University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Photo by: Dawson Powers
First-Place Bulldogs Host Liberty on Thursday at Kimmel Arena
02.14.2018 | Men's Basketball
Game Notes
2017-18 UNC Asheville Men's Basketball Media Guide
THE MATCHUPTeams: UNC Asheville (18-9, 11-3 Big South Conference)
Liberty (16-11, 7-7 Big South Conference)
Location: Asheville, N.C./Kimmel Arena
Date/Time: Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018/7 p.m.
Video: Big South Network
Talent - Canio Costanzo (PBP), Matt Stradley (Analyst)
Radio: 570 WWNC-Asheville/1440 WMXF-Waynesville
Talent - Brian Hall (PBP), Mike Gore (Analyst)
Live Stats: uncabulldogs.com
Twitter: @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - UNC Asheville men's basketball will next play host to Liberty at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 15.
It will be "Throwback Thursday" at Kimmel Arena with UNC Asheville turning back the clock for "90's Night."
BULLDOG BITES
Bulldog Breakdown
A SPECIAL SENIOR CLASS: With 78 wins in their career currently, the UNC Asheville senior class of Alec Wnuk, Kevin Vannatta, Raekwon Miller and Ahmad Thomas are now tied for the most wins over a four-year stretch in UNC Asheville men's basketball history. The foursome are tied with the senior class that started in the 1982-83 season.
UNC ASHEVILLE FEATURED BY ESPN, NCAA: The thrilling UNC Asheville men's basketball come-from-behind win over Radford on Saturday, Feb. 10, was heavily featured by ESPN and the NCAA late Saturday night and on the morning of Sunday, Feb. 11. MaCio Teague's heroics were featured on ESPN's "SportsCenter" and "College Basketball Live" as well as on ESPN.com. On "College Basketball Live," the tremendous radio broadcast call by play-by-play voice Brian Hall and analyst in UNC Asheville Hall of Famer Mike Gore coupled with the Big South Network feed directed and produced by Mark Godin was dubbed as the "Call of the Night." In addition, the NCAA March Madness Twitter handle, @marchmadness, also featured the final sequence of UNC Asheville's thrilling win, noting "give a listen to the @UNCAbasketball win heard round the world!"
UNC ASHEVILLE RANKED 24TH IN MID-MAJOR POLL: The UNC Asheville men's basketball team returned to the CollegeInsider.com Men's Basketball Mid-Major Top-25 on Feb. 12 at No. 24. The UNC Asheville men's basketball team started the 2017-18 season in the same place that they are currently ranked in the CollegeInsider.com Men's Basketball Mid-Major Top-25 at No. 24 in the preseason top-25 released on Oct. 30, 2017. UNC Asheville is the only Big South Conference team ranked in the current top-25.
BULLDOGS EXTEND SPECIAL LEAGUE STREAK: UNC Asheville with its road win over Longwood extended its own Big South Conference record by winning its 10th league game of the year. The Bulldogs, who now have 11 league wins, have now won 10 or more league games in a season in a Big South Conference men's basketball record 11 straight seasons.
CONTINUING TO SET THE STANDARD: UNC Asheville men's basketball has now won at least 15 games in a season for a league-record 11 consecutive seasons. UNC Asheville's 11th straight 15 or more win season allowed the Bulldogs to pass the old mark of 10 it shared with Winthrop (1998-08). UNC Asheville has won 15 or more games every year since the 2007-08 season.
ALONE AT THE TOP: UNC Asheville's thrilling home win over Radford on Feb. 10 allowed the Bulldogs to continue to have sole possession of first place in the Big South Conference with an 11-3 league mark. To see the full standings, please visit HERE.
PLAYING GREAT BASKETBALL: After starting Big South play at 1-2, UNC Asheville has now won seven straight and 10 of its last 11 games to move to 18-9 overall and 11-3 in league play. The Bulldogs are the only team in the Big South this year to win seven straight league games.
