University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Friday, November 16
Highland Heights, KY
7:00 PM
UNC Asheville
50
at
77
Northern Kentucky
1
2
F
UNC Asheville
19
31
50
Northern Ky.
37
40
77
Photo by: Doug Cochran/Sports Focus Media
Bulldogs Fall in Opening Game of KEMI Northern Kentucky Basketball Classic
11.17.2018 | Men's Basketball
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – UNC Asheville men's basketball dropped its first game of the KEMI Northern Kentucky Basketball Classic, 77-50, to host Northern Kentucky at BB&T Arena on Friday, Nov. 16, 2018.
The game opened with Northern Kentucky (4-0) taking an early 11-5 lead over UNC Asheville (1-2) over the first five minutes of the contest.
Down 30-12 with just around five minutes to play in the opening half of action, UNC Asheville battled back to cut the Norse lead to just 13 at 32-19 after a Tajion Jones three-pointer with 3:22 left in the stanza.
The two teams from there would enter intermission with Northern Kentucky leading 37-19.
The Bulldogs started the second half by outscoring Northern Kentucky, 19-15, to trail the Norse by just 14 at 52-38 after a layup by DeVon Baker with under 12 minutes left in the game. Baker had nine of UNC Asheville's first 19 points in the second half.
That would prove to be as close as the Bulldogs would be able to get with Northern Kentucky earning the 77-50 victory.
Baker led the Bulldogs with a game-high 18 points. He also had five rebounds and two steals. Jones finished with 12 points.
Cress Worthy led UNC Asheville with four assists, while Jalen Seegars led the Bulldogs with six boards. Jeremy Peck had two blocks.
UNC Asheville finished the game shooting 36.2 percent (17-of-47) as a team, while Northern Kentucky shot 43.5 percent (27-of-62) as a team.
Jalen Tate led three for Northern Kentucky in double figures with 16 points.
BULLDOG BITES
Quotable
"I thought we really fought the last four of five minutes of the first half and I am really proud of our effort for the first 10 to 12 minutes of the second half," UNC Asheville head coach Mike Morrell said. "We had our opportunities, but we've got to do a better job of cutting down on turnovers. A lot of the time we had five freshmen on the floor and they are still learning and we were playing against a very experienced Northern Kentucky team. We've got a long way to go, but we knew it was going to be a tough weekend and we still have two big games the next couple of days."
Up Next
UNC Asheville will next take on Coastal Carolina at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17, at BB&T Arena as part of the KEMI Northern Kentucky Basketball Classic. The matchup against Coastal Carolina in the tournament will mark the first time the two former league rivals have met since the Bulldogs claimed a thrilling 79-77 overtime win over the Chanticleers at the HTC Center in Conway, S.C. on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. Coastal Carolina owns a slight 38-34 all-time series advantage over the Bulldogs.
The game opened with Northern Kentucky (4-0) taking an early 11-5 lead over UNC Asheville (1-2) over the first five minutes of the contest.
Down 30-12 with just around five minutes to play in the opening half of action, UNC Asheville battled back to cut the Norse lead to just 13 at 32-19 after a Tajion Jones three-pointer with 3:22 left in the stanza.
The two teams from there would enter intermission with Northern Kentucky leading 37-19.
The Bulldogs started the second half by outscoring Northern Kentucky, 19-15, to trail the Norse by just 14 at 52-38 after a layup by DeVon Baker with under 12 minutes left in the game. Baker had nine of UNC Asheville's first 19 points in the second half.
That would prove to be as close as the Bulldogs would be able to get with Northern Kentucky earning the 77-50 victory.
Baker led the Bulldogs with a game-high 18 points. He also had five rebounds and two steals. Jones finished with 12 points.
Cress Worthy led UNC Asheville with four assists, while Jalen Seegars led the Bulldogs with six boards. Jeremy Peck had two blocks.
UNC Asheville finished the game shooting 36.2 percent (17-of-47) as a team, while Northern Kentucky shot 43.5 percent (27-of-62) as a team.
Jalen Tate led three for Northern Kentucky in double figures with 16 points.
BULLDOG BITES
Quotable
"I thought we really fought the last four of five minutes of the first half and I am really proud of our effort for the first 10 to 12 minutes of the second half," UNC Asheville head coach Mike Morrell said. "We had our opportunities, but we've got to do a better job of cutting down on turnovers. A lot of the time we had five freshmen on the floor and they are still learning and we were playing against a very experienced Northern Kentucky team. We've got a long way to go, but we knew it was going to be a tough weekend and we still have two big games the next couple of days."
Up Next
UNC Asheville will next take on Coastal Carolina at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17, at BB&T Arena as part of the KEMI Northern Kentucky Basketball Classic. The matchup against Coastal Carolina in the tournament will mark the first time the two former league rivals have met since the Bulldogs claimed a thrilling 79-77 overtime win over the Chanticleers at the HTC Center in Conway, S.C. on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. Coastal Carolina owns a slight 38-34 all-time series advantage over the Bulldogs.
Team Stats
M-456
M-505
FG%
.362
.435
3FG%
.333
.160
FT%
.667
.704
RB
27
42
TO
27
13
STL
3
13
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
4
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's BasketballG
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