University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Photo by: UNC Asheville
Bulldogs Open CIT at UT Martin on Thursday
03.15.2017 | Men's Basketball
UNC Asheville Men's Basketball Postseason Interactive Guide (Click Link to Access)
UNC Asheville-UT Martin Game Notes (Click Link to Access)
Teams: UNC Asheville (23-9, 15-3 Big South Conference)
UT Martin (21-12, 10-6 Ohio Valley Conference)
Location: Martin, Tenn. / Elam Center
Time: 8 p.m. EST
Video: Facebook Live **Link will go live shortly before the start of the game**
Radio: Star 95.1
Live Stats: uncabulldogs.com
Twitter: @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
BULLDOG BITES
CIT BOUND: UNC Asheville men's basketball has accepted a bid to participate in the 2017 CollegeInsider.com (CIT) Postseason Tournament. The Bulldogs will take on UT Martin (21-12) in the opening round of the CIT in Martin, Tenn. at 8 p.m. EST (7 p.m. CST) on Thursday, March 16. All tickets for the contest will be just $10. "We are looking forward to participating in the CIT and we are privileged to continue playing," UNC Asheville head men's basketball coach Nick McDevitt said. "We are excited to represent the Big South Conference and UNC Asheville for the second time in as many years in a postseason tournament. UT Martin will be a tough opponent. They are a 21-win team that won the West Division of the OVC, so we'll need to be ready to play on Thursday night."
POSTSEASON PLAY: The appearance in this year's CIT will mark UNC Asheville's sixth appearance in a postseason tournament. The Bulldogs have advanced to the NCAA Tournament four times before (2003, 2011, 2012 and 2016) and the NIT (2008) once.
ABOUT THE CIT: This year's CIT will be the ninth edition of the annual event. The CIT was created by CollegeInsider.com in 2009 in order to give deserving teams an opportunity to participate in the postseason. Since then, the CIT has had more schools make their postseason debut (25) and more programs win their first-ever postseason game (24) than all other tournaments combined. In addition, the CIT has produced three NBA Lottery picks and two top-10 selections including Damian Lillard (6th overall in 2012) who was named the 2012 NBA Rookie of the Year which marked the first time since 1955 that a tournament other than the NCAA Tournament had produced the NBA Rookie of the Year. CollegeInsider.com was founded in 1996 with their online coverage dedicated exclusively to college basketball. In 1998, CollegeInsider.com created the Mid-Major Top 25 that has become the measuring stick for teams outside the power conferences and is now trademarked. Each year, CollegeInsider.com presents 17 national awards in basketball named after some of the greatest coaches in the history of the game including Clarence "Big House" Gaines, Lou Henson, John McLendon and Lute Olson. Since the inception of the CIT in 2009, the tournament has expanded from a 16-teams to 32-teams in 2012. CollegeInsider.com has been nominated for four Emmy Awards and in 2013 won the New York Emmy Award in Sports Coverage for the Sportscast/Series category and was selected over top broadcast outlets such as MSG and SNY.
SCOUTING UT MARTIN: UT Martin is in the CIT field for the third consecutive year after advancing to the semifinals two years ago. The Skyhawks are 4-2 all-time in the event. UT Martin finished first in the OVC West Division for the second-straight year and advanced to the OVC Tournament Championship game for the second-straight season (after never appearing in the title game before last year). This year's CIT marks the first time in program history the Skyhawks have played in national postseason tournaments in three-straight years. Thursday's game will mark the first ever postseason home game in UT Martin men's basketball history.
BIG SOUTH REGULAR-SEASON TITLE NO. 6: UNC Asheville men's basketball picked up their sixth regular-season title in the 2016-17 season (1996-97, 1997-98, 2001-02, 2007-08, 2011-12 and 2016-17). Asheville head coach Nick McDevitt has been a part of five of the six Big South Conference regular-season crowns either as a player, assistant coach or head coach (1997-98, 2001-02, 2007-08, 2011-12 and 2016-17).
SPECIAL YEAR: With one more win the 2016-17 UNC Asheville men's basketball team would tie the 2011-12 Bulldog men's basketball team for the most wins in program history with 24.
