University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Mars Hill
Strong All-Around Night Pushes Asheville to Wednesday Win
11.18.2015 | Men's Basketball
THE RUNDOWN
Score: Asheville 84 – Mars Hill 51
Teams: Asheville (1-2, 0-0 BSC)
Mars Hill (0-2, 0-0 SAC)
Location: Kimmel Arena/Asheville, N.C.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Three UNC Asheville players finished with double-digit scoring nights, led by freshman Dwayne Sutton's game-high 16 points, as the Bulldogs grabbed their first win of the season 84-51 over Mars Hill on Wednesday night and will embark on their 10-day road trip with a positive note.
THE TURNING POINT
Asheville shot 55 percent as a team from the floor in the opening half and defensively held Mars Hill to just 17 points on 8-for-32 shooting (25 percent) to take a 46-17 lead into the halftime break and never looked back.
NOTABLES
-Sutton filled his stat line in the win, finishing with a 7-for-10 shooting night from the floor and grabbing seven rebounds in addition to his 16-point offensive production.
-Seniors Sam Hughes and John Cannon each tallied 11 points, with Hughes going a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor and grabbing nine rebounds in 20 minutes of action and Cannon notching his scoring effort in just 11 minutes of work.
-The Bulldogs had 12 players see action on the floor, including freshman Trae Bryant. Bryant made his collegiate debut and finished with six points and three assists. In all, 11 of the 12 Asheville players scored, with all 12 logging at least six minutes of playing time.
-Asheville turned the ball over nine times on Wednesday, an improvement over the two double-digit turnover nights in their first two games.
-The Bulldogs dominated in the paint, collecting 26 of their points inside. They also rebounded well, finishing with a 52-37 rebounding edge that led to 18 second chance points.
-After the hot shooting first half, Asheville cooled off some, finishing the night shooting at a 49 percent rate. The Bulldogs were 4-for-8 from three-point range in the first half but just 2-for-13 in the second half beyond the arc to finish at 29 percent (6-for-21) from distance.
QUOTABLES FROM HEAD COACH NICK McDEVITT
On the game – “I thought we performed well on the defensive end particularly. That's something we've stressed the last couple days. We've been able to score the ball the first couple games, but we needed to improve on the defensive end of the floor. Yesterday we did some things to improve on the mistakes we are making and I thought the guys did a really nice job out there. To hold any team to 17 points in a half, you're doing the job. Trae Bryant and Dylan Smith have been a little banged up early in the season and forced the other guards to play too many minutes to where they weren't fresh at the end of games. It was nice to be able to rotate those guys in and out and get Trae and others their feet wet before hitting the road.”
On the importance of getting in sync tonight before the road trip – “Any time you can get a win it's a good thing. With the games coming up against Texas A&M and Drexel (first round Great Alaskan Shootout opponent) it doesn't get any easier. We have to continue to get better and hopefully we can do that on Thursday and Friday in practice and get ready for a tough test Saturday afternoon.”
On upcoming travel schedule – “We certainly have an early rise on Friday morning (that throws off a normal practice schedule). We are looking at practicing tomorrow afternoon and hopefully those guys get to bed pretty soon because we will get up about 4:00 a.m. and leave campus around 5:00 a.m. We'll get down to Texas A&M on Friday and practice there that night and get ready for Saturday.”
UP NEXT
-Following tonight's victory, the Bulldogs head out on their 10-day road trip to play Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon before continuing on to the Great Alaskan Shootout on November 27, 28 and 29. The Bulldogs return home to Kimmel Arena on December 5 when they host Johnson & Wales.
