University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Bulldogs Host Northeastern in Sears Bracketbuster Series on Saturday at 2 p.m.
02.18.2011 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville Bulldogs take a break from Big South Conference play on Saturday afternoon when they host Northeastern in the Sears Bracketbuster series at Justice Center starting at 2 p.m. Saturday's game will be broadcast locally on ESPN Radio (1310-AM) with the pre-game show beginning at 1:30 p.m. The game will also be audio and video-streamed and can be seen for a small fee at www.uncabulldogs.com.
UNC Asheville is one of nine Big South Conference teams participating in the Sears Bracketbuster series on Saturday. This is the Bulldogs second appearance in the Bracketbusters series. Asheville downed Eastern Kentucky on the road in the 2006 season, 83-77.
Northeastern University (9-18, 5-11 Colonial) is a member of the Colonial Conference that has a great basketball tradition. It is where current Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun coached at before moving to Storrs. Former Boston Celtic great Reggie Lewis played for the Huskies. Northeastern has bounced back from a nine-game losing streak earlier this year to get wins in five of its last eight games. The Huskies knocked off perennial Colonial power VCU two weeks ago, 91-80. Senior guard Chaisson Allen leads the Northeastern attack as he's averaging 16.6 points per game. Joel Smith is averaging 12.1 points per game and has knocked down a team-leading 64 three-pointers. The Huskies fell at home on Tuesday to league foe Delaware, 72-66.
"We're looking forward to playing Northeastern," stated Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. "I know from watching film this is a good basketball team that has had some bad luck and some close losses this year. This is a club that beat VCU and knocked off East Tennessee State. They came close to winning at Providence and have some other close losses against good teams. Northeastern has a good basketball tradition. We better be ready to play for 40 minutes against these guys."
The Bulldogs (13-12, 8-7 SC) are looking to bounce back after a frustrating 79-70 league loss at Charleston Southern Tuesday night. Asheville led 39-29 at halftime but gave up 50 points in the second half to lose for just the third time in league play on the road this year. J.P. Primm led the Bulldogs with 20 points, while John Williams finished with 14 points.
"We started both the game and the second half out a little flat and Charleston Southern made us pay for it, especially in the second half," commented Biedenbach. "We took some quick shots in the second half which allowed them to score in transition and get back in the game pretty quickly.
"I like our team," added Biedenbach. "Our guys have worked hard and given us everything they have this year. We just need to play a little smarter at times."
BULLDOG NOTES
UNC Asheville leads the Big South and is ninth nationally in steals entering today's game. The Bulldogs have 234 steals on the year and are averaging 9.36 steals per game. Asheville had 10 steals at Charleston Southern Tuesday night. J.P. Primm leads Asheville in steals with 54 with Matt Dickey not too far behind with 47.
UNC Asheville begins a very busy week with the Northeastern game. Asheville will play four games in the next seven days, three of them at Justice Center but the one road game is a trip to Big South-leader Coastal Carolina on Tuesday. The Bulldogs play today against Northeastern, at Coastal Carolina Tuesday night and then come back home for the final two home games of the regular season. Asheville entertains High Point Thursday evening at 7 p.m. and then finishes the regular season with a game vs. Radford for homecoming next Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Bulldogs have been beaten badly on the boards in the last three games. Asheville has been out-rebounded by 39.7 to 24.9 in games against Winthrop (40-29), Gardner-Webb (40-33) and Charleston Southern (39-22). The last two games the Bulldogs have been without starting center and leading rebounder (8.3) in D.J. Cunningham, who is out with an injury. Cunningham is questionable for tonight.
J.P. Primm has 428 career assists and needs just three on Saturday to move past Josh Kohn (430) and into third place on the school's all-time career list.
The Bulldogs are 4-0 against non-conference opponents at home this season. However, only one of those games has been against a Division I opponent and that was on Dec. 28 when Asheville downed Western Carolina in overtime, 85-79.
