Bulldogs Set to Play at North Carolina Tuesday Night

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville men's basketball teams faces a difficult and challenging week with two road games against ranked opponents. The Bulldogs begin the week against #8 North Carolina at the Smith Center Tuesday night starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday's game will be televised by SportsSouth. The game will also be broadcast locally on ESPN Radio (1310-AM) with the pre-game show starting at 6:30 p.m.

Asheville will play #20 Georgetown Saturday afternoon at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. starting at Noon. That game will be televised nationally by ESPNU.

The Bulldogs (2-1) are coming off a comfortable 116-58 victory over Virginia Intermont Saturday afternoon at Justice Center. Asheville placed seven players in double figures and rolled to their 10^th straight home win dating back to last season.

"We did a nice job on Saturday and played hard for 40 minutes which was good to see," stated Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. "There have been times in those type of games we've let up and let them back in the game. We didn't do that on Saturday and I thought played really good defense the entire way."

Biedenbach knows the competition jumps a big notch starting Tuesday night against a Tar Heel (2-2) team that will not be in a good mood after falling to Minnesota and Vanderbilt over the weekend in Puerto Rico.

"We're going to have our hands full with an extremely talented North Carolina team Tuesday night," commented Biedenbach. "My guess is they won't be in the best of moods when we play them. North Carolina is a very good team that lost to two really good teams in Minnesota and Vanderbilt. Our guys are going to have to play at our highest level to stay in the game with them.

"This is a pretty tough week for us," added Biedenbach. "We've got two tough games with North Carolina and Georgetown. Both teams are really, really good. However, these are the type of games that will prepare us for the rigors of the Big South Conference that will start next week."

Asheville is being led in scoring by junior guard Matt Dickey with a 20.0 scoring average. He's shooting 50 percent (18-of-36) from the field, 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from the three-point line and 89 percent (16-of-18) from the charity stripe. Junior guard J.P. Primm is averaging 15 points and 5.3 assists per game. Sophomore center D.J. Cunningham is averaging close to a double-double with 11.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.

BULLDOG NOTES

UNC Asheville is 0-6 all-time against North Carolina. The Bulldogs last played the Tar Heels two years ago and were routed 116-48 at the Smith Center. It was the second worst loss in school history. The teams are scheduled to play again next year in Asheville as North Carolina will play the first game in the school's new campus Kimmel Arena. The game is scheduled for early in the season.

Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach has 198 wins as Bulldogs head coach and is his 15^th year as head coach of the Bulldog program.

The Bulldogs win at Auburn on Nov. 12 to open the season ended a 14-game non-conference road losing streak. Asheville defeated the Tigers, 70-69 in overtime. The Dogs last road non-conference victory prior to the Auburn win was a 61-58 win at South Carolina on Jan. 5, 2008. The streak would start later that week when the top-ranked Tar Heels edged the Bulldogs, 93-81 at the Smith Center.

The game at North Carolina starts a five-game road trip for the Bulldogs that will take them to Georgetown (Nov. 27), USC Upstate (Nov. 29), Radford (Dec. 2) and High Point (Dec. 4). Asheville's next home game is on Dec. 11 vs. Montreat.

The Bulldogs' 116 points against Virginia Intermont was the most by a UNC Asheville team coached by Eddie Biedenbach.

Asheville has won 10 straight home games at Justice Center dating back to last year.