University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Men's Basketball Hosts Campbell in Home Opener on Saturday
11.20.2009 | Men's Basketball
Asheville (0-2) is coming off a disappointing 124-49 loss at #10 Tennessee Tuesday night. The Bulldogs allowed the Volunteers to score the first 20 points of the game and were never in it after that point. Asheville had 29 turnovers in the game and shot 24 percent from the field (16-of-67). It was simply a night to forget.
The Bulldogs turn their focus to a tough Fighting Camel squad that is 2-0 on the young season. Campbell posted an impressive 74-68 win over East Carolina Tuesday night at home. The Camels devoured Asheville last year in Buies Creek, 94-57.
"We had a tough night at Tennessee Tuesday night," said Bulldog coach Eddie Biedenbach. "We played about as bad as we could have, and didn't battle the way I would have liked to have seen us battle. Hopefully, we learned from it and will be ready to play on Saturday."
Biedenbach is quite impressed with Campbell and its head coach Robbie Laing.
"Campbell beat us pretty badly last year, and I believe they're better this season," admitted Biedenbach. "Robbie Laing is an excellent coach and has his team ready to have a good year. They have some great shooters and execute quite well. We're going to improve on our play a great deal to have a chance at winning on Saturday."
The Bulldogs have really struggled shooting the ball in the first two games of the season as they're shooting just 33 percent (45-of-134) from the field and 19 percent (8-of-42) from the three-point line. Sophomore guard J.P. Primm leads Asheville in scoring with a 14.0 average. He is the lone Bulldog to have scored in double figures in both games. Eric Stubbs leads Asheville in rebounding with a 7.5 mark after grabbing 10 rebounds at Tennessee.
Campbell is led by senior forward Jonathan Rodrieguez who is averaging a double-double this year at 16 points and 11 rebounds per game. He scored 35 points against the Bulldogs two years ago at Justice Center.
NOTES - UNC Asheville is 0-2 for the first time since the 2005-06 season...Campbell leads the all-time series 18-13 and has won five of the last seven meetings at Justice Center though the Bulldogs have captured the last two games here in 2002 and 2007...Asheville has won 28 of its last 34 home games...Saturday's game starts a stretch of four games in nine days in three different states...senior guard Sean Smith has knocked down 133 made three-pointers in his career and is tied for fifth on the school's all-time career list...Asheville went 4-0 in non-conference home games last season.
