University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Tuesday, March 13
Los Angeles, CA
11:00 PM
UNC Asheville
21-13
98
at
103
USC
24-11
1
2
3
4
OT 1
OT 2
F
UNC Asheville
17
17
21
15
15
13
98
USC
19
20
17
14
15
18
103
Photo by: Mario Villegas
Bulldogs Battle and Nearly Pull Off Upset of Southern California in Double Overtime NIT Loss to Trojans
03.14.2018 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – Eighth-seeded UNC Asheville men's basketball nearly pulled off the upset of top-seeded Southern California in a 103-98 double overtime loss to the Trojans in the first round of the 2018 National Invitation Tournament at the Galen Center on Tuesday, March 13.
The loss ends UNC Asheville's season with the Bulldogs owning a 21-13 overall record in the 2017-18 season.
The game would start with UNC Asheville taking a 14-10 lead after a MaCio Teague three-pointer with 5:49 left in the opening quarter of the game. Jonathan Baehre had half of Asheville's first 14 points in the game with seven points to go along with three rebounds.
The first quarter would close with Southern California (24-11) narrowly owning a 19-17 advantage.
The Bulldogs closed out the first quarter shooting 31.6 percent (6-of-19) as a team, while Southern California shot 46.7 percent (7-of-15) in the first quarter as a team.
The second quarter would start with Southern California going on a 6-2 run to take a 25-19 lead, but a free throw and a bucket by Ahmad Thomas allowed the Bulldogs to get back to within three at 25-22.
The Trojans from there would lead by as many as 33-22, but a Raekwon Miller three-pointer followed by a Thomas putback and then three Miller free throws pulled the Bulldogs within three at 33-30 with around two and a half left in the first half.
The first half would close with the Bulldogs trailing the Trojans by just five at 39-34.
The Bulldogs shot 37.5 percent (12-of-32) from the field in the opening half as a team, while Southern California shot 57.1 percent (16-of-28).
The third quarter would be back and forth over the opening five minutes with the Bulldogs down just six at 48-42 after a Thomas fast break floater.
Just a little while later with under three minutes left in the third quarter after a Miller three-pointer the Bulldogs would be within four at 52-48.
The Bulldogs would be down just one at 54-53 after a Teague three-pointer from the corner with 1:15 remaining in the third quarter.
The third quarter would close with Teague knocking down a driving layup to leave the Bulldogs down by just one at 56-55.
UNC Asheville closed out the third quarter shooting 56.3 percent (9-of-16) as a team.
The fourth quarter would start with another Teague trey that this time gave the Bulldogs the lead at 58-56.
With 4:47 to play in regulation after a Jonathan Baehre dunk the Bulldogs and Trojans were all tied up at 64-all. After another Miller three-pointer a little bit later the Bulldogs owned a 67-66 lead with 3:41 to play in regulation.
Teague would nail another three-pointer with 2:55 to play in regulation to give the Bulldogs a 70-66 lead.
The fourth quarter would close with a 4-0 run by Southern California to send the game into overtime with things all tied up at 70-all.
Southern California would score first in in the first overtime, but Baehre would hit a three-pointer to give Asheville a 73-72 advantage.
That would be the first of three treys over the first less than two minutes of overtime by Baehre for the Bulldogs. The third Baehre trey garnered the Bulldogs a 79-74 lead with 3:19 left in the first overtime.
A 5-0 run by Southern California shortly thereafter tied things up at 79-all with less than two and a half minutes left in the first overtime.
The two teams would play back and forth once again over next couple of minutes, but the Bulldogs owned an 83-82 lead after a Baehre dunk with 34 seconds to play in the first overtime.
Teague would make two free throws for the Bulldogs, but Southern California would hit a trey to tie things up at 85-all and send the game to the second overtime.
The second overtime would start with back-to-back treys by Teague and Miller to give UNC Asheville a 91-85 advantage.
The Trojans would go on a 6-0 run from there to tie things up at 91-all with around two minutes left in the second overtime.
The Bulldogs would continue battling down the stretch of the second overtime, but it would be the Trojans who would emerge with the five-point win.
UNC Asheville had five players close out the narrow loss in double figures with Baehre leading the way with 28 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks. He also had two assists and two steals.
Teague finished his efforts with 26 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal. He knocked down six three-pointers in the game.
Miller had 16 points, eight assists, two rebounds and two steals, while Thomas had 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.
The final Bulldog in double figures, Vannatta had 11 points, three rebounds and two assists.
Four Trojans ended the game in double figures with Jordan McLaughlin leading the way with 26 points.