REGULAR-SEASON FINALE: The UNC Asheville men's basketball team claimed a share of the Big South Conference regular-season title with a 63-45 win over Liberty before a crowd of 2,928 at Kimmel Arena on Saturday, Feb. 25. UNC Asheville (23-8, 15-3 Big South Conference) and Winthrop (22-6, 15-3 Big South Conference) shared this year's regular-season title. Due to numerous tiebreaking procedures, Winthrop earned the No. 1 seed in the Big South Conference Men's Basketball Tournament and will play host to the quarterfinals and semifinals. The highest remaining seed will host the championship game. The game would start with Liberty leading by as many as seven in the first half with just over 12 minutes left in the half. The Bulldogs would trail by just one though at the halftime break at 26-25. The second half would be all Bulldogs with UNC Asheville outscoring the Flames, 38-19, in the half to pick up the 18-point win. UNC Asheville junior guard Ahmad Thomas scored a career-best 31 points in the Big South-title clinching victory for the Bulldogs. Thomas put together an impressive stat sheet as always in the game with 31 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block. Bulldog freshman guard MaCio Teague collected his second double-double of the year in the game with 12 points and a career-high-tying 10 rebounds. He also had four assists and one block. Myo Baxter-Bell was the top scorer for the Flames in their loss with 18 points. UNC Asheville shot 51.1 percent (24-of-47) from the field as a team in the contest, while also holding Liberty to just 30.2 percent (16-of-53) as a team. The Bulldogs held Liberty to just 20.8 percent (5-of-24) from the floor as a team in half No. 2.
ALL-CONFERENCE: The UNC Asheville men's basketball team dominated the major individual awards for the 2016-17 regular-season for the Big South Conference with Nick McDevitt named Coach of the Year, junior guard Ahmad Thomas chosen Defensive Player of the Year, freshman guard MaCio Teague selected as Freshman of the Year and senior forward Giacomo Zilli tabbed as Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The league office unveiled the 2016-17 Big South Men's Basketball All-Conference awards on Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. "It's an honor to receive these postseason awards," McDevitt said. "Although they are individual accolades, we all recognize that it takes hard work and dedication by many for any of it to be possible. I'm very proud of my staff and our players for what they continue to do each day to make this basketball program successful." In addition, Teague and Thomas were chosen first-team All-Conference with Teague also garnering a spot on the All-Freshman team.
DEFENSIVE LOCKDOWN: In the most important game of the season to date, UNC Asheville men's basketball held their opponent in Liberty in the regular-season finale to just 45 points, which is the least scored by a Bulldog opponent all season.
FANS SHOWED UP WHEN IT MATTERED MOST: UNC Asheville fans showed up to support their championship team in a big way on Saturday, Feb. 25, with a season-high 2,928 fans inside Kimmel Arena.
1,000 POINTS, 500 REBOUNDS: With his six rebounds in the regular-season finale against Liberty, Ahmad Thomas became the 56th player in Big South Conference history to score over 1,000 points and collect over 500 rebounds. Thomas now has 1,076 career points and 508 career rebounds. Thomas with his two steals in the Big South Tournament now also has 186 steals in his Bulldog career. Thomas is nearing becoming just the sixth player in league history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 steals.
HOME SWEET HOME: UNC Asheville is currently in the midst of a nine-game home winning streak. The Bulldogs closed out the regular-season 13-1 on the year at home. UNC Asheville after the win over Liberty is now 68-16 all-time at Kimmel Arena, including 48-10 in Big South Conference contests.
IMPRESSIVE FREE THROW STREAK COMES TO A CLOSE: MaCio Teague connected on his first three free throws in the Gardner-Webb game to extend his made free throw streak to 29. When he missed his fourth attempt on the night it snapped the impressive streak.
500 REBOUNDS: Ahmad Thomas was the second Bulldog to surpass over 500 rebounds this season as Will Weeks reached the mark in Asheville's road win at Longwood on Feb. 11. Weeks at the time became the 83rd player in Big South Conference history to surpass the mark. Weeks has 533 career rebounds.
TOP-25: Big South Conference regular-season co-champion UNC Asheville men's basketball is ranked 24th in the latest CollegeInsider.com Men's Basketball Mid-Major Top-25. The Bulldogs have now been ranked in four straight polls. Asheville is one of two Big South Conference teams in the latest poll as fellow Big South Conference co-champion and tournament champion Winthrop is 17th. The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast and Western Athletic.
