University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Men's Basketball to Entertain Charleston Southern on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
01.21.2011 | Men's Basketball
The Bulldogs (9-9, 4-4 BSC) lost to Big South-leading Coastal Carolina Thursday night at home, 80-59. Asheville led early but the Chanticleers took control of the game with a 21-4 run midway through the first half. The Bulldogs made some runs in the second half but ran out of gas and allowed Coastal Carolina to win going away. It was the worst home loss suffered by Asheville since a 97-75 defeat to VMI on Feb. 15, 2008.
"Our effort was fine but we rushed things when we got behind by 10 points and took some quick shots," stated Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. "We got beat bad on the boards, especially in the second half. We just didn't seem to match their intensity, especially late in the first and second halves. Our guys will learn from this game."
There's no time to worry about the loss to Coastal Carolina because a formidable task in Charleston Southern await the Bulldogs on Saturday. The Buccaneers defeated the Bulldogs twice this year and have been one of the big surprises in the Big South in the first part of the season. CSU (11-9, 5-3 BSC) is in third place in the league standings. They had a three-game winning streak snapped at Gardner-Webb Thursday night, 58-50.
"I've said from the start of the year that Charleston Southern was going to be a team to watch out for and they've been quite impressive the whole season," commented Biedenbach. "I know they're disappointed about their result at Gardner-Webb, so we know they'll be motivated to play well on Saturday.
"Charleston Southern has good guards and are they're tough to stop," added Biedenbach. "Earlier this season, they lost at the buzzer on the road at Coastal Carolina. That shows you right there what a good team they have. We are going to have to play smart and focused basketball for 40 minutes to have a chance at winning."
CSU is led in scoring by senior guard Jamarco Warren with a 16.6 average. Forward Kelvin Martin is averaging 11.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Jeremy Sexton is averaging 10.1 points per game.
The Bulldogs are being led in scoring by J.P. Primm with a 15.9 scoring average. Matt Dickey is next with a 14.9 average.
NOTES
J.P. Set to Join 400 Assist Club: Junior guard J.P. Primm will be moving into some exclusive company shortly. J.P. has recorded 396 assists in his career and needs just four more assists to reach 400 for his career. He will become the just the fourth player in school history to reach 400 assists. Primm is second in the Big South Conference in assists this year with a 4.72 per game average. He's averaging 5.0 assists in league games.
The Series: Charleston Southern leads the series 26-25 since the teams became members of the Big South Conference. The Buccaneers broke a seven-game winning streak by the Bulldogs in the series last year with two victories. CSU edged Asheville in overtime at Justice Center, 77-74 on a late three-pointer from Jeremy Sexton. Asheville would not lose another home game last year after this loss. The Bucs then rallied for a 62-54 victory over Asheville at the CSU Fieldhouse later in the season. The Bulldogs have a 17-7 record against the Buccaneers at Justice Center and have won four of the last five meetings.
Race to 1,000 Points: UNC Asheville guards J.P. Primm and Matt Dickey are looking to join John Williams in the 1,000-career point club this year. Williams became the 25th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points last week against Gardner-Webb. He should have company soon from this year's team. Dickey has 965 career points, while Primm has 955 points entering today's action. When they get there, it will be the first time in school history that three Asheville players have reached 1,000 career points in the same year.
Still Ranked in Steals: The Bulldogs had a season-low three steals against Coastal Carolina Thursday night but Asheville is still ranked nationally in steals. Asheville has 173 steals on the season and its 9.61 per game average is 13th best in the country. The Bulldogs have posted at least 10 steals in 12 different contests this season.
