University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Photo by: Doug Cochran/Sports Focus Media
UNC Asheville to Face No. 8/9 Auburn on Tuesday on SEC Network
12.03.2018 | Men's Basketball
THE MATCHUP
Teams: UNC Asheville (1-6)
Auburn (6-1)
Location: Auburn, Ala./Auburn Arena
Date/Time: Tuesday, Dec. 4/8 p.m. EST
TV: SEC Network
Talent - Tom Hart (Play-by-Play), Sean Harrington (Analyst)
Live Stats: uncabulldogs.com
Twitter: @UNCAvlMBB #IWWD #ThePursuit
AUBURN, Ala. - UNC Asheville will next travel to No. 8/9 Auburn on Tuesday, Dec. 4.
The matchup will mark UNC Asheville's first trip back to Auburn since picking up a 70-69 win over the Tigers in overtime on Friday, Nov. 13, 2010. The Bulldog victory came in the inaugural game in Auburn Arena.
This year's matchup with Auburn is slated for an 8 p.m. EST start on Dec. 4. The game will be televised nationally on the SEC Network.
BULLDOG BITES
BABY BULLDOGS: It is believed through current NCAA research that the Bulldogs are the youngest team in the country. In UNC Asheville's first seven games of the 2018-19 season, 72 percent (1,011 of 1,400) of UNC Asheville's total minutes as a team have been played by freshmen. The top four in total minutes for the Bulldogs are all freshmen (DeVon Baker, Tajion Jones, Coty Jude and Cress Worthy).
ONE OF THE YOUNGEST STAFFS IN NATION: Mike Morrell is joined on the sideline by assistant coaches Kyle Perry, R.J. Evans and Mike Moynihan along with Director of Basketball Operations Corey Guderyahn. The UNC Asheville men's basketball coaching staff is one of the youngest in the country. In fact, the staff is the fifth-youngest in the country at an average age of 33 years and 274 days.
MORE ABOUT THE BABY BULLDOGS: In addition to 72 percent of UNC Asheville's minutes being played by freshmen, the Bulldogs were in the top-5 youngest in NCAA Division I in every major statistical category entering the 2018-19 season according to NCAA research. The Bulldogs returned just 5.5 percent of their points from last season and 2.9 percent of their starts. In total, the Bulldogs returned only 141 points from the 2017-18 season.
PUTTING UP THE POINTS: DeVon Baker with his 20 points against UT Martin has now scored 18 or more in a game for the Bulldogs this season four times.
THAT IS A HIGH PERCENTAGE: Coty Jude ended the UT Martin game shooting 70 percent (7-of-10) from the field. That is a team single-game season-best (minimum five attempts).
DISHING OUT DIMES: Cress Worthy's team single-game season-best six assists against UT Martin leave him averaging 2.9 assists per game on the season.
SEEGARS BLOCK PARTY: Jalen Seegars' career-best three blocks at UT Martin were a team single-game season-best.
STEALING THEIR WAY TO POINTS: UNC Asheville finished with 11 steals in the game with Furman. The Bulldogs turned the 11 steals into 11 points. UNC Asheville as a team now has two games with double-digit steals. UNC Asheville had 12 steals in the win over St. Andrews.
PERFECT FROM THE FREE THROW LINE: UNC Asheville was a perfect 3-of-3 from the charity stripe as a team in the game with Furman. It marked the first time UNC Asheville finished a game perfect from the free throw line since going 7-of-7 in a 73-47 road win over Presbyterian College on Jan. 26, 2017. The game also marked the first time since a game at Georgia on Nov. 14, 2016, that the Bulldogs had five or less free throw attempts in a game.
BAKER NAMED ALL-TOURNAMENT: UNC Asheville's DeVon Baker was named to the 2018 KEMI Northern Kentucky Basketball Classic All-Tournament Team after the conclusion of the tournament. Baker averaged 16.3 points and 2.0 steals per game in UNC Asheville's three games in the tournament.
STRONG ON THE OFFENSIVE GLASS: UNC Asheville held a 33-26 rebounding lead over Manhattan with the Bulldogs collecting an impressive 17 of their 33 rebounds on the offensive glass. In collecting a career-best nine boards, Jeremy Peck secured five of his nine boards on the offensive glass. Coty Jude collected four of his seven rebounds in the game on the offensive glass.
