University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Photo by: PHOTO BY BENNETT SCARBOROUGH
Bulldogs Travel to Palmetto State to Face Charleston Southern on Sunday
02.17.2018 | Men's Basketball
Game Notes
2017-18 UNC Asheville Men's Basketball Media Guide
THE MATCHUPTeams: UNC Asheville (18-10, 11-4 Big South Conference)
Charleston Southern (12-14, 7-8 Big South Conference)
Location: Charleston, S.C./Buc Dome
Date/Time: Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018/5:30 p.m.
Video: Big South Network
Live Stats: uncabulldogs.com
Twitter: @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
CHARLESTON, S.C. - UNC Asheville will next travel to face off against Big South foe Charleston Southern at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 18.
The Big South Conference is teaming up with corporate partner Hardee's® to administer a special basketball fundraiser and military appreciation initiative to celebrate and honor America's veterans around this year's Presidents Day holiday.
Together, the Big South and Hardee's will each donate $5 to the Patriot Foundation for every field goal made during five designated games played on Sunday, Feb. 18, in conjunction with each Big South member's own military appreciation activities during that time. The donations will benefit the Patriot Foundation's mission to provide scholarship grants to the children of soldiers that have been killed, wounded and injured since 9/11.
To learn more, please visit HERE.
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 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!"
BEEN A LONG TIME: UNC Asheville had entered its loss to Liberty with 21 straight home wins, which was the third-longest streak in the country. UNC Asheville's last loss at Kimmel Arena before the overtime loss to Liberty on Feb. 15 was a 75-73 loss to UNCG on Monday, Dec. 19, 2016. In addition, Liberty's win over UNC Asheville snapped a 13-game losing streak to the Bulldogs. UNC Asheville is now still an impressive 80-17 overall and 55-11 against Big South Conference foes at Kimmel Arena.
THOMAS CONTINUES STRONG PLAY AGAINST LIBERTY: Ahmad Thomas continued his strong play in his career against Liberty on Feb. 15 with his 30 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Thomas has now scored over 20 against Liberty five times in his career. His career-best of 31 points came in UNC Asheville's home win over Liberty on Feb. 25, 2017, meaning that Thomas has posted 30 or more against the Flames in his last two home games against Liberty.
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.
STILL AT THE TOP: UNC Asheville remains tied for the league lead in the Big South Conference despite the loss at 11-4. To see the full standings, please visit HERE.
STRONG STRETCH: After starting Big South play at 1-2, UNC Asheville has now won seven of its last eight and 10 of its last 12 games to move to 18-10 overall and 11-4 in league play.
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: UNC Asheville is now 80-17 overall and 55-11 against Big South foes within the friendly confines of Kimmel Arena inside the Sherrill Center. The Bulldogs are 12-1 on the 2017-18 season at Kimmel Arena.
NEARING NO. 1: UNC Asheville senior guard Ahmad Thomas with 241 career steals is just seven steals from tying and eight 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 1,541 career points and Vannatta with 1,200 career points right now have a combined total of 2,741, 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 1,200 points and 549 rebounds.
FLIRTING WITH HISTORY ONCE AGAIN: Ahmad Thomas has had many special days as a Bulldog, but his performance against Presbyterian College on Feb. 3 with 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists was something to behold. Thomas' 14 rebounds were a career high and his nine assists in the win over the Blue Hose matched his career-best nine assists in the thrilling 90-85 overtime win over Gardner-Webb at Kimmel Arena on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016. Thomas now has a team-best five double-doubles this season and 17 double-doubles in his career. He has now just missed on a triple-double twice in his Bulldog career. Thomas had 16 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in that overtime Gardner-Webb win last season.
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 449 points to put himself in position to reach 1,000 points in just two seasons. Teague needs 42 points to become just the fourth in league history to reach the mark as a sophmore.
To learn much more and see the full game notes, please visit HERE.
Series/About Charleston Southern
SERIES: UNC Asheville and Charleston Southern will be meeting for the 80th time on Sunday. The Bulldogs own a 43-36 all-time series advantage over the Buccaneers.
ABOUT CHARLESTON SOUTHERN: The Buccaneers welcome the Bulldogs having won five of their last six. Charleston Southern is now 12-14 overall and 7-8 in league play. Sophomore Christian Keeling leads three Bucs in double figures on the year with 17.2 points per game.
Follow it Live
You can catch all of the action on the Big South Network broadcast HERE. You can also follow the action via live stats HERE.
Up Next
UNC Asheville men's basketball will once again be featured on ESPNU when the Bulldogs play host to Winthrop on Thursday, Feb. 22, at Kimmel Arena. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. The rivalry renewal will mark the fourth straight head-to-head matchup on ESPNU between UNC Asheville and Winthrop.
The home regular-season finale for the Bulldogs will serve as Senior Day.
UNC Asheville is calling the game, "Operation Sell Out," with the Bulldogs hoping to fill every seat on the evening to show the national television audience just how special it is to be a Bulldog. It will also be another "Throwback Thursday" at Kimmel Arena with the Bulldogs turning back the clocks for "2000's Night."
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