UNC Greensboro @ Georgetown preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 22, 2016 ) NC-Greensboro 56, Georgetown 78

Unable to slay the giant, Georgetown will return from its seven-day break to face visiting UNC-Greensboro on Saturday. The Hoyas stayed with No. 1 Duke for nearly 60 minutes in the championship game of the 2K Empire Classic on Nov. 22 at Madison Square Garden in New York but couldn't seal the deal in the end, and turn their sights to the Spartans.

The Hoyas should have never been in the game with Duke - not with a large rebounding disparity including 19-7 in offensive boards and 24 turnovers - but they got by with their shooting. Omer Yurtseven led the way in the regard, shooting 69 percent or better for the fourth time this season and climbing to 37th in the nation entering Friday in field goal percentage (61.5) in the process. "The whole trip is something we can build on," Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing, whose team knocked off Texas in its first game in New York, told the media. "Everyone that we have on our team is capable of playing well. We went toe-to-toe with the No. 1 team in the country and had our opportunities to win the game. I think our future is bright." The Spartans come into this game off two straight victories, including a 74-63 triumph over VMI in a Southern Conference game Nov. 24 in which junior guard Isaiah Miller put up 23 points and eight rebounds.

TV: 2 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 2

ABOUT UNCG (5-2): James Dickey is the resident rebounder for the Spartans, having accrued 814 in his career, good for sixth on the school's all-time list. The senior forward from Raleigh, N.C., is on pace for 1,001 rebounds, which would put him in second place - 46 rebounds shy of Kyle Hines, who grabbed 1,047 boards from 2005-08. Dickey, who is 12th on the NCAA's active rebounding list, has an outside shot of getting 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, something only accomplished by Hines, but would need to pick up his current scoring pace of 6.6 per game as he needs 220 to reach the milestone.

ABOUT GEORGETOWN (4-2): Yurtseven's rebounding fervor hit a lull in New York as he had nine total in the two games after averaging 12.5 boards while producing four double-doubles to start his career with Georgetown. The 29 rebounds against Duke were by far the fewest this season for the Hoyas, who have seen their average fall from 47.5 after the second game to 39.7 entering Saturday with UNCG at 39.1 James Akinjo averaged 16.5 points and six assists in New York, a marked improvement from the first four games when he put up 12.3 points and 4.5 assists.

TIP-INS

1. Miller is 53 points shy of becoming the 27th 1,000-point scorer for the Spartans.

2. Georgetown and UNCG have met twice previously, both in this decade and both won by the Hoyas by 20 or more points.

3. Yurtseven and Akinjo were named to the 2K Empire Classic All-Tournament Team.

PREDICTION: Georgetown 85, UNCG 75