Men's Basketball to Host Presbyterian on Thursday

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville men's basketball team guns for their third straight victory on Thursday night when the Bulldogs welcome Presbyterian College to Kimmel Arena for a key Big South Conference battle starting at 7 p.m.

Thursday's game can be seen for free on the Big South Network by clicking this link. Fans can also listen to the game on WWNC Radio (570AM) or iHeartRadio with the pre-game show beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Asheville (13-11, 9-4 BSC) moved into first place in the league standings with a thrilling 92-89 victory at Gardner-Webb Monday night. Andrew Rowsey hit three free throws with three seconds remaining for the winning points. Giacomo Zilli and Rowsey led the Dogs with 19 points each. The Bulldogs entered Monday's game in a seven-way tie for first place in the Big South. Monday was the only game on the Big South docket. Asheville will be joined in a tie by a couple of teams with Wednesday's games.

“We had a great win on Monday night at Gardner-Webb. I was real proud of our guys for being ready to play and finding a way to beat a good opponent on the road,” explained second-year coach Nick McDevitt. “Our focus now is on an improved Presbyterian team that beat us last year late in the season.”

PC has an 8-17 overall record and is 4-8 in league play. The Blue Hose has played everyone close this year and McDevitt expects a tough game from PC Thursday. They edged the Bulldogs last year in Clinton, 72-71 on a late three-pointer. The Blue Hose downed Liberty at home on Friday, 69-61

“Presbyterian is a well-coached team that has some good young talent. They shoot the ball very well, and we better be ready to play for 40 minutes against these guys,” added McDevitt.

Asheville is being led in scoring this year by sophomore guard Andrew Rowsey with an 18.5 mark. He is moved up to fifth nationally in free throw percentage at .921. Rowsey has connected on 28 of his last 29 free throws and is shooting .930 (53-of-57) in conference play. Sophomore guard David Robertson is next in scoring with an 11.2 average. Jaleel Roberts top the Dogs in rebounding (5.3) and leads the Big South in blocked shots (2.6).

Sophomore center Giacomo Zilli has been on a tear the past two games. He scored a then career-high 16 points and 14 rebounds in Asheville's 71-56 victory over Longwood Friday night. Zilli scored all 16 of his points and had 12 of his rebounds in the second half. He then went 7-of-8 and tallied 19 points vs. Gardner-Webb Monday night. He went 13-of-18 from the field in those two contests.

Asheville is 9-2 against PC since the Blue Hose program joined the Big South in 2008. But Presbyterian College delivered the Bulldogs a crushing 72-71 defeat last year. The loss prevented Asheville from finishing in first place in last year's BSC's South Division. The Dogs are 5-0 vs. the Blue Hose in Asheville, including a 2-0 record at Kimmel Arena.

The Bulldogs have some time off after Thursday's game. Asheville will not play this weekend and won't play again until it visits Winthrop on Feb. 18.

BULLDOG NOTES

This is the fourth year that Asheville has played its home games at Kimmel Arena and the Bulldogs have enjoyed a great deal of success in their new home The Dogs are 44-11 all-time at Kimmel Arena and 32-5 against Big South Conference opponents. Asheville has won nine of its last 10 BSC games at Kimmel.

The Bulldogs are 11-2 when they out-rebound their opponents.

Asheville's 92 points at Gardner-Webb was a season-high. In addition, the Bulldogs shot a season-best .627 (37-of-59) from the field against the Runnin' Bulldogs.

Andrew Rowsey moved into 27^th place on the school's career scoring list on Monday. He now has 1,093 points. Next up is 26^th held by Reid Augst (1,120).

The Bulldogs are seeking their eighth consecutive season with 10 Big South wins on Thursday.