HOME SWEET HOME: UNC Asheville is 83-19 overall and 57-12 against Big South foes within the friendly confines of Kimmel Arena inside the Sherrill Center. The Bulldogs have won 24 of their last 27 at Kimmel Arena overall.
BULLDOGS OPEN FIRST SEASON UNDER MIKE MORRELL WITH WIN: The Mike Morrell era of UNC Asheville men's basketball started off in emphatic fashion with the Bulldogs picking up a dominating 87-47 victory over St. Andrews at Kimmel Arena on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018. UNC Asheville basically led from start-to-finish in the win over St. Andrews with the Bulldogs leading by as many as 41 before securing the 40-point win.
FIRST HEAD COACHING VICTORY: After the Bulldog victory over St. Andrews, UNC Asheville Director of Athletics Janet R. Cone presented Mike Morrell a commemorative ball to congratulate him on his inaugural win. The UNC Asheville men's basketball team then congratulated Morrell in the locker room for starting his career off the right way.
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY: UNC Asheville men's basketball head coach Mike Morrell announced the addition of AJ McBride on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018. A 6-foot-1 guard out of Houston, Texas, McBride joins the Bulldogs out of Manvel High School. He plays his AAU basketball for the Houston Clippers. McBride was a first-team All-District selection last year for Manvel High School. He is just the third from his school to earn a NCAA Division I men's basketball scholarship.
BULLDOG BLOCK PARTY: UNC Asheville finished the loss to NC State with six blocks as a team. The Bulldogs swatted five shots alone in the first half.
DISHING IT OUT: UNC Asheville finished the win over St. Andrews with 18 assists on 27 made field goals. The Bulldogs also protected the basketball with only nine turnovers as a team.
FIRST SEASON-OPENING WIN SINCE 2012: UNC Asheville secured its first season-opening win since 2012 with the win over St. Andrews. UNC Asheville had last opened its regular season with a win in the 2012-13 season when the Bulldogs knocked off Mountain Rival Western Carolina, 71-61. In 2013 the Bulldogs fell to Kentucky in the season opener before falling to Wake Forest in the season opener in 2014. In 2015 the Bulldogs dropped their opener at Tennessee and then in 2016 the Bulldogs fell at VCU. The Bulldogs dropped their season opener at Rhode Island last season.
To see the full game notes, please visit HERE. To see the 2018-19 UNC Asheville media guide, please visit HERE.
SERIES/ABOUT AUBURN
SERIES: In a series that began in 1998, UNC Asheville and Auburn will be meeting for the fourth time on Tuesday. Auburn holds a slight 2-1 all-time series lead over Asheville.
ABOUT AUBURN: Currently ranked eighth in the latest Associated Press poll and ninth in the current USA TODAY Coaches' Poll, Auburn welcomes the Bulldogs owning a record of 6-1 on the 2018-19 season. Auburn is currently 4-0 at home. Led by preseason All-SEC selections Bryce Brown and Jared Harper, Auburn was picked third in the 2018-19 SEC men's basketball preseason poll.
BARKING ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
NEW STRATEGIC PLAN: UNC Asheville athletics officially unveiled its newest strategic plan on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. The strategic plan entitled "Believe. Achieve. Thrive." is the road map for UNC Asheville athletics over the course of the next five years. The strategic plan outlines key areas of focus and growth in developing lifetime leaders from the most valuable resource that UNC Asheville athletics has in its student-athletes. To learn more about the strategic plan, please visit HERE (PDF).
NATIONAL CHAMPS: The nationally second-ranked UNC Asheville men's tennis doubles duo of Oli Nolan and Henry Patten secured a national championship on Sunday, Nov. 11, with a 6-2, 6-1 win over nationally 42nd-ranked Bjorn Thomson and Parker Wynn of Texas Tech in the championship match of the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex. In addition to the national championship win, Patten was also voted by the ITA Officials at the event to receive the Sportsmanship Award for the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. The championship match win for Nolan and Patten was part of a tremendous fall of 2018 for the pairing. Nolan and Patten went undefeated playing together during the fall and won three titles including the national championship.
