University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Tennessee
Bulldogs Push Tennessee to the Limit in Friday Night Opener
11.13.2015 | Men's Basketball
THE RUNDOWN
Score: Tennessee 82 – Asheville 78
Teams: Asheville (0-1, 0-0BSC)
Tennessee (1-0, 0-0 SEC)
Location: Thompson-Boiling Arena, Knoxville, TN
Knoxville, TN – The UNC Asheville men's basketball team opened the 2015-16 season with a dogfight at Tennessee on Friday night, with the Bulldogs holding a lead or being tied into the final two minutes before falling 82-78 to the Volunteers.
THE TURNING POINT
With Asheville down by two points with 1:27 remaining, Will Weeks was blocked by Tennessee's Robert Hubbs. The Bulldogs were unable to get any closer as Tennessee hit six of their final seven free throws.
NOTABLES
-Will Weeks finished with an Asheville team-high 25 points in 38 minutes of action. The redshirt junior was 10-for-18 from the floor and added five rebounds to his stat line in the loss.
-Kevin Vannatta and Sam Hughes also finished with double-digit scoring nights. Vannatta was 5-for-8 (3-for-5 three-point shooting) and grabbed seven rebounds in his 38 minutes, while Hughes was 5-for-6 from the floor and added one rebound, one steal and one assist.
-Tennessee was led by Kevin Punter's 31-point night, as three players finished in double-figure scoring.
-Down 10 points with 12:55 remaining, Asheville went on a six minute, 13-3 run to tie the game and pull back into the contest and set up the final five minutes of action.
-The game featured 15 ties and eight lead changes in the tight contest, with Tennessee notching 42 points in the paint and Asheville finishing with 40 paint points. The Bulldogs tallied 17 second chance points as they outrebounded Tennessee 36-33.
-The Bulldogs finished the night shooting 45 percent from the floor and 35 percent from three-point range. Tennessee collected a 53 percent overall shooting percentage but were just 4-for-16 (25 percent) from three-point range. Both teams shot well from the free throw stripe, with Asheville (78 percent) outshooting Tennessee (69 percent) from the line.
QUOTABLES FROM HEAD COACH NICK McDEVITT
On the game – “Obviously a little disappointed. We went out there and played hard. Very encouraging about what's ahead for our team. I thought we grew up a little bit tonight. We had a shot there at the under-four media timeout and that's what you play for - to give yourself a chance to win at crunch time. Give Tennessee credit, they made some plays and made free throws down the stretch to keep us at bay. I'm really proud of our effort to come back from a 10-point deficit in the second half. Immature or young teams go away in that situation. I'm really proud of what we did out there.”
On the key block on Will Weeks – “I would have liked to have seen how big of a play that would have been (to have scored). You never know how the other team is going to respond. Perhaps a layup or an and-one there, and you take a two possession lead there in the final minutes…you never know how the other team will respond.”
On Will Weeks – “We've always known the level of player Will is and the talent he is. His injury really set him back and he lost almost two years due to it. He's finally getting his legs under him now. When he's healthy and feels good, he can put up performances like tonight.”
UP NEXT
-Following tonight's loss, Asheville prepares for a quick turnaround as they travel to take on regional rival Western Carolina on Sunday afternoon in Cullowhee. Western Carolina fell 97-72 at Cincinnati on Friday night.