UNC Asheville finished the game shooting 46.7 percent (35-of-75) as a team, while Southern California shot 51.3 percent (40-of-78). The Bulldogs connected on 45.2 percent (14-of-31) of their three-point attempts and 77.8 percent (14-of-18) of their free throw attempts.
BULLDOG BITES
A Fond Farewell to a Special Senior Class
With 81 wins in their career, the UNC Asheville senior class of Alec Wnuk, Kevin Vannatta, Raekwon Miller and Ahmad Thomas had the most wins over a four-year stretch in program history. The Bulldog senior class had three championships 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.
All-Time Leader in Steals
UNC Asheville senior guard Ahmad Thomas with his four steals in the narrow NIT loss to Southern California officially became the all-time steals leader in program history. Thomas concludes his prolific Bulldog career with 251 steals. Thomas passed Bulldog great J.P. Primm for the top spot in the category in program history. Primm (2008-12) closed his career with 248 steals.
Baehre Attack
UNC Asheville sophomore Jonathan Baehre had a career day in the narrow loss to Southern California with a career-best 28 points and 14 rebounds. It was his third double-double this season. Baehre also had a career-high tying five blocks to end the season with six games with over four or more blocks in a game.
Sensational Sophomore Year Concludes
The 2016-17 Big South Conference Freshman of the Year last year, MaCio Teague's 23 points in the home win over Winthrop on Feb. 22 allowed him to surpass 1,000 points in just his sophomore season. Teague's 26 points in the narrow loss to Southern California allowed him to finish his sophomore campaign with 1,078 career points. He was just the fourth and is now one of only five in Big South history to score 1,000 or more by their sophomore season.
Postseason Play
UNC Asheville made its second appearance in the NIT this year. The Bulldogs last appeared in the postseason event in 2008. Overall, this year's NIT appearance was UNC Asheville's seventh in a postseason tournament. The Bulldogs have advanced to the NCAA Tournament four times before (2003, 2011, 2012 and 2016), the NIT (2008 and 2018) twice and the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament once (2017).
Big South Title No. 7
UNC Asheville men's basketball picked up its seventh Big South Conference regular-season title (1996-97, 1997-98, 2001-02, 2007-08, 2011-12, 2016-17 and 2017-18) this season. 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).
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 had 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.
Record Third-Straight 20-Win Season
UNC Asheville men's basketball for the first time in program history has won 20 or more games for three straight seasons. UNC Asheville won 22 games in the 2015-16 season, 23 in 2016-17 and the Bulldogs won 21 games this season.
Quotable
Highlights
The loss ends UNC Asheville's season with the Bulldogs owning a 21-13 overall record in the 2017-18 season.
The game would start with UNC Asheville taking a 14-10 lead after a MaCio Teague three-pointer with 5:49 left in the opening quarter of the game. Jonathan Baehre had half of Asheville's first 14 points in the game with seven points to go along with three rebounds.
The first quarter would close with Southern California (24-11) narrowly owning a 19-17 advantage.
The Bulldogs closed out the first quarter shooting 31.6 percent (6-of-19) as a team, while Southern California shot 46.7 percent (7-of-15) in the first quarter as a team.
The second quarter would start with Southern California going on a 6-2 run to take a 25-19 lead, but a free throw and a bucket by Ahmad Thomas allowed the Bulldogs to get back to within three at 25-22.
The Trojans from there would lead by as many as 33-22, but a Raekwon Miller three-pointer followed by a Thomas putback and then three Miller free throws pulled the Bulldogs within three at 33-30 with around two and a half left in the first half.
The first half would close with the Bulldogs trailing the Trojans by just five at 39-34.
The Bulldogs shot 37.5 percent (12-of-32) from the field in the opening half as a team, while Southern California shot 57.1 percent (16-of-28).
The third quarter would be back and forth over the opening five minutes with the Bulldogs down just six at 48-42 after a Thomas fast break floater.
Just a little while later with under three minutes left in the third quarter after a Miller three-pointer the Bulldogs would be within four at 52-48.
The Bulldogs would be down just one at 54-53 after a Teague three-pointer from the corner with 1:15 remaining in the third quarter.
The third quarter would close with Teague knocking down a driving layup to leave the Bulldogs down by just one at 56-55.
UNC Asheville closed out the third quarter shooting 56.3 percent (9-of-16) as a team.
The fourth quarter would start with another Teague trey that this time gave the Bulldogs the lead at 58-56.
With 4:47 to play in regulation after a Jonathan Baehre dunk the Bulldogs and Trojans were all tied up at 64-all. After another Miller three-pointer a little bit later the Bulldogs owned a 67-66 lead with 3:41 to play in regulation.