MORE THAN MAKING THE GRADE: For the 2017-18 athletic year, the UNC Asheville student-athletes showed their commitment to the classroom by finishing the academic year with a combined grade-point average of 3.142. Impressively, 72 percent (161 of 223) UNC Asheville student-athletes during the 2017-18 athletic year received Athletic Director Honor Roll recognition with a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
TWO-TIME SCHOLAR ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: For the second time in his career, UNC Asheville senior Blanton Gillespie was selected as a Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Gillespie was chosen as the 2018 Big South Men's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year at the Big South Cross Country Championship presented by Musco Sports Lighting and UCS at the Ivey M. Redmon Sports Complex on Friday, Oct. 26. The honor is just the latest for Gillespie, who was named the 2018 Big South Outdoor Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year in May of 2018.
BIG SOUTH WOMAN OF THE YEAR: UNC Asheville graduate Kayli Nichols was selected as the 2017-18 Big South Conference Woman of the Year. With degrees in German and Political Science and a minor in Spanish, Nichols graduated from UNC Asheville with a GPA of 3.974. During her senior campaign, she was named the Big South Outdoor Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the Big South Indoor Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
BIG SOUTH MALE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: On the same day that he started his new full-time position in the Corporate Analyst Development Program at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Columbus, Ohio on July 11, 2018, former UNC Asheville men's basketball standout Kevin Vannatta was chosen as the 2017-18 Big South Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In addition to winning the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for the conference, Vannatta was also chosen as the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association (DI-AAA ADA) Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men's basketball and as the Big South Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The Upper Arlington, Ohio native was also selected to the 2017-18 Academic All-America® NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). An Accounting major at UNC Asheville, Vannatta graduated with a 3.94 grade-point average.
FOLLOW IT LIVE
You can catch the action live nationally on the SEC Network. For those with a television package that includes the SEC Network, you can also stream the game live HERE. You can follow via live stats HERE.
UP NEXT
On Saturday, Dec. 8, UNC Asheville will welcome mountain rival Western Carolina to Kimmel Arena. The game is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start on Saturday.
The contest will be the first between the two at Kimmel Arena since the Bulldogs picked up a thrilling 59-57 win over the Catamounts on Dec. 17, 2016.
Teams: UNC Asheville (1-6)
Auburn (6-1)
Location: Auburn, Ala./Auburn Arena
Date/Time: Tuesday, Dec. 4/8 p.m. EST
TV: SEC Network
Talent - Tom Hart (Play-by-Play), Sean Harrington (Analyst)
Live Stats: uncabulldogs.com
Twitter: @UNCAvlMBB #IWWD #ThePursuit
AUBURN, Ala. - UNC Asheville will next travel to No. 8/9 Auburn on Tuesday, Dec. 4.
The matchup will mark UNC Asheville's first trip back to Auburn since picking up a 70-69 win over the Tigers in overtime on Friday, Nov. 13, 2010. The Bulldog victory came in the inaugural game in Auburn Arena.
This year's matchup with Auburn is slated for an 8 p.m. EST start on Dec. 4. The game will be televised nationally on the SEC Network.
BULLDOG BITES
BABY BULLDOGS: It is believed through current NCAA research that the Bulldogs are the youngest team in the country. In UNC Asheville's first seven games of the 2018-19 season, 72 percent (1,011 of 1,400) of UNC Asheville's total minutes as a team have been played by freshmen. The top four in total minutes for the Bulldogs are all freshmen (DeVon Baker, Tajion Jones, Coty Jude and Cress Worthy).
ONE OF THE YOUNGEST STAFFS IN NATION: Mike Morrell is joined on the sideline by assistant coaches Kyle Perry, R.J. Evans and Mike Moynihan along with Director of Basketball Operations Corey Guderyahn. The UNC Asheville men's basketball coaching staff is one of the youngest in the country. In fact, the staff is the fifth-youngest in the country at an average age of 33 years and 274 days.
MORE ABOUT THE BABY BULLDOGS: In addition to 72 percent of UNC Asheville's minutes being played by freshmen, the Bulldogs were in the top-5 youngest in NCAA Division I in every major statistical category entering the 2018-19 season according to NCAA research. The Bulldogs returned just 5.5 percent of their points from last season and 2.9 percent of their starts. In total, the Bulldogs returned only 141 points from the 2017-18 season.
