on Saturday night while canning a season-high 16 3-pointers on the night to bounce back in the win column and hand UNCG (12-9, 4-5 SoCon) a dominant 85-66 defeat at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. Wofford busted things open in the second half on 14-of-20 shooting (70%) to notch its largest margin of victory over the Spartans in its last seven meetings. The Terriers move to 13-9 overall and 5-5 in the Southern Conference.

"They were hungry tonight. They did not like the last two games," said head coach Jay McAuley. "They had a seriousness about them and, there's one guy in particular we pointed out that got the start tonight and I thought he played outstanding – Austin Patterson. Led our team with eight deflections, was really really good on the ball [defensively] and I thought his energy to our starting lineup really sparked a lot of guys."
 
"How about Max Klesmit's offensive performance in the first half, and then guy's just kind of started chipping in here and there … I see a lot of good numbers here that I like and that our team's going to need to build on," added McAuley.
 
The 19-point victory marked Wofford's largest margin of victory over the Spartans since an 80-50 rout inside Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium on Feb. 16, 2019.
 
Wofford shot 58.7 percent from the floor, connecting on 27-of-46 off a season-high 22 assists, and 55.2 percent from beyond the arc (16-of-29). A complete shooting night all-around, the Terriers additionally finished 83.3 percent from the line on 15-of-18.
 
"They know how they've got to play and teams do some things to stall us out and disrupt us, and you still saw some of those moments," added McAuley of Wofford's connectedness offensively. "But, I thought the ball was moving. I thought our fives, B.J. Mack and Sam Godwin, did a great job of screening … and in turn, they both have really good offensive nights and B.J. had a terrific second-half performance and made some critical baskets for us to take the lead."
 
The Terriers are 7-0 when eclipsing 80 points this season, dismantling the Spartans offensively as UNCG leads the league in scoring defense (63.8) and had given up over 80 points just once this season prior to tonight (93 vs. UMass - Nov. 19, 2021).
 
For the 13^th game this season, Wofford had three or more players hit at least two 3-pointers apiece, ranked in the NCAA's top 25 in total 3-pointers made (219) and 3-pointers per game (10.0).
 
Sophomore guard Max Klesmit led with a game-high 18 points on 4-of-9 from beyond the arc (44.4%) and dished a career-best five assists to pair with five rebounds. Ryan Larson and Isaiah Bigelow each contributed 13 points apiece, as Larson dished a game-high six assists in addition to hitting a trio of threes (3-for-5), while Bigelow was 4-for-8 on the night with five rebounds.
 
"The emphasis this week was team basketball, both offensively and defensively," said senior captain Ryan Larson. "The past few games, the ball's been sticking a little bit. We had some team meetings to figure out how we could get the ball moving more sticking to the game plan, and I just thought the team came out and played together. Played really really hard and that's the outcome that we got tonight."
 
Junior B.J. Mack added 12 points on a career-high 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc with four rebounds and three assists, as freshman Austin Patterson finished with 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from distance in his first career start.
 
Sophomore Morgan Safford added seven points and two rebounds and assists apiece, while classmate Sam Godwin chipped in six points and two helpers.
 
The Spartans finished the contest 40.4 percent from the floor (21-of-52), though, hitting 10-of-24 from 3-point range in the loss (41.7%). UNCG was led by De'Monte Buckingham with 15 points, followed by Kaleb Hunter (14) and Keyshaun Langley (12).
 
After drilling nine first-half threes on 50 percent shooting (9-for-18), paced by Klesmit's four, and holding UNCG to 38.5 percent (10-of-26) over the opening 20 minutes, Wofford held a 10-point advantage with a 37-27 lead at halftime.
 
The Terriers opened the second frame hitting six of its first seven attempts from the floor to bust a 17-point lead at 50-33 by the 14:10 mark. Klesmit dimed B.J. Mack on back-to-back trey balls (43-29) before Patterson knocked down his third of the night off the find from Godwin, 46-32. Godwin went on to finish a reverse lay under the hoop prior to freshman Luke Turner finishing a feed from Mack inside for an and-one to lead 50-33.
 
Wofford wouldn't hold back, seeing a Morgan Safford corner three spark a brief 7-0 spurt, including a finish from Klesmit and spinning layup from Isaiah Bigelow, to eclipse its first 20-point edge, 57-35, by the under-12 media timeout (10:43). A Bigelow dunk off a press break kept the margin, as the lead steadily ballooned with Mack nailing his fourth trey for Wofford's largest lead of the night at 71-45 with 6:20 remaining.
 
After a pair of Ryan Larson free throws at 77-51, UNCG used a brief 10-2 run to bring some life to the Spartans, despite still trailing by 15 with 2:34 left, 77-61, though, Larson quickly answered with his third 3-pointer of the night to curtail any momentum at an 80-61 advantage. Wofford's Jonathan Steelman would get fouled on 3-point attempt down the stretch, as Steelman would convert 2-of-3 at the line for his first points on the year to cap the Terriers' 85-66 victory at the end of regulation.
 
Wofford (13-9, 5-5 SoCon) prepares for a quick turnaround, traveling to Macon, Ga., for a Monday night tilt with the Mercer Bears on Jan. 31. Tip-off is slated for a 7 p.m. start at Hawkins Arena, as Monday night's contest will be nationally televised on ESPNU.