University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Photo by: Adrian Etheridge
UNC Asheville Men's Basketball to Close Regular Season on Road at Gardner-Webb
02.23.2018 | Men's Basketball
Game Notes
Teams: UNC Asheville (20-10, 13-4 Big South Conference)
Gardner-Webb (13-17, 8-9 Big South Conference)
Location: Boiling Springs, N.C./Paul Porter Arena
Date/Time: Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018/4:30 p.m.
TV/Video: ESPN3
Talent - Evan Lepler (PBP), Jeff Jackson (Analyst)
Radio: 570 WWNC-Asheville/1440 WMXF-Waynesville
Talent - Brian Hall (PBP), Mike Gore (Analyst)
Live Stats: uncabulldogs.com
Twitter: @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - UNC Asheville will next close out its regular season by traveling to take on Big South Conference foe Gardner-Webb at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24. The game will be featured on ESPN3.
BULLDOG BITES
Bulldog Breakdown
BIG SOUTH TITLE NO. 7: UNC Asheville men's basketball picked up their seventh Big South Conference regular-season title with the home win over Winthrop (1996-97, 1997-98, 2001-02, 2007-08, 2011-12, 2016-17 and 2017-18). Asheville head coach Nick McDevitt has been a part of six of the seven Big South Conference regular-season crowns either as a player, assistant coach or head coach (1997-98, 2001-02, 2007-08, 2011-12, 2016-17 and 2017-18).
A LOOK AT THE STANDINGS: UNC Asheville is currently holding a one-game lead over Winthrop entering the final game of the regular season. Stay up to date Saturday with all of the happenings in the league and where the tournament will officially be held after the conclusion of the regular season on bigsouthsports.com and uncabulldogs.com. To see the full standings, please visit HERE. To see the official championship scenarios per the Big South Conference, please visit HERE.
A TRULY SPECIAL SENIOR CLASS: With 80 wins in their career after the win over Winthrop, the UNC Asheville senior class of Alec Wnuk, Kevin Vannatta, Raekwon Miller and Ahmad Thomas extended their own record of the most wins in program history over a four-year stretch. The Bulldogs had entered the road win over Charleston Southern a few days earlier tied with the senior class that started in the 1982-83 season with 78 career wins. The Bulldog senior class, who were honored prior to the win over Winthrop, now have 80 career wins. In addition, the Bulldog senior class has three championships currently with the 2016-17 and 2017-18 Big South regular-season titles and the 2016 Big South Tournament title. The Bulldogs also played in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
RECORD THIRD-STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASON: UNC Asheville men's basketball for the first time in program history has now won 20 or more games for three straight seasons. UNC Asheville won 22 games in the 2015-16 season, 23 in 2016-17 and entering the final game of the 2017-18 regular season the Bulldogs have won 20 games.
1,000-POINT SCORER: The 2016-17 Big South Conference Freshman of the Year last year, MaCio Teague's 23 points in the home win over Winthrop allowed him to surpass 1,000 points in just his sophomore season. Teague ended his first year as a Bulldog with 509 and he now has 496 points this season to have 1,005 points in his career. Teague is just the fourth in Big South history to surpass 1,000 points as a sophomore.
VANNATTA NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT: For the second consecutive season, Kevin Vannatta of UNC Asheville men's basketball has been chosen to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District® Men's Basketball All-District 3 Team. "We are very proud of what Kevin has been able to accomplish, both on and off the court, during his time here at UNC Asheville," UNC Asheville men's basketball head coach Nick McDevitt said. "He puts a tremendous amount of effort into everything he does in his school work, athletics, community service and other civic activities. Kevin exemplifies the true meaning of the term student-athlete and he is an outstanding ambassador for our University and our basketball program."
THOMAS NAMED BIG SOUTH PLAYER OF THE WEEK (2/19): Ahmad Thomas of UNC Asheville men's basketball was selected as the Big South Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week on Monday, Feb. 19, 2018. The weekly award is the first of the 2017-18 season for Thomas. He won league Player of the Week honors three times last season on Dec. 12, 2016, and Feb. 13 and Feb. 26, 2017. Thomas finished UNC Asheville's twogames on the week averaging 26.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Thomas shot 50 percent (17-of-34) from the field. He connected on 66.7 percent (4-of-6) of his shots from beyond the arc. Thomas finished UNC Asheville's overtime loss to Liberty on Feb. 15 with 30 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. In UNC Asheville's road overtime win at Charleston Southern on Feb. 18, Thomas ended his efforts with 23 points, seven rebounds, four assists and one block.