PUTTING UP THE POINTS: DeVon Baker with his 20 points against UT Martin has now scored 18 or more in a game for the Bulldogs this season four times.
THAT IS A HIGH PERCENTAGE: Coty Jude ended the UT Martin game shooting 70 percent (7-of-10) from the field. That is a team single-game season-best (minimum five attempts).
DISHING OUT DIMES: Cress Worthy's team single-game season-best six assists against UT Martin leave him averaging 2.9 assists per game on the season.
SEEGARS BLOCK PARTY: Jalen Seegars' career-best three blocks at UT Martin were a team single-game season-best.
STEALING THEIR WAY TO POINTS: UNC Asheville finished with 11 steals in the game with Furman. The Bulldogs turned the 11 steals into 11 points. UNC Asheville as a team now has two games with double-digit steals. UNC Asheville had 12 steals in the win over St. Andrews.
PERFECT FROM THE FREE THROW LINE: UNC Asheville was a perfect 3-of-3 from the charity stripe as a team in the game with Furman. It marked the first time UNC Asheville finished a game perfect from the free throw line since going 7-of-7 in a 73-47 road win over Presbyterian College on Jan. 26, 2017. The game also marked the first time since a game at Georgia on Nov. 14, 2016, that the Bulldogs had five or less free throw attempts in a game.
BAKER NAMED ALL-TOURNAMENT: UNC Asheville's DeVon Baker was named to the 2018 KEMI Northern Kentucky Basketball Classic All-Tournament Team after the conclusion of the tournament. Baker averaged 16.3 points and 2.0 steals per game in UNC Asheville's three games in the tournament.
STRONG ON THE OFFENSIVE GLASS: UNC Asheville held a 33-26 rebounding lead over Manhattan with the Bulldogs collecting an impressive 17 of their 33 rebounds on the offensive glass. In collecting a career-best nine boards, Jeremy Peck secured five of his nine boards on the offensive glass. Coty Jude collected four of his seven rebounds in the game on the offensive glass.
HOME SWEET HOME: UNC Asheville is 83-19 overall and 57-12 against Big South foes within the friendly confines of Kimmel Arena inside the Sherrill Center. The Bulldogs have won 24 of their last 27 at Kimmel Arena overall.
BULLDOGS OPEN FIRST SEASON UNDER MIKE MORRELL WITH WIN: The Mike Morrell era of UNC Asheville men's basketball started off in emphatic fashion with the Bulldogs picking up a dominating 87-47 victory over St. Andrews at Kimmel Arena on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018. UNC Asheville basically led from start-to-finish in the win over St. Andrews with the Bulldogs leading by as many as 41 before securing the 40-point win.
FIRST HEAD COACHING VICTORY: After the Bulldog victory over St. Andrews, UNC Asheville Director of Athletics Janet R. Cone presented Mike Morrell a commemorative ball to congratulate him on his inaugural win. The UNC Asheville men's basketball team then congratulated Morrell in the locker room for starting his career off the right way.
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY: UNC Asheville men's basketball head coach Mike Morrell announced the addition of AJ McBride on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018. A 6-foot-1 guard out of Houston, Texas, McBride joins the Bulldogs out of Manvel High School. He plays his AAU basketball for the Houston Clippers. McBride was a first-team All-District selection last year for Manvel High School. He is just the third from his school to earn a NCAA Division I men's basketball scholarship.
BULLDOG BLOCK PARTY: UNC Asheville finished the loss to NC State with six blocks as a team. The Bulldogs swatted five shots alone in the first half.
DISHING IT OUT: UNC Asheville finished the win over St. Andrews with 18 assists on 27 made field goals. The Bulldogs also protected the basketball with only nine turnovers as a team.
FIRST SEASON-OPENING WIN SINCE 2012: UNC Asheville secured its first season-opening win since 2012 with the win over St. Andrews. UNC Asheville had last opened its regular season with a win in the 2012-13 season when the Bulldogs knocked off Mountain Rival Western Carolina, 71-61. In 2013 the Bulldogs fell to Kentucky in the season opener before falling to Wake Forest in the season opener in 2014. In 2015 the Bulldogs dropped their opener at Tennessee and then in 2016 the Bulldogs fell at VCU. The Bulldogs dropped their season opener at Rhode Island last season.