THOMAS NAMED BIG SOUTH PLAYER OF THE WEEK (2/26/17): UNC Asheville junior guard Ahmad Thomas was selected as the Big South Conference Player of the Week it was announced by the league office on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017. Thomas garnered weekly accolades from the Big South Conference for the third time this season as he was also named the league Player of the Week on Dec. 12, 2016 and Feb. 13, 2017. In UNC Asheville's two games on the week, Thomas averaged 28 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game. Thomas shot 66.7 percent (24-of-36) from the field overall and 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from beyond the arc. In UNC Asheville's game at Gardner-Webb on Thursday, Feb. 23, the Danville, Va. native ended his efforts with 25 points, five rebounds, three steals and one assist. The Hargrave Military Academy product followed that up by ending his day with a career-best 31 points to go along with six rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block in UNC Asheville's win over Liberty at Kimmel Arena on Saturday, Feb. 25.
WIN NO. 75: UNC Asheville men's basketball head coach Nick McDevitt picked up his 75th win in charge of the Asheville men's basketball program in the win over Presbyterian on Feb. 15. McDevitt has led the Bulldogs to back-to-back 20-win seasons.
AMONG THE BEST: Already the single-season program record holder in the category, Ahmad Thomas is currently fourth in the country in total steals with 96. He is fifth in the country in steals per game with 3.00 steals per outing. Thomas with his five steals in the win over Charleston Southern on Feb. 1 became the first Big South player with back-to-back 70-steal campaigns since VMI's Chavis Holmes (2006-08). He is just the fourth overall in Big South Conference history to accomplish the impressive feat.
OVER 900: With his 12 points in the Big South Tournament, UNC Asheville senior guard David Robertson surpassed 900 points in his career as he now has 911 career points. Junior guard Kevin Vannatta is nearing 900 points as well. Currently, Vannatta has scored 895 points in his Bulldog career.
IT'S A STEAL: The UNC Asheville men's basketball team boasts one of the top defenses in the entire country with the Bulldogs seventh in the country in total steals (300). The Bulldogs are also sixth in the country in steals per game (9.38).
FASTEST TO 20: UNC Asheville's win over Longwood on Feb. 11 allowed this year's Bulldog men's basketball team to reach 20 wins in the fewest number of games (27) in the Bulldogs' time in the Big South Conference.
QUOTABLES
"We are looking forward to participating in the CIT and we are privileged to continue playing. We are excited to represent the Big South Conference and UNC Asheville for the second time in as many years in a postseason tournament. UT Martin will be a tough opponent. They are a 21-win team that won the West Division of the OVC, so we'll need to be ready to play on Thursday night." - Head Coach Nick McDevitt
UNC Asheville-UT Martin Game Notes (Click Link to Access)
Teams: UNC Asheville (23-9, 15-3 Big South Conference)
UT Martin (21-12, 10-6 Ohio Valley Conference)
Location: Martin, Tenn. / Elam Center
Time: 8 p.m. EST
Video: Facebook Live **Link will go live shortly before the start of the game**
Radio: Star 95.1
Live Stats: uncabulldogs.com
Twitter: @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
BULLDOG BITES
CIT BOUND: UNC Asheville men's basketball has accepted a bid to participate in the 2017 CollegeInsider.com (CIT) Postseason Tournament. The Bulldogs will take on UT Martin (21-12) in the opening round of the CIT in Martin, Tenn. at 8 p.m. EST (7 p.m. CST) on Thursday, March 16. All tickets for the contest will be just $10. "We are looking forward to participating in the CIT and we are privileged to continue playing," UNC Asheville head men's basketball coach Nick McDevitt said. "We are excited to represent the Big South Conference and UNC Asheville for the second time in as many years in a postseason tournament. UT Martin will be a tough opponent. They are a 21-win team that won the West Division of the OVC, so we'll need to be ready to play on Thursday night."
POSTSEASON PLAY: The appearance in this year's CIT will mark UNC Asheville's sixth appearance in a postseason tournament. The Bulldogs have advanced to the NCAA Tournament four times before (2003, 2011, 2012 and 2016) and the NIT (2008) once.
ABOUT THE CIT: This year's CIT will be the ninth edition of the annual event. The CIT was created by CollegeInsider.com in 2009 in order to give deserving teams an opportunity to participate in the postseason. Since then, the CIT has had more schools make their postseason debut (25) and more programs win their first-ever postseason game (24) than all other tournaments combined. In addition, the CIT has produced three NBA Lottery picks and two top-10 selections including Damian Lillard (6th overall in 2012) who was named the 2012 NBA Rookie of the Year which marked the first time since 1955 that a tournament other than the NCAA Tournament had produced the NBA Rookie of the Year. CollegeInsider.com was founded in 1996 with their online coverage dedicated exclusively to college basketball. In 1998, CollegeInsider.com created the Mid-Major Top 25 that has become the measuring stick for teams outside the power conferences and is now trademarked. Each year, CollegeInsider.com presents 17 national awards in basketball named after some of the greatest coaches in the history of the game including Clarence "Big House" Gaines, Lou Henson, John McLendon and Lute Olson. Since the inception of the CIT in 2009, the tournament has expanded from a 16-teams to 32-teams in 2012. CollegeInsider.com has been nominated for four Emmy Awards and in 2013 won the New York Emmy Award in Sports Coverage for the Sportscast/Series category and was selected over top broadcast outlets such as MSG and SNY.
