University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Men's Basketball Opens Season at Charlotte Friday Night at 7:30 p.m.
11.12.2009 | Men's Basketball
The Bulldogs face a 49er team anxious to make amends for an injury-filled 11-20 season last year. Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach knows his team will have their work cut out for them on Friday.
"Charlotte traditionally has a very strong program and last year was simply an aberration for them," stated Biedenbach. "Bobby Lutz (Charlotte head coach) is an excellent coach, and they have a strong team back. We'll have to be at our best to have a chance at winning Friday night."
The Bulldogs hope to improve on their one exhibition game as they fell to Brevard Monday night at Justice Center, 73-69. Asheville led by eight with five minutes remaining but Brevard roared back to get the win.
"We learned a lot Monday night but I would have rather we learned a lot by winning, not by losing," admitted Biedenbach. "The biggest thing we learned is that we have to come ready to play every night. Brevard out-hustled us most of the night and executed when they had to down the stretch.
"We have the ability to be a very good basketball team but it's going to take a great effort every day in practice and in games to be a good team," added Biedenbach. "Our guys have to play better in every phase of the game than we did Monday against Brevard."
NOTING THE BULLDOGS
UNC Asheville has won three straight season-opening games after losing 10 straight openers. However, all three of those games came at home. The Bulldogs have not won a season-opener on the road since a 66-62 victory over Carson-Newman in the opening game of the 1978-79 season. Asheville has dropped 14 straight season-openers on the road. However, the Bulldogs have played some pretty good schools in those openers. They include Georgia Tech twice, Charlotte, Clemson, Missouri, Purdue, Syracuse, N.C. State, Michigan State, Texas Tech and West Virginia.
The 49ers lead the series 7-4 and won the last five meetings between the teams. The last meeting occurred on Dec. 4, 2006 with Charlotte winning 91-83 at Halton Arena. Asheville's last victory in the series came in the 1983-84 season when the Bulldogs edged the 49ers 57-56 in Charlotte's old arena - "The Mineshaft." Jerry Green was Asheville's head coach at the time.
UNC Asheville was a preseason pick to finish in second place in the Big South Conference this year. That's the highest the Bulldogs have been picked to finish since being selected first prior to the 2002-03 season.
Senior guard Sean Smith moved into sixth place on UNC Asheville's all-time career three-pointers made last year as he enters this year with 132 treys. He is just one back of Darryl Sanders (133) for fifth place. Smith needs just 31 to get to second place held by Willie Black (162). Smith was a bright spot in defeat against Brevard with a team-high 22 points. He went 7-of-13 from the field and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Junior forward John Williams moved into sixth place on the Bulldog career list for blocked shots last season and enters this year with 127 blocks. If he stays healthy, Williams has an excellent chance of becoming the school's all-time leader in that category. C.J. Walker is the all-time leader with 190 blocks. Williams blocked two shots against Brevard on Monday night.
UNC Asheville has led the Big South Conference in blocked shots in two of the last three years and are constantly among the league leaders. The Bulldogs may be ready to have some more "block parties" this year as they had nine against Brevard Monday night. Freshman center D.J. Cunningham had three blocks, followed by two from Eric Stubbs and John Williams and one each from Jaron Lane and Chris Stephenson.
Asheville received nine votes in The College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 preseason poll that was released last week. Butler is ranked first in the poll, followed by Gonzaga. Defending Big South Conference champion Radford is ranked 25th. The Bulldogs were not in the poll last year but were ranked in the poll for much of their record-breaking 2007-08 season. Asheville was ranked as high as 12th in the poll during that year.