To see the full game notes, please visit HERE. To see the 2018-19 UNC Asheville media guide, please visit HERE.
SERIES/ABOUT AUBURN
SERIES: In a series that began in 1998, UNC Asheville and Auburn will be meeting for the fourth time on Tuesday. Auburn holds a slight 2-1 all-time series lead over Asheville.
ABOUT AUBURN: Currently ranked eighth in the latest Associated Press poll and ninth in the current USA TODAY Coaches' Poll, Auburn welcomes the Bulldogs owning a record of 6-1 on the 2018-19 season. Auburn is currently 4-0 at home. Led by preseason All-SEC selections Bryce Brown and Jared Harper, Auburn was picked third in the 2018-19 SEC men's basketball preseason poll.
BARKING ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
NEW STRATEGIC PLAN: UNC Asheville athletics officially unveiled its newest strategic plan on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. The strategic plan entitled "Believe. Achieve. Thrive." is the road map for UNC Asheville athletics over the course of the next five years. The strategic plan outlines key areas of focus and growth in developing lifetime leaders from the most valuable resource that UNC Asheville athletics has in its student-athletes. To learn more about the strategic plan, please visit HERE (PDF).
NATIONAL CHAMPS: The nationally second-ranked UNC Asheville men's tennis doubles duo of Oli Nolan and Henry Patten secured a national championship on Sunday, Nov. 11, with a 6-2, 6-1 win over nationally 42nd-ranked Bjorn Thomson and Parker Wynn of Texas Tech in the championship match of the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex. In addition to the national championship win, Patten was also voted by the ITA Officials at the event to receive the Sportsmanship Award for the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. The championship match win for Nolan and Patten was part of a tremendous fall of 2018 for the pairing. Nolan and Patten went undefeated playing together during the fall and won three titles including the national championship.
MORE THAN MAKING THE GRADE: For the 2017-18 athletic year, the UNC Asheville student-athletes showed their commitment to the classroom by finishing the academic year with a combined grade-point average of 3.142. Impressively, 72 percent (161 of 223) UNC Asheville student-athletes during the 2017-18 athletic year received Athletic Director Honor Roll recognition with a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
TWO-TIME SCHOLAR ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: For the second time in his career, UNC Asheville senior Blanton Gillespie was selected as a Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Gillespie was chosen as the 2018 Big South Men's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year at the Big South Cross Country Championship presented by Musco Sports Lighting and UCS at the Ivey M. Redmon Sports Complex on Friday, Oct. 26. The honor is just the latest for Gillespie, who was named the 2018 Big South Outdoor Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year in May of 2018.
BIG SOUTH WOMAN OF THE YEAR: UNC Asheville graduate Kayli Nichols was selected as the 2017-18 Big South Conference Woman of the Year. With degrees in German and Political Science and a minor in Spanish, Nichols graduated from UNC Asheville with a GPA of 3.974. During her senior campaign, she was named the Big South Outdoor Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the Big South Indoor Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
BIG SOUTH MALE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: On the same day that he started his new full-time position in the Corporate Analyst Development Program at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Columbus, Ohio on July 11, 2018, former UNC Asheville men's basketball standout Kevin Vannatta was chosen as the 2017-18 Big South Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In addition to winning the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for the conference, Vannatta was also chosen as the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association (DI-AAA ADA) Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men's basketball and as the Big South Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The Upper Arlington, Ohio native was also selected to the 2017-18 Academic All-America® NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). An Accounting major at UNC Asheville, Vannatta graduated with a 3.94 grade-point average.
FOLLOW IT LIVE
You can catch the action live nationally on the SEC Network. For those with a television package that includes the SEC Network, you can also stream the game live HERE. You can follow via live stats HERE.
UP NEXT
On Saturday, Dec. 8, UNC Asheville will welcome mountain rival Western Carolina to Kimmel Arena. The game is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start on Saturday.
The contest will be the first between the two at Kimmel Arena since the Bulldogs picked up a thrilling 59-57 win over the Catamounts on Dec. 17, 2016.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballMonday, March 18
Monday, March 18
Thursday, March 14
Monday, March 04