Men's Basketball Starts Road Trip at Campbell on ESPN3

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville men's basketball team begins a two-game road trip on Saturday afternoon when the Bulldogs travel to Campbell for a Big South contest that will be broadcast on ESPN3 that starts at 4 p.m.

Fans can watch the game on ESPN3 at this link. You can also listen to the game on WWNC Radio (570-AM) or on mobile devices at iHeartRadio.

Asheville (7-8, 3-1 BSC) is coming off a disappointing 84-69 home loss to Winthrop Wednesday night at Kimmel Arena. The loss was Asheville's first league loss of the season and its worst loss ever to a league foe at Kimmel.

“We didn't defend very well against Winthrop and when you give up 84 points in game, it's going to be hard to win,” stated Bulldog coach Nick McDevitt. “I thought we did a nice job fighting back in the second half and not hanging our heads but you can't give a good team like Winthrop a 17-point halftime lead and expect to come back.”

The Bulldogs turn their attention to a talented Campbell squad that is 7-11 on the season and 1-4 in league play. The Camels fell to Radford Thursday night, 72-55 but nearly beat league-leading Coastal Carolina on Monday before losing, 70-67.

“Campbell has a solid team and is well-coached. They have a very talented front-line and are extremely tough to beat at home,” commented McDevitt. “We're going to have to play a lot better than we did Wednesday night.”

Saturday's game starts a tough stretch for the Bulldogs as they'll play five games with four on the road. Asheville is at Charleston Southern Monday night, returns home to host Coastal Carolina Thursday night on ESPNU, and is back on the road at High Point (Jan. 24) and Longwood (Jan. 28).

“We've got a tough stretch of games coming up,” declared McDevitt. “The Big South Conference is as good and as balanced as it's ever been. Every game will be tough. We need to take one game at a time.”

Andrew Rowsey leads the Bulldogs and is second in the Big South in scoring with an 18.8 average. He's also second in the league in free throw percentage (.903) and third in steals (1.8) and three-pointers made (3.07). David Robertson is second on the team in scoring at 12.2 points per game. Senior center Jaleel Roberts tops the Dogs in rebounding (5.6) and leads the Big South in blocked shots (3.29). He is seventh nationally in that category.

BULLDOG NOTES

UNC Asheville's 3-1 league start marks the second straight season the Bulldogs have begun the league play with that mark.

The Bulldogs last four BSC road wins (3 last season) have come by a combined margin of 11 points.

Jaleel Roberts has 98 career blocked shots and is tied with Milton Moore for eighth place on the school's career list.

The Bulldogs trail in the series 19-17 but have won the first four meetings between the teams in Big South Conference play since Campbell rejoined the league in 2011-12. Asheville is 2-1 at Gore Arena but just 3-7 against the Camels in Buies Creek in Big South Conference games dating back to the 1986-87 season.

Andrew Rowsey has scored in double figures in 43 of 47 games he's played in his career. He has 930 career points (19.0 ppg) and should become the first sophomore in school to reach 1,000 career points.

Asheville leads the Big South Conference in blocked shots (5.27) and steals (8.13).

Despite the Bulldogs performance defensively on Wednesday night, Asheville is much better in all areas this year. The Dogs have allowed 68.5 points per game compared to 75.8 a year ago. Asheville's field goal percentage defense is at .396 this season, compared to .437 last season. Three-point percentage defense is at .305 in 2015, compared to .351 in 2014.

Asheville has out-rebounded its last three opponents. The Bulldogs are 6-1 when they out-rebounded their opponents.