University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Saturday, December 14
Asheville, NC
2 p.m.
UNC Asheville
5-4,0-0Big Sout
91
vs
72
UT Martin
3-6,0-0OVC
1
2
F
UT Martin
37
35
72
UNC Asheville
48
43
91
Bulldogs Soar Past Skyhawks Behind Baker’s Career Game
12.14.2019 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE – Sophomore DeVon Baker scored a career-high 37 points and redshirt sophomore LJ Thorpe recorded his first-career double-double to help lead UNC Asheville's men's basketball team to a 91-72 victory against UT Martin, Saturday afternoon, at Kimmel Arena.
With the victory, the Bulldogs (5-4) have surpassed last season's win total, despite still ranking among the nation's youngest roster – coming in at No. 9 according to KenPom.
Baker was ruthlessly efficient, hitting 15-of-21 shots, including 6-of-7 from three. The 15 made field goals and six made 3-pointers both represent career-highs for Baker. He also finished with two assists, two rebounds and two steals. It is the second 30-point game of his career, eclipsing his previous best of 31 set at Stetson last season.
Thorpe recorded the first double-double of his career, scoring 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, to go along with 10 rebounds. Tajion Jones and Coty Jude both finished just one rebound shy of a double-double, as each set career highs with nine boards. Jones finished with 21 points, while Jude chipped in 13.
The game started at a frenetic pace, as the teams combined for 25 points in the first five minutes with UT Martin (3-6) holding a 15-10 lead at the first media timeout. The Skyhawks bumped the lead to eight, 21-13, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Cress Worthy and Baker got the Bulldogs right back in it.
After a Jones 3-pointer tied the game at 28 apiece with 8:14 remaining, Jude sunk a long ball to give the Dogs a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the game. The home team pushed margin to 12 twice toward the end of the first half, and would go into the locker room up 48-37.
With just over a minute gone by in the second half, the Skyhwaks' Parker Stewart hit back-to-back buckets in the paint to whittle the lead to nine, 50-41, but that would be the last time the lead got below double digits in the game.
The Bulldogs pushed the lead to 20 points twice with about nine minutes remaining, and would get it as high as 21 points with a layup from Jones in the waning moments, but a Skyhawk layup at the end of the game gave the final margin.
NOTABLY
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs host their second of three straight games at home when they welcome Stetson for a 6 p.m., Tuesday, contest at Kimmel Arena.
FROM THE MIND OF MORRELL
"With six of our first eight games on the road – it's been almost a month since we were home – it felt really good to play at home. We had a really good crowd today – they got lively there a little bit. We always appreciate the support we get here. We know we're definitely not entitled to that, and we're just really grateful for it. I thought our guys really fed off that today, and I thought they came out ready. They came out motivated, a lot of ways because we were at home, and I think a lot of ways because of the last two games and knowing how close we were to getting two wins. I'm just really proud of them. We want Kimmel Arena to be a place that people really dread coming to, and when you perform the way we did today, then you can really get that ball rolling. I'm just really thankful for the group.
One thing I do want to make note of: we left here yesterday and there were 50-75 people after commencement that were helping flip the floor. I don't know if people realize that was yesterday and then we play at 2 o'clock, and the arena doesn't just flip itself. I'm really thankful for those people who took the time to do that and thankful for the whole crew here who got the gym ready. When you're at a place like this, that's one of the special things about it. – Head Coach Mike Morrell
With the victory, the Bulldogs (5-4) have surpassed last season's win total, despite still ranking among the nation's youngest roster – coming in at No. 9 according to KenPom.
Baker was ruthlessly efficient, hitting 15-of-21 shots, including 6-of-7 from three. The 15 made field goals and six made 3-pointers both represent career-highs for Baker. He also finished with two assists, two rebounds and two steals. It is the second 30-point game of his career, eclipsing his previous best of 31 set at Stetson last season.
Thorpe recorded the first double-double of his career, scoring 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, to go along with 10 rebounds. Tajion Jones and Coty Jude both finished just one rebound shy of a double-double, as each set career highs with nine boards. Jones finished with 21 points, while Jude chipped in 13.
