University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Men's Basketball Faces Coastal Carolina Friday in BSC Quarterfinals
03.05.2015 | Men's Basketball
CONWAY, S.C. – The UNC Asheville men's basketball team returns to action Friday night when the Bulldogs take on third-seeded Coastal Carolina in the quarterfinals of the Big South Conference Championship on the Chanticleers home-court starting at 8 p.m.
Friday's game can be heard locally on WWNC Radio (570-AM) and on iHeartRadio with the broadcast starting at 8 p.m. Fans can also watch the game digitally on ESPN3.
The winner of Friday's game will meet Saturday in the semifinals against the winner of the High Point-Gardner-Webb quarterfinal contest on Friday.
The Bulldogs (15-15) advanced to the quarterfinals with a hard-fought 80-70 victory over Liberty in Wednesday's first round. Andrew Rowsey led Asheville with 34 points and set a first-round record for points and three-pointers made (7). He was 9-of-10 from the free throw line. David Robertson added 14 points, while Sam Hughes chipped in 12 points. Rowsey and Robertson's nine free throws also tied a BSC first-round tourney record.
Asheville now turns its attention to a Chanticleer (21-9) squad that won last year's championship and will playing on their home floor.
“This is going to be a big challenge playing the defending conference champions on their home floor in the conference tournament,” stated Bulldog coach Nick McDevitt. “We'll need to be at our best for 40 minutes against a very good Coastal Carolina team.
The teams split decisive home victories during the regular season. Asheville downed the Chants, 75-65 at Kimmel Arena on Jan. 22 behind 17 points from Andrew Rowsey. Coastal Carolina dominated the second half as it raced pat the Bulldogs, 68-56 at the HTC Center on Feb. 3. The game was tied 27-27 at halftime but CCU went on a 15-2 run to start the second half
This will be the eighth meeting between the Bulldogs and Chanticleers in the Big South Tournament with Asheville holding a 4-3 advantage. The teams will meet for the fifth time in BSC play in the last 10 years with all the games taking place in Conway. CCU won a quarterfinal contest in 2006 and a semifinal match-up in 2010. The Bulldogs won in the quarterfinals in 2007 and claimed a 60-47 decision in the 2011 BSC title game.
Sophomore guard Andrew Rowsey is on a major roll heading into Friday's game. He has scored 100 points in the last three games (33.3 ppg) as he's gone 18-of-31 (.581) from the three-point line and 28-of-30 from the charity stripe. He's increased his scoring average to 19.4 points per game with his last three games.
BULLDOG NOTES
Coastal Carolina and UNC Asheville have won three of the last four Big South Conference championships. The Bulldogs captured the 2011 and 2012 titles, while the Chanticleers took last year's crown.
Asheville has advanced to the semifinals of the Big South Tournament seven of the last eight years.
Andrew Rowsey has averaged 28 points in three Big South Tournament games dating back to last season. He is 25-of-42 (.595) from the field and 16-of-26 (.615) from beyond the arc in three BSC contests.
Friday's quarterfinal contest will mark the first time the Bulldogs have been the lower seed in a tournament games since the 2011 BSC title game when they defeated top-seeded Coastal Carolina, 60-47. Asheville has been the higher seeded team in the last seven BSC tourney games and gone 5-2 in that stretch.
The Bulldogs are 1-5 all-time at the HTC Center and 0-3 against Coastal Carolina here. Asheville has dropped its last four meetings to the Chanticleers in Conway, once at Kimbel Arena and 0-3 at the HTC Center.
Jaleel Roberts leads the Big South and is 22nd nationally in blocked shots at 2.69 per game (78).
Asheville is 11-2 when it out-rebounds its opponents. The Bulldogs have won their last two games, both over Liberty, but were out-rebounded in both contests. Asheville is 4-11 when it does not win the rebounding battle.
Andrew Rowsey moved into second-place on Asheville's career three-pointer list on Wednesday and now has 205. He moved past two Bulldog greats on Wednesday in Matt Dickey (199) and J.P. Primm (201). Rowsey has 99 made three-pointers on the season.
