University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Bulldogs Travel to Winthrop Thursday Night
01.05.2011 | Men's Basketball
The Bulldogs (6-8, 1-3 BSC) are trying to shake off two Big South Conference home losses last weekend. Asheville fell to VMI, 83-72 on Friday and then dropped a 59-55 decision to Liberty Sunday afternoon.
"We're playing hard and battling, but we just haven't been good enough to win the last two games," commented Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. "We've had some struggles on offense and playing at Winthrop is not a place you want to go when you're struggling on offense.
"We need to be better in other areas of the game," added Biedenbach. "Our rebounding and defense need to improve. Those things are critical when you get into close games."
Winthrop (6-7, 2-1 BSC) is coming off a dramatic 53-51 victory over Presbyterian College on Friday. The Eagles trailed by 13 in the second half and by five with less than a minute left but pulled out the win.
"Winthrop has a good team and as always they do an excellent job defensively and on the boards," explained Biedenbach. "They have four players scoring in double figures and those guys are used to winning. We'll need to be at our best to have a chance at winning."
The Eagles are led by guard Robbie Dreher with a 14.1 scoring average. Andre Jones is averaging 11.3 points per game, while Reggie Middleton has a 10.5 scoring mark. Charles Corbin rounds out Winthrop's double-figure scorers with a 10.4 average.
J.P. Primm leads Asheville in scoring with a 16.4 average. Matt Dickey is averaging 14.6 points per game. Sophomore center D.J. Cunningham has a 12.2 scoring average and is among the conference leaders with 9.3 rebounds per game. Chris Stephenson has been hot lately and has increased his scoring average to 10.9 points per game.
The Winthrop Coliseum has been a tough place for the Bulldogs to have success over the years. Asheville has won just one regular-season game at Winthrop over the past 12 seasons. The Bulldogs are 2-12 in the Winthrop Coliseum since the 1998-99 season. Asheville dropped a heart-breaking 68-65 overtime decision to the Eagles last season as the Bulldogs let a late lead in both regulation and overtime slip away.
BULLDOG NOTES
UNC Asheville is 1-3 in Big South Conference play for the second straight year.
The Bulldogs are 5-6 in their last 11 BSC road games.
Asheville is shooting just 42.3 percent from the field this season. The Bulldogs have been shot below 40 percent from the field in eight of their 14 games this year.
J.P. Primm has scored in double figures in 13 of the Bulldogs' 14 games. He is fifth in the league in scoring (16.4), third in assists (4.4), three-point percentage (37.8%), first in steals (2.3) and fifth in three-pointers made (2.0). Primm has a career total of 373 assists and has moved into fourth place on Asheville's career list, moving past Maurice Caldwell (370). He has 145 steals and is in seventh place on the school's career list. He has a great chance to move past Bryan McCullough & Paul Allen (147) and K.J. Garland (153) over the next few games into the top five.
Asheville has really struggled with its three-point shooting. In the past eight games, the Bulldogs are 26-of-119 from beyond the arc for 21.8%. Asheville went just 2-of-15 from long distance on Sunday vs. Liberty for a season-low 13 percent.
Sophomore center D.J. Cunningham is questionable for Thursday's game at Winthrop. He injured his knee against VMI and missed the last 10 minutes of the game. Cunningham dressed against Liberty but did not play. He is third in the league in rebounding (9.3) and leads the conference in blocked shots with 23.
Matt Dickey leads the Big South in free throw percentage at 83.6% (56-of-67).
Asheville is third in the Big South but ninth nationally in steals with a 10.1 per game average. The Bulldogs have forced at least 10 steals in 10 different games this season. J.P Primm leads Asheville and the Big South in steals with a 2.3 per game mark. That 2.3 per game average is 29th nationally.
