University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Men's Hoops at UAB on Sunday for TV Game at 8 p.m.
12.13.2014 | Men's Basketball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UNC Asheville men's basketball team begins a two-game road trip to the state of Alabama on Sunday when the Bulldogs travel to UAB for a first-time meeting with the Blazers starting at 8 p.m. EST.
Sunday's game will be televised regionally by the American Sports Network and can be seen locally on WMYA-TV (MY-40). Fans can also listen to the game on WWNC Radio (570-AM) or on-line at iHeartRadio with the pre-game show starting at 7:30 p.m.
Asheville (4-4) brings a two-game winning streak into Bartow Arena on Sunday as the Dogs downed Tusculum, 78-40 Thursday night at Kimmel Arena. UAB is 3-6 on the season but faced a rigorous non-conference schedule which included three games against ranked teams at the Battle for Atlantis two weeks ago.
“UAB is a good basketball team,” stated second-year Asheville coach Nick McDevitt. “They've faced a tough non-conference schedule and are going to win a lot of games this year. We're going to have to play for 40 minutes to have a chance at winning on Sunday.”
The second game of the trip will come Tuesday night when the Bulldogs travel to Jacksonville State at 8 p.m.
Asheville is being led in scoring by sophomore guard Andrew Rowsey. He's second in the nation in scoring with a 25.3 average and leads the nation in three-pointers made per game at 4.4. Freshman forward Kem Ubaru is second on the club in scoring (11.1) and rebounding (5.8). Sophomore guard David Robertson has scored in double figures in four of the last five games and has a 10.4 average.
This will be the first meeting between the Blazers and Bulldogs. It's Asheville's first appearance in the Birmingham since playing at Birmingham-Southern in the 2005-06 season when the Panthers were members of the Big South Conference. T
UAB is a member of Conference USA and this will be Asheville's second game against a school from that league in two weeks. The Bulldogs fell in overtime two weeks ago at home to Charlotte, 66-63 on a last-second three-pointer.
The last time the Bulldogs played in the state of Alabama was the opening game of the 2010-11 season when Asheville rallied past Auburn, 70-69 in overtime.
The Blue & White returns home after Tuesday night's game to prepare for a game with mountain rival Western Carolina at Kimmel Arena on Sunday, Dec. 21 at Kimmel Arena starting at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at uncabulldogs.com/tickets.
BULLDOG NOTES
Andrew Rowsey has scored in double figures in 36 straight games. He has scored 20 points or more in 10 consecutive contests. Rowsey has 850 career points and will become the first Asheville player in school history to score 1,000 career points as a sophomore. His three lowest-scoring games have come against the Bulldogs' three non-Division I opponents. In the five games against Division I opponents, Andrew is averaging 29 points per game, including 30 at South Carolina on Nov. 26.
The Bulldogs are 1-3 on the road this year but do own a victory at East Carolina, 83-79 on Nov. 16.
Asheville leads the Big South in scoring (79.1), free-throw percentage (.734) and three-point percentage (.401).
Senior center Jaleel Roberts will play at UAB after missing the Tusculum game with a hand injury. The 7-0 center leads the Big South and is 18th nationally in blocked shots (3.14). He tied a school and Big South-record with 10 blocks vs. Charlotte on Nov. 30.
Freshman guard Alec Wnuk was Big South Freshman of the Week on Monday after scoring 12 points and collecting seven rebounds against Limestone last Sunday. He is the second Bulldog rookie to earn the award. Kem Ubaru earned the honor the first two weeks of the season.