ELITE GROUP: UNC Asheville men's basketball head coach Nick McDevitt with the Bulldog win over Campbell on Feb. 1 joined former Winthrop head coach and current Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall as the only coaches to win at least 15 games in their first five seasons in the Big South Conference. Gardner-Webb head coach Tim Craft can also join the duo with three more wins.
HOME SWEET HOME: The league home win over Radford allowed the Bulldogs to extend their home winning streak to 21. UNC Asheville's 21-straight home wins is the third-longest home winning streak in the country. The win over Radford was UNC Asheville's 16th consecutive Big South Conference home victory. UNC Asheville is now 80-16 overall and 55-10 against Big South foes within the friendly confines of Kimmel Arena inside the Sherrill Center. The Bulldogs are 12-0 on the 2017-18 season at Kimmel Arena.
NEARING NO. 1: UNC Asheville senior guard Ahmad Thomas with 239 career steals is just nine steals from tying and 10 steals away from becoming the all-time steals leader at UNC Asheville. J.P. Primm (2008-12) is the current all-time leader with 248 career steals.
TEAGUE NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: MaCio Teague of UNC Asheville men's basketball was selected as the Big South Men's Basketball Co-Player of the Week on Tuesday, Feb. 12. Teague shared honors with Chris Clemons of Campbell. Teague has now won league Player of the Week honors twice this season. He was also named the conference Player of the Week on Dec. 27, 2017. In total, Teague has now received honors from the league seven times. In addition to his now three Big South Player of the Week honors (Dec. 27, 2016, Dec. 27, 2017 and Feb. 12, 2018), Teague was also chosen Big South Freshman of the Week four times last season (Nov. 21, Jan. 2, Jan. 9 and Feb. 13). Teague averaged 17.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game in two wins for the Bulldogs. Teague finished the two games shooting 50 percent (10-of-20) from the field overall and from beyond the arc (7-of-14).
WHAT A PAIR: UNC Asheville senior duo Ahmad Thomas and Kevin Vannatta are the only pair ever of four-year Big South classmates each with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists during the same four-year span. The duo is the fourth four-year teammates with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds, and on the scoring side, they are the 24th pair of 1,000-point scoring four-year teammates. Thomas with 1,511 career points and Vannatta with 1,189 career points right now have a combined total of 2,700, which places them in the top-11 in the category in league history. Thomas and Vannatta are the fifth set of Bulldog teammates with the achievement in Asheville's Big South era.
VANNATTA JOINS EXCLUSIVE CLUB ONCE AGAIN: Kevin Vannatta became the 87th player in Big South Conference men's basketball history with 500 rebounds with his three boards in the Winthrop game on Jan. 18. Vannatta, who had already surpassed 1,000 points earlier this season, also became just the 57th player in league history with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. Vannatta is the 18th player in UNC Asheville men's basketball history to collect 500 rebounds in their career. Vannatta presently has 1,189 points and 542 rebounds.
NEARING 1,000: The 2016-17 Big South Conference Freshman of the Year last year, MaCio Teague ended his first year in a Bulldog uniform with 509 points to become just one of seven players in league history to record 500 or more points during their freshman season. This season, Teague has 439 points to put himself in position to reach 1,000 points in just two seasons. Teague needs 52 points to become just the fourth in league history to reach the mark as a sophmore.
To learn much more, please check out the full game notes HERE.
Series/About Liberty
SERIES: UNC Asheville and Liberty will meet for the 61st time on Thursday. The Bulldogs own a 40-20 all-time series advantage with Asheville having won the last 13 meetings.
ABOUT LIBERTY: The Flames make their way to UNC Asheville owning a 16-11 record overall on the 2017-18 season. Liberty is presently an even 7-7 in league play. Three Flames are currently averaging in double figures with Scottie James leading the way with 12.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
Follow it Live
To watch the Big South Network broadcast live, please click HERE. You can listen to the radio broadcast HERE. You can also follow all of the action via live stats HERE.
Up Next
UNC Asheville will next travel to Charleston, S.C. to face off against Big South foe Charleston Southern at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 18.
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