SCOUTING UT MARTIN: UT Martin is in the CIT field for the third consecutive year after advancing to the semifinals two years ago. The Skyhawks are 4-2 all-time in the event. UT Martin finished first in the OVC West Division for the second-straight year and advanced to the OVC Tournament Championship game for the second-straight season (after never appearing in the title game before last year). This year's CIT marks the first time in program history the Skyhawks have played in national postseason tournaments in three-straight years. Thursday's game will mark the first ever postseason home game in UT Martin men's basketball history.
BIG SOUTH REGULAR-SEASON TITLE NO. 6: UNC Asheville men's basketball picked up their sixth regular-season title in the 2016-17 season (1996-97, 1997-98, 2001-02, 2007-08, 2011-12 and 2016-17). Asheville head coach Nick McDevitt has been a part of five of the six Big South Conference regular-season crowns either as a player, assistant coach or head coach (1997-98, 2001-02, 2007-08, 2011-12 and 2016-17).
SPECIAL YEAR: With one more win the 2016-17 UNC Asheville men's basketball team would tie the 2011-12 Bulldog men's basketball team for the most wins in program history with 24.
REGULAR-SEASON FINALE: The UNC Asheville men's basketball team claimed a share of the Big South Conference regular-season title with a 63-45 win over Liberty before a crowd of 2,928 at Kimmel Arena on Saturday, Feb. 25. UNC Asheville (23-8, 15-3 Big South Conference) and Winthrop (22-6, 15-3 Big South Conference) shared this year's regular-season title. Due to numerous tiebreaking procedures, Winthrop earned the No. 1 seed in the Big South Conference Men's Basketball Tournament and will play host to the quarterfinals and semifinals. The highest remaining seed will host the championship game. The game would start with Liberty leading by as many as seven in the first half with just over 12 minutes left in the half. The Bulldogs would trail by just one though at the halftime break at 26-25. The second half would be all Bulldogs with UNC Asheville outscoring the Flames, 38-19, in the half to pick up the 18-point win. UNC Asheville junior guard Ahmad Thomas scored a career-best 31 points in the Big South-title clinching victory for the Bulldogs. Thomas put together an impressive stat sheet as always in the game with 31 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block. Bulldog freshman guard MaCio Teague collected his second double-double of the year in the game with 12 points and a career-high-tying 10 rebounds. He also had four assists and one block. Myo Baxter-Bell was the top scorer for the Flames in their loss with 18 points. UNC Asheville shot 51.1 percent (24-of-47) from the field as a team in the contest, while also holding Liberty to just 30.2 percent (16-of-53) as a team. The Bulldogs held Liberty to just 20.8 percent (5-of-24) from the floor as a team in half No. 2.
ALL-CONFERENCE: The UNC Asheville men's basketball team dominated the major individual awards for the 2016-17 regular-season for the Big South Conference with Nick McDevitt named Coach of the Year, junior guard Ahmad Thomas chosen Defensive Player of the Year, freshman guard MaCio Teague selected as Freshman of the Year and senior forward Giacomo Zilli tabbed as Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The league office unveiled the 2016-17 Big South Men's Basketball All-Conference awards on Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. "It's an honor to receive these postseason awards," McDevitt said. "Although they are individual accolades, we all recognize that it takes hard work and dedication by many for any of it to be possible. I'm very proud of my staff and our players for what they continue to do each day to make this basketball program successful." In addition, Teague and Thomas were chosen first-team All-Conference with Teague also garnering a spot on the All-Freshman team.
DEFENSIVE LOCKDOWN: In the most important game of the season to date, UNC Asheville men's basketball held their opponent in Liberty in the regular-season finale to just 45 points, which is the least scored by a Bulldog opponent all season.
