University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Bulldogs Renew Rivalry with Western Carolina on Sunday
11.14.2015 | Men's Basketball
THE MATCHUP
Teams: Asheville (0-1, 0-0 BSC)
Western Carolina (0-1, 0-0 SoCon)
Location: Liston B. Ramsey Regional Activity Center/Cullowhee, N.C.
Time: 4:30 p.m.
LIVE VIDEO (SoCon Digital Network) - LIVE AUDIO (Bulldog Radio Network)
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville men's basketball team will look to bounce back from Friday's loss at Tennessee on Sunday afternoon when they renew their mountain rivalry with regional foe Western Carolina in Cullowhee. The Bulldogs pushed Tennessee all the way to the wire before falling 82-78, while Western Carolina fell 97-72 at Cincinnati on Friday night in their opener.
NOTABLES
Bulldogs Continue Mountain Rivalry: UNC Asheville and Western Carolina have met 48 times on the hardwood over the years. Asheville trails 21-27 in the all-time series and has seen Western Carolina win the last two meetings in 2013 and 2014. The series dates all the way back to 1930 with the Bulldogs winning the first meeting 31-28 on Feb. 3, 1930. The last Asheville win in the series came in the Bulldogs' 2012 regular season opener - a 71-61 victory inside then second-year Kimmel Arena.
Last Meeting in the Series: Western Carolina's James Sinclair scored 20 points to rally Western Carolina to a 66-62 victory over UNC Asheville on December 21, 2014 at Kimmel Arena. The Bulldogs led by 16 early in the second half to see the Catamounts hold the Bulldogs to two field goals in the final seven minutes to earn the win. The Catamounts took the lead for good when they knocked down a long three-point basket at the 2:25 mark for a 61-60 WCU lead.
Welcome Back Will Weeks: Redshirt-junior Will Weeks' 25-point performance against Tennessee had coaches and fans alike remembering back to Weeks' freshman campaign prior to his knee injury that cost him a year and a half of game action. The Bulldog offense ran through Weeks at several points Friday as Tennessee was unable to stop the 6-6 Charlotte native. His final 25 point total was just off his career high, a 27-point performance during the 2012-13 season at Gardner-Webb as he went 11-of-12 from the floor. Weeks set a then single-game school record for his field goal percentage in that Gardner-Webb game. Former Bulldog Jaleel Roberts finished 12-of-12 at Winthrop last year to take over that school record. Roberts' record is also a Big South Conference record.
Looking to Bounce Back: The Bulldog loss at Tennessee Friday was Asheville's third consecutive season-opening loss (2013 Kentucky, 2014 Wake Forest, 2015 Tennessee), all on the road. Asheville now looks for a repeat of last season, when they dropped the opener at Wake Forest (80-69 loss) before bouncing back two days later and earning their first victory of the season at East Carolina with an 83-79 road victory.
Give Me a Break: Asheville will look to snap what is turning into a bit of a streak against Western Carolina in games played at the Ramsey Center. The Bulldogs have lost three straight matchups in Cullowhee. Asheville's last win in the Ramsey Center came during the 2007-08 season, an 83-73 victory on Nov. 20, 2007. That day's win pushed Asheville to their first ever 5-0 start as former Bulldog K.J. Garland scored 20 points and became the 23rd player in school history to reach 1,000 career points when he hit two free throws in the first half. That 2007 victory was Asheville's first win at the Ramsey Center since the 2001-02 season (72-66 Bulldog victory).
QUOTABLES FROM HEAD COACH NICK McDEVITT
On renewing rivalry with Western Carolina: “This is always a fun rivalry game. Everyone in the area is familiar with both schools and a lot of folks went to one school or the other. Western Carolina is a good team and we are certainly playing them early in the year, but it is a good test for our team to go on the road early and need to play well in order to win. Road wins are tough to come by. Certainly tomorrow will be no different. Coach Hunter does a great job with those guys and it's a tall test for us tomorrow.
Final thoughts on Tennessee: “Obviously you look at the performances by Will Weeks and Kevin Vannatta and they certainly played well. I was happy with the way we were able to rebound the ball. Going into games like that, you have to be able to rebound and keep your turnovers down. I thought the pace of the game in the first half was in our favor but in the second half got more into Tennessee's favor, so we need to do a little better job of that. We have to learn from last night, things that went well and why they went well and learn from the things that did not and move forward.”
On the quick, two-day turnaround: “We talked about that today with the team. This is a quick turnaround, but pretty soon we've got three games in three days up at the Great Alaskan Shootout. It's important how we learn from the night before, but we need to learn how to take care of our bodies in between games as well. There were some guys who played a lot of minutes last night, so it is important how we as coaches treat our guys with how much rest and how much practice we give between games. It is also important for them to be smart and stay off their feet so we can be ready to play a rally good Western Carolina team tomorrow afternoon.”
UP NEXT
-Following Sunday afternoon's game, Asheville returns to Kimmel Arena for their regular season home opener on Wednesday night against another local foe in Mars Hill. Wednesday's game will be the Bulldogs' final tune-up before embarking on their 10-day road trip to play Texas A&M and in the Great Alaskan Shootout.