20 FOR 20: For the fifth time this season, UNC Asheville impressively had two players finish a game with over 20 points with MaCio Teague ending his efforts with 23 points and Ahmad Thomas posting 21. One game earlier, Teague collected 24 points and Thomas finished with 23 in the road win at Charleston Southern. It has now happened four times in league play with Thomas (23) and Teague (21) both having over 20 in the home win over High Point and Kevin Vannatta (23) and Thomas (23) both ending their efforts with over 20 in the road win at Liberty. Thomas (24) and Teague (22) both also had over 20 points in UNC Asheville's home win over USC Upstate earlier this season.
NEARING 100: UNC Asheville head coach Nick McDevitt needs three more wins to reach 100 for his career.
PUTTING TOGETHER ROAD WINS: UNC Asheville has won its last four road games in league play.
BAEHRE'S BLOCK PARTY: For the fifth time this season, UNC Asheville's Jonathan Baehre finished a Bulldog win with four or more blocks in the Feb. 22 victory over Winthrop. Baehre swatted five Winthrop shots to go along with his second double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
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!"
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 13 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.
STRONG STRETCH: After starting Big South play at 1-2, UNC Asheville has now won nine of its last 10 and 12 of its last 14 games to move to 20-10 overall and 13-4 in league play.
HOME SWEET HOME: UNC Asheville is now 81-17 overall and 56-11 against Big South foes within the friendly confines of Kimmel Arena inside the Sherrill Center. The Bulldogs finished the 2017-18 regular season at Kimmel Arena 13-1. UNC Asheville is 26-2 over the last two seasons during the regular season at Kimmel Arena. The Bulldogs have won 22 of their last 23 at Kimmel Arena overall.
NEARING NO. 1: UNC Asheville senior guard Ahmad Thomas with 242 career steals is just six steals from tying and seven 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 (2/12): 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 1,585 career points and Vannatta with 1,218 career points right now have a combined total of 2,803, 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 1,218 points and 560 rebounds.
To learn much more, and see the full game notes, please visit HERE.
Series/About Gardner-Webb
SERIES: UNC Asheville and Gardner-Webb will meet for the 48th time on Saturday with Asheville having won 15 of the last 18 meetings dating back to the 2007-08 season. UNC Asheville has won seven out of the last eight meetings, but Gardner-Webb owns a 27-20 all-time series advantage.
ABOUT GARDNER-WEBB: The Runnin' Bulldogs welcome the Asheville Bulldogs owning a record of 13-17 on the 2017-18 season. Gardner-Webb is 8-9 in league play. David Efianayi leads Gardner-Webb with 17.5 points per game.
Follow it Live
You can catch all of the action live on ESPN3 HERE. You can also listen live to the radio broadcast HERE. You can follow the action via live stats HERE.
2017-18 UNC Asheville Men's Basketball Media Guide
THE MATCHUPTeams: UNC Asheville (20-10, 13-4 Big South Conference)
Gardner-Webb (13-17, 8-9 Big South Conference)
Location: Boiling Springs, N.C./Paul Porter Arena
Date/Time: Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018/4:30 p.m.
TV/Video: ESPN3
Talent - Evan Lepler (PBP), Jeff Jackson (Analyst)
Radio: 570 WWNC-Asheville/1440 WMXF-Waynesville
Talent - Brian Hall (PBP), Mike Gore (Analyst)
Live Stats: uncabulldogs.com
Twitter: @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - UNC Asheville will next close out its regular season by traveling to take on Big South Conference foe Gardner-Webb at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24. The game will be featured on ESPN3.
BULLDOG BITES
Bulldog Breakdown
BIG SOUTH TITLE NO. 7: UNC Asheville men's basketball picked up their seventh Big South Conference regular-season title with the home win over Winthrop (1996-97, 1997-98, 2001-02, 2007-08, 2011-12, 2016-17 and 2017-18). Asheville head coach Nick McDevitt has been a part of six of the seven Big South Conference regular-season crowns either as a player, assistant coach or head coach (1997-98, 2001-02, 2007-08, 2011-12, 2016-17 and 2017-18).
A LOOK AT THE STANDINGS: UNC Asheville is currently holding a one-game lead over Winthrop entering the final game of the regular season. Stay up to date Saturday with all of the happenings in the league and where the tournament will officially be held after the conclusion of the regular season on bigsouthsports.com and uncabulldogs.com. To see the full standings, please visit HERE. To see the official championship scenarios per the Big South Conference, please visit HERE.
A TRULY SPECIAL SENIOR CLASS: With 80 wins in their career after the win over Winthrop, the UNC Asheville senior class of Alec Wnuk, Kevin Vannatta, Raekwon Miller and Ahmad Thomas extended their own record of the most wins in program history over a four-year stretch. The Bulldogs had entered the road win over Charleston Southern a few days earlier tied with the senior class that started in the 1982-83 season with 78 career wins. The Bulldog senior class, who were honored prior to the win over Winthrop, now have 80 career wins. In addition, the Bulldog senior class has three championships currently with the 2016-17 and 2017-18 Big South regular-season titles and the 2016 Big South Tournament title. The Bulldogs also played in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
RECORD THIRD-STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASON: UNC Asheville men's basketball for the first time in program history has now won 20 or more games for three straight seasons. UNC Asheville won 22 games in the 2015-16 season, 23 in 2016-17 and entering the final game of the 2017-18 regular season the Bulldogs have won 20 games.