FANS SHOWED UP WHEN IT MATTERED MOST: UNC Asheville fans showed up to support their championship team in a big way on Saturday, Feb. 25, with a season-high 2,928 fans inside Kimmel Arena.
1,000 POINTS, 500 REBOUNDS: With his six rebounds in the regular-season finale against Liberty, Ahmad Thomas became the 56th player in Big South Conference history to score over 1,000 points and collect over 500 rebounds. Thomas now has 1,076 career points and 508 career rebounds. Thomas with his two steals in the Big South Tournament now also has 186 steals in his Bulldog career. Thomas is nearing becoming just the sixth player in league history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 steals.
HOME SWEET HOME: UNC Asheville is currently in the midst of a nine-game home winning streak. The Bulldogs closed out the regular-season 13-1 on the year at home. UNC Asheville after the win over Liberty is now 68-16 all-time at Kimmel Arena, including 48-10 in Big South Conference contests.
IMPRESSIVE FREE THROW STREAK COMES TO A CLOSE: MaCio Teague connected on his first three free throws in the Gardner-Webb game to extend his made free throw streak to 29. When he missed his fourth attempt on the night it snapped the impressive streak.
500 REBOUNDS: Ahmad Thomas was the second Bulldog to surpass over 500 rebounds this season as Will Weeks reached the mark in Asheville's road win at Longwood on Feb. 11. Weeks at the time became the 83rd player in Big South Conference history to surpass the mark. Weeks has 533 career rebounds.
TOP-25: Big South Conference regular-season co-champion UNC Asheville men's basketball is ranked 24th in the latest CollegeInsider.com Men's Basketball Mid-Major Top-25. The Bulldogs have now been ranked in four straight polls. Asheville is one of two Big South Conference teams in the latest poll as fellow Big South Conference co-champion and tournament champion Winthrop is 17th. The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast and Western Athletic.
THOMAS NAMED BIG SOUTH PLAYER OF THE WEEK (2/26/17): UNC Asheville junior guard Ahmad Thomas was selected as the Big South Conference Player of the Week it was announced by the league office on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017. Thomas garnered weekly accolades from the Big South Conference for the third time this season as he was also named the league Player of the Week on Dec. 12, 2016 and Feb. 13, 2017. In UNC Asheville's two games on the week, Thomas averaged 28 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game. Thomas shot 66.7 percent (24-of-36) from the field overall and 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from beyond the arc. In UNC Asheville's game at Gardner-Webb on Thursday, Feb. 23, the Danville, Va. native ended his efforts with 25 points, five rebounds, three steals and one assist. The Hargrave Military Academy product followed that up by ending his day with a career-best 31 points to go along with six rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block in UNC Asheville's win over Liberty at Kimmel Arena on Saturday, Feb. 25.
WIN NO. 75: UNC Asheville men's basketball head coach Nick McDevitt picked up his 75th win in charge of the Asheville men's basketball program in the win over Presbyterian on Feb. 15. McDevitt has led the Bulldogs to back-to-back 20-win seasons.
AMONG THE BEST: Already the single-season program record holder in the category, Ahmad Thomas is currently fourth in the country in total steals with 96. He is fifth in the country in steals per game with 3.00 steals per outing. Thomas with his five steals in the win over Charleston Southern on Feb. 1 became the first Big South player with back-to-back 70-steal campaigns since VMI's Chavis Holmes (2006-08). He is just the fourth overall in Big South Conference history to accomplish the impressive feat.
OVER 900: With his 12 points in the Big South Tournament, UNC Asheville senior guard David Robertson surpassed 900 points in his career as he now has 911 career points. Junior guard Kevin Vannatta is nearing 900 points as well. Currently, Vannatta has scored 895 points in his Bulldog career.
IT'S A STEAL: The UNC Asheville men's basketball team boasts one of the top defenses in the entire country with the Bulldogs seventh in the country in total steals (300). The Bulldogs are also sixth in the country in steals per game (9.38).
FASTEST TO 20: UNC Asheville's win over Longwood on Feb. 11 allowed this year's Bulldog men's basketball team to reach 20 wins in the fewest number of games (27) in the Bulldogs' time in the Big South Conference.
QUOTABLES
"We are looking forward to participating in the CIT and we are privileged to continue playing. We are excited to represent the Big South Conference and UNC Asheville for the second time in as many years in a postseason tournament. UT Martin will be a tough opponent. They are a 21-win team that won the West Division of the OVC, so we'll need to be ready to play on Thursday night." - Head Coach Nick McDevitt
Players Mentioned
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