ASHEVILLE, N.C. ? The UNC Asheville men's basketball team will try and bounce back from a disappointing performance at Liberty Saturday night when the Bulldogs travel to High Point for a key Big South Conference battle at the Millis Center. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. The game can be heard on WISE Radio (1310-AM) and can be seen for a small fee via video-streaming at www.bigsouthsports.com.
UNC Asheville had its seven-game winning streak halted at Liberty Saturday night, 83-54. The Bulldogs (18-5, 7-1) battled back from an early 13-point deficit to take a four-point lead early in the second half. However, the Flames shot a sizzling 68 percent from the field in the second half and rolled to the win.
“We simply didn't play very well on Saturday night,” commented UNC Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. “Our defense wasn't good enough and they beat us on the boards pretty well. We just need to get back to playing better basketball Wednesday night.”
Asheville has a tough test on Wednesday. The Bulldogs face a High Point team that is 13-10 overall and 5-4 in the league. Asheville has not won at High Point in four years and was routed here last season, 90-64. The Bulldogs did win earlier this season at Justice Center against High Point, 74-58 on Jan. 16. Asheville trailed 31-27 at halftime but outscored the Panthers, 47-27 in the second half to break a five-game losing streak to HPU.
“High Point is a very good team and plays well at home,” said Biedenbach. “We played extremely well against High Point earlier this season and our defense was just tremendous in the second half. We're going to need a similar effort like that Wednesday night.”
The Panthers are led by senior forward Arizona Reid. The Preseason Big South Player of the Year is averaging 23 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. Senior guard Mike Jefferson is scoring 13 points per game and has a Big South-leading 168 assists.
Senior guard Bryan Smithson leads Asheville in scoring with a 17.1 average. He's joined in the backcourt by senior K.J. Garland with a 14.5 mark. Garland just broke UNC Asheville's career assist mark against Liberty and has 467 going into the High Point game. Kenny George has missed the last two games and could play against High Point. He's averaging 13.1 points and a team-leading 7.9 rebounds per game. Vincent James averages 10.9 points per game.
NOTES ? UNC Asheville is ranked 14th this week in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll after being ranked 12th last week...the Bulldogs shot 32.8 percent from the field at Liberty on Saturday and that's just the eighth time this season Asheville has been below 50 percent...Asheville is shooting 49.8 percent for the season from the field and that's fifth in the nation...the Bulldogs are 12th nationally in assists with a 14.2 mark...Asheville is 6-4 on the road this season...the Bulldogs have been out-rebounded in their last three games.
