University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Bulldogs Travel to Western Carolina
12.29.2009 | Men's Basketball
Asheville (3-7) looks to get back on the winning track after a disappointing 68-42 home loss to Wofford on Dec. 21. The Bulldogs never led and were soundly beaten by the Terriers in every phase of the game. Things will be even tougher at Western Carolina. The Catamounts have an impressive 10-2 overall record and own road wins over Bradley and Louisville.
Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach is very impressed with Western Carolina.
"Western Carolina is very good this year, and it's easy to see why when you watch them play," commented Biedenbach. "First of all, Larry Hunter (WCU's head coach) is an excellent coach and has them playing very well. Western Carolina has a lot of different weapons. They can score inside and from the perimeter.
"You can tell they're battle-tested," added Biedenbach. "They know how to win and believe they're going to win. We're going to have to play so much better than we played against Wofford to have any chance at winning on Wednesday."
The Bulldogs hope to repeat last year's game against the Catamounts when they rallied for an 81-78 victory before a sell-out crowd at Justice Center. Asheville trailed by 10 at halftime but caught fire in the second half to earn its second straight win over WCU. The victory, coming right after the Christmas break, sent the Bulldogs on a three-game winning streak.
"We've just got to play better," explained Biedenbach. "We've got good players but we're just not clicking on all cylinders yet. Hopefully, the break will help us and get us going."
NOTES - The Bulldogs are 12-12 against WCU since going Division I in the 1986-87 season...Sean Smith has made 158 career three-pointers in his career and needs just five to pass Willie Black (162) into second place on the all-time career mark at Asheville...John Williams has 153 career blocked shots and is fifth place on the school's all-time career list...the Bulldogs have blocked 29 shots in the last three games...Asheville has been even or had more blocked shots than every opponent this season with the exception of Tennessee...the Bulldogs had 30 assists against Catawba on Dec. 15, second most in school history.
