University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Bulldogs Travel to High Point for Key Matchup
01.19.2016 | Men's Basketball
THE MATCHUP
Teams: Asheville (13-6, 6-1 BSC)
High Point (12-6, 5-2 BSC)
Location: Millis Center / High Point, N.C.
Time: 7:00 p.m.
VIDEO (Big South Network) - AUDIO (Bulldog Radio Network) - LIVE STATS
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – UNC Asheville travels to High Point on Wednesday night looking to stay alone at the top of the Big South Conference standings. Wednesday will be the only regular season meeting between the two teams this season, and a victory would push the Bulldogs two games in front of High Point in the standings.
High Point and Gardner-Webb each enter Wednesday's action one game back of Asheville at 5-2 in league play.
NOTABLES
Controlling the Glass: Despite its perceived height disadvantage, Asheville has won the rebounding battle in 14 of its 19 games this season and is 11-3 when outrebounding its opponents. The Bulldogs are 2-3 when losing the rebounding battle, with victories over Georgetown and Furman.
Sharing the Load: The Bulldogs are the only team in the Big South with five players averaging double-digits scoring to date, with Asheville's five starters all averaging 10 points or more both overall and in league play. Three other BSC teams (Campbell, Coastal Carolina, Longwood) have four players averaging double figures.
Creating Chances: Asheville has mastered turning its defense into offense, with the Bulldogs averaging 8.9 steals/game this season – a number that his grown to 11.0 steals/game in league play – while notching a +4.8 margin in the turnover battle this season.
In the Series: Wednesday's meeting will be the 48th meeting all-time between Asheville and High Point, with the Bulldogs leading 27-20 in the series. The Bulldogs lost both meetings last season, and have lost three in a row overall. Over the last 10 seasons, Asheville is 2-7 in games played at High Point, and 6-3 in home games. The Bulldogs are 3-0 in Big South Tournament matchups.
QUOTABLES FROM HEAD COACH NICK McDEVITT
On the matchup – “Every game is important in league play. They all are tough and it's another good opponent on the road. High Point is a very good team and it's a very difficult place to play – the crowd is always loud, excited and energetic. Winning games on the road, in particular at High Point, is tough.”
On comparing road games – “It's a different scenario. You have to approach each game as its own. Each is a road game but some are overnight stays where you practice there the night before and shoot around the day of. This instance, High Point is a day trip for us, so we will practice here at home Tuesday with no shoot around Wednesday. Each game has a different feel. Certainly the opponent and personnel are different. You have to look at each game and go about it the best way you can.”
On team energy – “I think this team does a nice job of playing hard and playing together. When you do that, you give yourselves a chance win even when you aren't shooting particularly well. I thought particularly in the first half the other night against Gardner-Webb we were doing a good job of continuing to play hard. We were playing well on the defensive end and gave ourselves a chance to win the game and we didn't let the inability to make shots in the first half dictate our defensive effort. We gave ourselves a chance to win because of our intensity on the defensive end. As long as we continue to do that, I think we give ourselves a chance to win games.”
UP NEXT
-Following Wednesday's game, Asheville returns home to host Presbyterian inside Kimmel Arena on Saturday. Tipoff will be at 4:30 p.m. and the game will be an ESPN3 telecast.
