ASHEVILLE, N.C. ? The UNC Asheville men's basketball team will try to go 4-0 for the first time since the 1981-82 season when they travel to Campbell for the Bulldogs first road game of the season. The game will be broadcast on UNC Asheville's web-site www.uncabulldogs.com.
Asheville won its first three games of the year, all at home over a five-day period. The Bulldogs opened the season with a 78-75 win over Furman Friday night, then downed Lees-McRae, 74-48 on Sunday before roaring past Brevard, 75-35 Tuesday evening. This marks the first time Asheville has won its first three games of the year since the 1989-90 season.
This is the first meeting between the teams since the 2002-03 season when the Bulldogs won 99-89 in overtime at Justice Center. Asheville has only won once at Carter Gym in its last 12 games there. The Camels used to be a member of the Big South Conference from 1984-1993. The Bulldogs last played there in November of 2002 with the home team winning, 77-72 in overtime.
Campbell is 1-1 on the season after losing at Coastal Carolina Tuesday, 85-76. The Camels are led by forward Jonathan Rodriguez who is averaging 20 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. Senior guard Reggie Bishop is averaging 13 points per game. UNC Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach is very impressed with the Campbell program.
“We've played well in the first part of the season but we're going to have play even better to have a chance at winning at Campbell,” commented Biedenbach. “This is a well-coached team that shoots the ball extremely well. They are a team that is very tough to beat on its home-court.”
UNC Asheville has had good balance in its scoring attack this year as four different players are averaging in double figures. Senior guard Bryan Smithson leads the Bulldogs in scoring with a 15.5 average but is questionable for the Campbell game with a hand injury. Senior guard K.J. Garland is averaging 14 points per game and is getting closer to 1,000 career points. He needs just 34 points to become the 23rd player in school history to score 1,000 career points.
7-7 junior center Kenny George is off to a solid start with double figures in all three of Asheville's games. He's averaging 12.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.7 blocked shots per game. The Chicago native is shooting 73 percent (16-of-22) from the field. Senior Vincent James is averaging 10.7 points per game and leading the team in free throws made (14) and attempted (21).
UNC Asheville has shot better than 50 percent from the field in all three of its games so far this season and is shooting 54.4 percent (81-of-149). The Bulldogs have 32 blocked shots to just one for their opponents.
The Campbell game starts a tough stretch for Asheville. The Dogs play at Western Carolina Tuesday night before entertaining defending Atlantic Sun Conference champion East Tennessee State next Saturday (Nov. 24).
