University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville Men's Basketball Ready to Host Winthrop on Saturday
02.04.2011 | Men's Basketball
Asheville (12-10, 7-5 BSC) is tied for third place in the Big South Conference standings with Charleston Southern (13-11, 7-5 BSC). The Eagles (10-12, 6-6 BSC) are just a game back after they edged Gardner-Webb on the road Thursday, 60-57 on a three-pointer from Charles Corbin at the buzzer.
The Bulldogs played extremely well on Thursday night with an 88-55 victory over Presbyterian College at Justice Center. Asheville led 55-20 at halftime and shot a season-high 61.1 percent (33-of-54) from the field in the victory.
"We played very well on Thursday, especially in the first half," admitted Bulldog coach Eddie Biedenbach. "It was nice to shoot the ball so well but the key to the game was our defense and our rebounding. We did a great job, making them take tough shots and then we didn't give up second shots.
"We were fortunate with some of the shots we hit but I thought early in the game we did an excellent job taking good shots and getting an early lead," added Biedenbach. "It was one of those nights where everything we did went our way, and Presbyterian had the opposite happen to them."
The Bulldogs downed Winthrop back on Jan. 6 in Rock Hill, 88-67. It was just the second regular-season victory in Rock Hill for Asheville in the past 13 seasons. Biedenbach expects a much tougher game on Saturday at Justice Center.
"We played extremely well at Winthrop last month, and we also shot the ball really good that night," commented Biedenbach. "We were fortunate to catch Winthrop on a bad night for them and a great night for us. Our guys know that it will be an extremely tough game on Saturday. They play great defense like they always do and have got guys who can score."
The Bulldogs continue to be led in the backcourt by their guards. Junior Matt Dickey has a 15.3 scoring average, while J.P. Primm is at 15.0 points per game. Sophomore center D.J. Cunningham has a 10.5 scoring average and tops the club in rebounding with an 8.3 mark.
Winthrop is led by four players averaging in double figures. They are Robbie Dreher (13.4), Andre Jones (10.5), Reggie Middleton (10.1) and Charles Corbin (10.0). As usual, the Eagles are playing great defense. Opponents are averaging just 66.1 points per game and shooting just 41 percent from the field.
Bulldog Notes
Hot Shooting From The Field: The Bulldogs have been red-hot from the field lately. Asheville has shot better than 50 percent from the field in four straight games and in six of the last seven contests. The last two games have seen the Bulldogs shoot more than 60 percent in two consecutive games. Asheville shot 60.3 percent (38-63) at VMI last Saturday and then shot an amazing 61.1 percent (33-54) vs. Presbyterian College Thursday. The Bulldogs lead the Big South Conference in league games in field goal percentage at 49.2 percent (321-652). In the last four games, Asheville is shooting 57.1 percent (128-224) from the field
New Time for BracketBuster Game on Feb. 19 vs. Northeastern: UNC Asheville will be playing Northeastern in the ESPNU Bracketbuster game on Feb. 19 at Justice Center. However, there's a new time for that game. The Bulldogs will face the Huskies at 2 p.m., followed by the women's game against Charleston Southern starting at 4:30 p.m. The change was made to help Northeastern with its travel plans back to Boston on that day.
Welcome to the Club J.P.: Junior guard J.P. Primm became the third Bulldog player this season to reach 1,000 career points when he sank a three-pointer early in the second half against Presbyterian College. Primm needed 15 points to reach 1,000 and he scored 15 points on Thursday night against the Blue Hose. He joins senior forward John Williams and junior guard Matt Dickey who reached the 1,000-point plateau earlier this year.
Take me to TV Land: The Bulldogs are off this week before heading to Gardner-Webb next Saturday (Feb. 12) night for an 8 p.m. contest with the Runnin' Bulldogs. The game will be televised regionally by MASN.