The game started at a frenetic pace, as the teams combined for 25 points in the first five minutes with UT Martin (3-6) holding a 15-10 lead at the first media timeout. The Skyhawks bumped the lead to eight, 21-13, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Cress Worthy and Baker got the Bulldogs right back in it.
After a Jones 3-pointer tied the game at 28 apiece with 8:14 remaining, Jude sunk a long ball to give the Dogs a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the game. The home team pushed margin to 12 twice toward the end of the first half, and would go into the locker room up 48-37.
With just over a minute gone by in the second half, the Skyhwaks' Parker Stewart hit back-to-back buckets in the paint to whittle the lead to nine, 50-41, but that would be the last time the lead got below double digits in the game.
The Bulldogs pushed the lead to 20 points twice with about nine minutes remaining, and would get it as high as 21 points with a layup from Jones in the waning moments, but a Skyhawk layup at the end of the game gave the final margin.
NOTABLY
- With their fifth victory of the season, the Bulldogs surpassed last season's win total in just nine games.
- DeVon Baker scored a career-high 37 points, surpassing his previous high of 31, set at Stetson, December 18, 2018. He is the only player on the roster with multiple 30-point games in his career.
- Baker hit 15-of-21 shots from the field, including 6-of-7 from three. The 15 made shots eclipsed his previous career-high of 10, set January 19, 2019 against Radford, and the six made 3-pointers surpassed his previous high of five set in the team's most recent home game against St. Andrews.
- LJ Thorpe secured his first-career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. He became the only player on the roster with a double-double game in his career, and he joined Stephen Edoka as the only players to have a double-digit rebounding game in their careers.
- Coty Jude and Tajion Jones both set career highs in rebounds with nine in the game. Jude and Jones each secured five rebounds on the offensive end.
- As a team, The Bulldogs outrebounded the Skyhawks, 44-32, for their highest rebounding margin of the season. The Bulldogs are now 5-0 this season when they out-rebound their opponent.
- The Bulldogs only turned the ball over seven times, marking the second-straight home game they have turned it over fewer than 10 times (8 vs. St. Andrews).
- The Bulldogs forced UT Martin into 12 turnovers, and have yet to turn the ball over more than an opponent this season.
- Trent Stephney set a career-best with seven assists against UT Martin. He became the first Bulldog to record seven assists in a game since Baker had eight against High Point, March 2, 2019.
- The Bulldogs pulled down 18 offensive rebounds and led 21-4 in second chance points.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs host their second of three straight games at home when they welcome Stetson for a 6 p.m., Tuesday, contest at Kimmel Arena.
FROM THE MIND OF MORRELL
"With six of our first eight games on the road – it's been almost a month since we were home – it felt really good to play at home. We had a really good crowd today – they got lively there a little bit. We always appreciate the support we get here. We know we're definitely not entitled to that, and we're just really grateful for it. I thought our guys really fed off that today, and I thought they came out ready. They came out motivated, a lot of ways because we were at home, and I think a lot of ways because of the last two games and knowing how close we were to getting two wins. I'm just really proud of them. We want Kimmel Arena to be a place that people really dread coming to, and when you perform the way we did today, then you can really get that ball rolling. I'm just really thankful for the group.
One thing I do want to make note of: we left here yesterday and there were 50-75 people after commencement that were helping flip the floor. I don't know if people realize that was yesterday and then we play at 2 o'clock, and the arena doesn't just flip itself. I'm really thankful for those people who took the time to do that and thankful for the whole crew here who got the gym ready. When you're at a place like this, that's one of the special things about it. – Head Coach Mike Morrell
Team Stats
UTM
AVL
FG%
.509
.480
3FG%
.333
.419
FT%
.500
.545
RB
32
44
TO
12
7
STL
2
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
37
FGM
15
3FGM
6
FTM
1
Pts
21
FGM
8
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
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/ Men's BasketballG
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/ Men's Basketball
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