Men's Basketball Hosts VMI Saturday Night

ASHEVILLE, N.C. ? The UNC Asheville men's basketball team looks to end its first losing streak of the season when the Bulldogs host VMI at Justice Center Saturday night starting at 7 p.m. Saturday night's game will be broadcast on WISE Radio (1310-AM) and televised by the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. It can be picked up on Direc TV Channel 626 and Dish Network Channel 432.

The Bulldogs (18-6, 7-2 BSC) have a two-game losing streak after losing on the road at Liberty (83-54) last Saturday night and High Point (80-71) Wednesday evening at the Millis Center. Asheville was short-handed in the High Point loss as leading scorer Bryan Smithson did not play with an ankle injury. Leading rebounder Kenny George has played just one in the last three games due to an injury. Both are questionable for Saturday night against the Keydets.

The Bulldogs face a dangerous VMI (12-11, 4-5 BSC) club on Saturday that will be looking to avenge a 90-87 Asheville overtime victory on Jan. 19 at Cameron Hall. The Keydets lead the nation in scoring with a 93.1 average and are led by senior guard Reggie Williams. Williams is second nationally in scoring with a 27.3 mark. VMI has won two straight after losing five in a row. The Keydets routed Charleston Southern on Monday night at home, 109-85 behind 39 points from Williams. VMI scored 68 points in the first half.

“VMI is a very good team that looks like it's playing some pretty good basketball,” commented UNC Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. “We have not played at out best the past two games and hopefully we can change that Saturday night.

“Our effort has been good but we just have not gotten the job done on defense,” added Biedenbach. “We're allowing too much penetration and Liberty and High Point have gotten a lot of easy shots.”

The Bulldogs have been tough to beat at home this year and are 12-1 in the Justice Center. Asheville has won nine straight home games going into tomorrow's game. It's the longest winning streak since the 2000-01 team won nine straight.

“We're glad to be back at home in front of our fans who have given us great support this season,” said Biedenbach. “We're really going to need them against a well-coached and talented VMI team.”

Reggie Williams has plenty of help with scoring. Former Christ School products Travis and Chavis Holmes average 17.2 points and 17.0 points per game respectively. Chavis has knocked down 67 three-pointers this year.

The Bulldogs enter Saturday's game with five players averaging more than 10 points per game. Bryan Smithson tops the Dogs with a 17.1 average. K.J. Garland is next with a 14.5 mark. Kenny George is averaging 12.6 points per game. Vincent James is next with a 10.6 average. Reid Augst has had two good games on offense and moved into double-figure territory with a 10.2 average.

NOTES ? Kenny George needs three blocked shots to set the UNC Asheville single-season record for blocked shots as he has 82 going into the VMI game...the current record is C.J. Walker's 84 blocks in the 2003-04 season...the Bulldogs haves shot below 40 percent from the field in the past two games for the first time this year...Reid Augst has led Asheville in scoring the past two games and scored a career-high 21 points at High Point Wednesday night...the next win for Asheville will give it 19 victories and that will mark the first time the Bulldog program has won 19 games in the regular-season since the 1985-86 season.

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics

Men's Basketball Hosts VMI Saturday Night

Related News

Players Mentioned

Reid Augst

K.J. Garland

Kenny George

Vincent James

Bryan Smithson

Related Videos