Teague would nail another three-pointer with 2:55 to play in regulation to give the Bulldogs a 70-66 lead.
The fourth quarter would close with a 4-0 run by Southern California to send the game into overtime with things all tied up at 70-all.
Southern California would score first in in the first overtime, but Baehre would hit a three-pointer to give Asheville a 73-72 advantage.
That would be the first of three treys over the first less than two minutes of overtime by Baehre for the Bulldogs. The third Baehre trey garnered the Bulldogs a 79-74 lead with 3:19 left in the first overtime.
A 5-0 run by Southern California shortly thereafter tied things up at 79-all with less than two and a half minutes left in the first overtime.
The two teams would play back and forth once again over next couple of minutes, but the Bulldogs owned an 83-82 lead after a Baehre dunk with 34 seconds to play in the first overtime.
Teague would make two free throws for the Bulldogs, but Southern California would hit a trey to tie things up at 85-all and send the game to the second overtime.
The second overtime would start with back-to-back treys by Teague and Miller to give UNC Asheville a 91-85 advantage.
The Trojans would go on a 6-0 run from there to tie things up at 91-all with around two minutes left in the second overtime.
The Bulldogs would continue battling down the stretch of the second overtime, but it would be the Trojans who would emerge with the five-point win.
UNC Asheville had five players close out the narrow loss in double figures with Baehre leading the way with 28 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks. He also had two assists and two steals.
Teague finished his efforts with 26 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal. He knocked down six three-pointers in the game.
Miller had 16 points, eight assists, two rebounds and two steals, while Thomas had 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.
The final Bulldog in double figures, Vannatta had 11 points, three rebounds and two assists.
Four Trojans ended the game in double figures with Jordan McLaughlin leading the way with 26 points.
UNC Asheville finished the game shooting 46.7 percent (35-of-75) as a team, while Southern California shot 51.3 percent (40-of-78). The Bulldogs connected on 45.2 percent (14-of-31) of their three-point attempts and 77.8 percent (14-of-18) of their free throw attempts.
BULLDOG BITES
A Fond Farewell to a Special Senior Class
With 81 wins in their career, the UNC Asheville senior class of Alec Wnuk, Kevin Vannatta, Raekwon Miller and Ahmad Thomas had the most wins over a four-year stretch in program history. The Bulldog senior class had three championships 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.
All-Time Leader in Steals
UNC Asheville senior guard Ahmad Thomas with his four steals in the narrow NIT loss to Southern California officially became the all-time steals leader in program history. Thomas concludes his prolific Bulldog career with 251 steals. Thomas passed Bulldog great J.P. Primm for the top spot in the category in program history. Primm (2008-12) closed his career with 248 steals.
Baehre Attack
UNC Asheville sophomore Jonathan Baehre had a career day in the narrow loss to Southern California with a career-best 28 points and 14 rebounds. It was his third double-double this season. Baehre also had a career-high tying five blocks to end the season with six games with over four or more blocks in a game.
Sensational Sophomore Year Concludes
The 2016-17 Big South Conference Freshman of the Year last year, MaCio Teague's 23 points in the home win over Winthrop on Feb. 22 allowed him to surpass 1,000 points in just his sophomore season. Teague's 26 points in the narrow loss to Southern California allowed him to finish his sophomore campaign with 1,078 career points. He was just the fourth and is now one of only five in Big South history to score 1,000 or more by their sophomore season.
Postseason Play
UNC Asheville made its second appearance in the NIT this year. The Bulldogs last appeared in the postseason event in 2008. Overall, this year's NIT appearance was UNC Asheville's seventh in a postseason tournament. The Bulldogs have advanced to the NCAA Tournament four times before (2003, 2011, 2012 and 2016), the NIT (2008 and 2018) twice and the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament once (2017).
Big South Title No. 7
UNC Asheville men's basketball picked up its seventh Big South Conference regular-season title (1996-97, 1997-98, 2001-02, 2007-08, 2011-12, 2016-17 and 2017-18) this season. 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).
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 had 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.
Record Third-Straight 20-Win Season
UNC Asheville men's basketball for the first time in program history has won 20 or more games for three straight seasons. UNC Asheville won 22 games in the 2015-16 season, 23 in 2016-17 and the Bulldogs won 21 games this season.
Quotable
Highlights
Team Stats
AVL
USC
FG%
.467
.513
3FG%
.452
.407
FT%
.778
.522
RB
39
45
TO
17
16
STL
11
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
28
FGM
11
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
26
FGM
9
3FGM
6
FTM
2
Pts
16
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
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/ Men's Basketball
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