University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Bulldogs Welcome Longwood to Town Saturday at Noon
01.29.2016 | Men's Basketball
THE MATCHUP
Teams: Asheville (14-8, 7-3 BSC)
Longwood (6-16, 2-7 BSC)
Location: Kimmel Arena / Asheville, N.C.
Time: 12:00 p.m.
AUDIO (Bulldog Radio Network) - LIVE STATS - TICKETS
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – UNC Asheville returns home on Saturday afternoon looking to keep pace at the top of the Big South Conference standings when Longwood comes to town for a 12:00 p.m. noon tipoff inside Kimmel Arena in a game that will be broadcast on the American Sports Network. Locally in the Asheville area, the game can be seen on WMYA MY40 television.
Asheville enters Saturday on the heels of a Wednesday night overtime loss at Coastal Carolina, while Longwood has lost three games in a row. The Bulldogs won the first meeting between the teams, back on Dec. 31 in Farmville, Va. by a 70-61 score.
NOTABLES
Turnovers Anyone?: The Bulldogs have won the turnover battle in 15 of 22 games this season, including each of the last 13 games dating back to Dec. 15 against ETSU. Asheville is 9-4 over that stretch, including a 6-3 record over Big South opponents.
Defending the Three: Asheville leads the Big South Conference in defending opponents' three-point shooting percentages, with opponents shooting just 28.8 percent from long range this season. Opponents have finished with three-point shooting percentages in 10 games this season (Asheville 7-3 record in those games).
The Right Combination: The Bulldogs have figured out the right combinations for point totals, both offensively and as a defense, this season. Asheville is third in the Big South Conference in Scoring Offense (75.7 points/game average), third in Scoring Defense (68.3 points/game allowed) and third in the conference in total scoring margin (+7.5 points/game average).
In the Series: Saturday's meeting will be the 7th meeting all-time between Asheville and Longwood, with the Bulldogs leading 5-1 in the series. Asheville dug out of a 13-point deficit in the opening minutes to earn a 70-61 victory over Longwood to close out the 2015 calendar year with a win in the first meeting back on Dec. 31. After starting with five turnovers in the first five minutes, Asheville eventually forced Longwood into 27 turnovers while finishing with 21 turnovers of their own. Asheville's lone loss to Longwood came in the quarterfinals of the 2013 BSC Tournament, an 87-72 Longwood victory that ended Asheville's two year run as Big South Tournament Champions.
UP NEXT
-Following Saturday's game, Asheville stays at home to host Charleston Southern on Wednesday night inside Kimmel Arena. The Bulldogs grabbed an 83-73 victory down in Charleston in the teams' first meeting back in early January.