1,000-POINT SCORER: The 2016-17 Big South Conference Freshman of the Year last year, MaCio Teague's 23 points in the home win over Winthrop allowed him to surpass 1,000 points in just his sophomore season. Teague ended his first year as a Bulldog with 509 and he now has 496 points this season to have 1,005 points in his career. Teague is just the fourth in Big South history to surpass 1,000 points as a sophomore.
VANNATTA NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT: For the second consecutive season, Kevin Vannatta of UNC Asheville men's basketball has been chosen to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District® Men's Basketball All-District 3 Team. "We are very proud of what Kevin has been able to accomplish, both on and off the court, during his time here at UNC Asheville," UNC Asheville men's basketball head coach Nick McDevitt said. "He puts a tremendous amount of effort into everything he does in his school work, athletics, community service and other civic activities. Kevin exemplifies the true meaning of the term student-athlete and he is an outstanding ambassador for our University and our basketball program."
THOMAS NAMED BIG SOUTH PLAYER OF THE WEEK (2/19): Ahmad Thomas of UNC Asheville men's basketball was selected as the Big South Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week on Monday, Feb. 19, 2018. The weekly award is the first of the 2017-18 season for Thomas. He won league Player of the Week honors three times last season on Dec. 12, 2016, and Feb. 13 and Feb. 26, 2017. Thomas finished UNC Asheville's twogames on the week averaging 26.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Thomas shot 50 percent (17-of-34) from the field. He connected on 66.7 percent (4-of-6) of his shots from beyond the arc. Thomas finished UNC Asheville's overtime loss to Liberty on Feb. 15 with 30 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. In UNC Asheville's road overtime win at Charleston Southern on Feb. 18, Thomas ended his efforts with 23 points, seven rebounds, four assists and one block.
20 FOR 20: For the fifth time this season, UNC Asheville impressively had two players finish a game with over 20 points with MaCio Teague ending his efforts with 23 points and Ahmad Thomas posting 21. One game earlier, Teague collected 24 points and Thomas finished with 23 in the road win at Charleston Southern. It has now happened four times in league play with Thomas (23) and Teague (21) both having over 20 in the home win over High Point and Kevin Vannatta (23) and Thomas (23) both ending their efforts with over 20 in the road win at Liberty. Thomas (24) and Teague (22) both also had over 20 points in UNC Asheville's home win over USC Upstate earlier this season.
NEARING 100: UNC Asheville head coach Nick McDevitt needs three more wins to reach 100 for his career.
PUTTING TOGETHER ROAD WINS: UNC Asheville has won its last four road games in league play.
BAEHRE'S BLOCK PARTY: For the fifth time this season, UNC Asheville's Jonathan Baehre finished a Bulldog win with four or more blocks in the Feb. 22 victory over Winthrop. Baehre swatted five Winthrop shots to go along with his second double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
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!"
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 13 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.
STRONG STRETCH: After starting Big South play at 1-2, UNC Asheville has now won nine of its last 10 and 12 of its last 14 games to move to 20-10 overall and 13-4 in league play.
HOME SWEET HOME: UNC Asheville is now 81-17 overall and 56-11 against Big South foes within the friendly confines of Kimmel Arena inside the Sherrill Center. The Bulldogs finished the 2017-18 regular season at Kimmel Arena 13-1. UNC Asheville is 26-2 over the last two seasons during the regular season at Kimmel Arena. The Bulldogs have won 22 of their last 23 at Kimmel Arena overall.
NEARING NO. 1: UNC Asheville senior guard Ahmad Thomas with 242 career steals is just six steals from tying and seven 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 (2/12): 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 1,585 career points and Vannatta with 1,218 career points right now have a combined total of 2,803, 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 1,218 points and 560 rebounds.
To learn much more, and see the full game notes, please visit HERE.
Series/About Gardner-Webb
SERIES: UNC Asheville and Gardner-Webb will meet for the 48th time on Saturday with Asheville having won 15 of the last 18 meetings dating back to the 2007-08 season. UNC Asheville has won seven out of the last eight meetings, but Gardner-Webb owns a 27-20 all-time series advantage.
ABOUT GARDNER-WEBB: The Runnin' Bulldogs welcome the Asheville Bulldogs owning a record of 13-17 on the 2017-18 season. Gardner-Webb is 8-9 in league play. David Efianayi leads Gardner-Webb with 17.5 points per game.
Follow it Live
You can catch all of the action live on ESPN3 HERE. You can also listen live to the radio broadcast HERE. You can follow the action via live stats HERE.
Players Mentioned
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