Bulldogs Travel to Ohio on Saturday for ESPN Bracketbuster Contest

ATHENS, Ohio - The UNC Asheville Bulldogs will participate in the ESPN Bracketbusters series Saturday night when they travel to Ohio University of the Mid-American Conference starting at 7 p.m. Saturday's game will be televised by ESPN3 and broadcast locally on WWNC Radio (570-AM) with the pre-game show starting at 6:30 p.m.

Asheville (19-8) became the first team in the nation to earn a post-season bid when the Bulldogs clinched the Big South Conference regular-season title last Saturday with an 88-62 victory over Radford. The Blue & White is assured of playing in at least the NIT if it doesn't win the Big South Tournament and advances to the NCAA Tournament.

The Bulldogs are coming off a 74-69 loss at Coastal Carolina Tuesday night. The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for Asheville and ended a 10-game Big South Conference road winning streak dating back to last season. The Dogs trailed 35-20 at halftime before rallying in the second half to cut the lead to one late in the contest.

"We just got too far behind in the first half. I was proud of the way we came back in the second half and really made a game of it but when you're that far behind you have to play almost perfect to come all the way back," said Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. "We didn't guard the three-point shooters early in the game and didn't run our offense the way we needed to."

Asheville faces a tough test against the Bobcats. Ohio is 20-6 overall and 8-4 in the MAC. They're 14-1 at home this season.

"Ohio University is a very good team with an outstanding tradition," stated Biedenbach. "They shoot the ball extremely well and are well-coached. This is a great opponent for us to play as we enter the final weeks of the season. We're going to have play much better than we did at Coastal Carolina in the first half to have any chance of winning."

Ohio is led by D.J. Cooper with a 13.9 scoring average. Walter Offutt is averaging 11.7 points per game. Nick Kellog is a three-point specialist for the Bobcats. He has 72 field goals on the year with 62 of them being from long distance.

The Bulldogs continue to be led by the brilliance of their senior guards. Matt Dickey tops the team with a 17.1 scoring average, fourth best in the Big South Conference. He's shooting .861 from the free throw and made 30 of his last 31 free throws. J.P. Primm, the school's all-time leader in assists and steals, is averaging 15.5 points per game.

Senior forward Chris Stephenson is Asheville's third leading scorer (13.0) and second leading rebounder (6.3). He missed the second half of Tuesday's game with an upper body injury. Stephenson is doubtful for Saturday's Ohio game but should be back next week.

Junior forward Jaron Lane is averaging 12.6 points per game, followed by Jeremy Atkinson with a 10.8 average. Atkinson leads Asheville in rebounding with a 6.7 average.

Saturday's game with Ohio is the Bulldogs final regular-season road game of the year. The Bulldogs have posted a school-record 8-4 road mark this season. Asheville finishes the regular season with two home games at Kimmel Arena next week. The Bulldogs host Gardner-Webb Thursday night at 7 p.m., followed by a game with Winthrop Saturday at 2 p.m. Saturday's game with the Eagles will be Senior Day as the school will honor its six seniors prior to the contest.

BULLDOG NOTES

UNC Asheville has won 13 of its last 15 games. The Bulldogs are 7-1 in their last eight road games.

Asheville is 1-1 all-time against the MAC and both games occurred against Buffalo. The Bulldogs defeated the Bulls in overtime in the 2007-08 season, 100-89 but fell in Buffalo the next season, 71-52.

The Bulldogs are 1-1 all-time in the Bracketbusters. Asheville won at Eastern Kentucky, 83-77 in 2006 but fell at home to Northeastern last year, 83-82.

Matt Dickey is tied for third place all-time on Asheville's all-time career scoring list with 1,693 points. He is fifth all-time in career assists (405), third in steals (177) and fourth in three-pointers made (187).

J.P. Primm is fifth all-time in career scoring at Asheville with 1,584 points. He is the program's all-time leader in assists (580), steals (233). Primm has moved into third place on Asheville's all-time career list for three-pointers made (193).

On the Bulldogs roster but not playing tonight due to the fact he's red-shirting this season is junior center D.J. Cunningham. He's from nearby Waterford, Ohio and enjoyed a great career at Waterford HS. Cunningham suffered a knee injury last summer but is coming along quite well and should be 100 percent next season.

The Bulldogs have out-rebounded their last four opponents.

Asheville has shot at least 80 percent from the free throw line in the past five games.