Cougars can't slow down Hines, Spartans

UNC Greensboro 88, College of Charleston 71

A College of Charleston fan turned to his buddy during the Cougars' game with UNC Greensboro on Thursday night and said, "OK, they just missed a shot. We've got 'em now."

UNC Greensboro didn't make every shot, it only seemed that way, and the Spartans 66.7 shooting percentage produced an 88-71 Southern Conference victory that was the Cougars' second-worst defeat in John Kresse Arena.

Spartans center Kyle Hines led the way with 32 points.

"Kyle Hines is as good as advertised," said Charleston coach Bobby Cremins. "We didn't have an answer for him."

Or anybody else.

In addition to Hines' 32, the Spartans got 16 points from Kevin Olesiak, 15 from Ben Stywall and 13 from Mikko Koivisto.

"You can't win when you let Kyle Hines get his and all the other players, too," said Cougars guard Andrew Goudelock.

UNC Greensboro (11-6, 5-3 SoCon) started out hot and stayed that way. The Spartans were 18 of 27 from the field in each half.

"I said at halftime, 'We're not going to shoot the ball like this the second half,' " said UNCG coach Mike Dement. "Then we came out and did it. It's the best we've shot the ball in the three years I've been here and then I find out it's the best we've shot the ball in 19 years. It takes that against a good team."

Dement, who has watched Hines' dominant play in the Southern Conference for each of the last two years, said the defending Southern Conference Player of the Year was at his absolute best.

"Kyle Hines was the best I've seen him perhaps all year long," Dement said. "He was really focused, made some great moves. But everybody played well."

The Spartans came into the game 0-9 in John Kresse Arena and handed the Cougars their worst home defeat since a 68-42 loss to North Georgia in 1985.

"We came in focused," Hines said. "I don't know if it's the best game we've played this year, but it's in the top two or three. Everybody contributed."

The Cougars trailed by 10 at the half and never drew closer than nine points in the second half.

Goudelock led the Cougars (9-10, 4-5 SoCon) with 17 points and Tony White Jr. added 14. Goudelock and White Jr. were a combined 9-of-14 from 3-point range.

On most nights, that's good enough to win, but not on a night when stops were harder to come by than shots made.

Hines was unstoppable, making 14 of 16 shots from the field.

"I thought those two were going in for sure," said Hines, when asked about the two misses. "I guess it was just one of those nights."

It was a great night for all the Spartans.

When the Cougars doubled down on Hines, he simply kicked it out to the open man. The open man, regardless of who it was, usually made the shot.

"It seemed like they were just automatic," Goudelock said. "Every time I went up for a rebound it was going in."

Reach Charles Bennett at cbennett@postandcourier.com.