University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Saturday, December 7
Cullowhee, NC
4 p.m.
UNC Asheville
at
Western Carolina
Photo by: Mark Godin
Bulldogs Travel to Cullowhee for Mountain Rivalry Matchup
12.05.2019 | Men's Basketball
GAME NOTES | at WESTERN CAROLINA
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – UNC Asheville's men's basketball team is set for its second game of a three-game road swing when it travels to Western Carolina for the Mountain Rivalry in a 4 p.m. contest, Saturday, December 7, at the Ramsey Center.
The Bulldogs (4-2) enter the weekend on a three-game winning streak after taking down Charlotte, 83-75, Tuesday night. In just six games this season, the Bulldogs have already equaled their win total from a season ago.
The Catamounts (6-2, 1-0 SoCon) have also had a strong start to their season and enter Saturday's matchup on a four-game winning streak, including an 87-77 conference victory against Chattanooga, Tuesday.
Both teams find themselves currently sitting inside the Top 70 of the RPI rankings, with Western Carolina coming in at No. 55 and UNC Asheville ranked No. 69.
Western Carolina holds a 30-23 advantage in the series and has won the past two matchups. They won last season's game, 71-59, inside Kimmel Arena. Coty Jude led the scoring effort with 18 points, while DeVon Baker and Tajion Jones each had 14.
Saturday's action will be available streaming on ESPN3 HERE. Brian Hall and UNC Asheville hall-of-famer Mike Gore will have the radio call on ESPN Asheville on 92.9 FM, 880 AM, 1400 AM or streaming HERE. Fans will also be able to follow along via live stats HERE.
NOTABLY
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – UNC Asheville's men's basketball team is set for its second game of a three-game road swing when it travels to Western Carolina for the Mountain Rivalry in a 4 p.m. contest, Saturday, December 7, at the Ramsey Center.
The Bulldogs (4-2) enter the weekend on a three-game winning streak after taking down Charlotte, 83-75, Tuesday night. In just six games this season, the Bulldogs have already equaled their win total from a season ago.
The Catamounts (6-2, 1-0 SoCon) have also had a strong start to their season and enter Saturday's matchup on a four-game winning streak, including an 87-77 conference victory against Chattanooga, Tuesday.
Both teams find themselves currently sitting inside the Top 70 of the RPI rankings, with Western Carolina coming in at No. 55 and UNC Asheville ranked No. 69.
Western Carolina holds a 30-23 advantage in the series and has won the past two matchups. They won last season's game, 71-59, inside Kimmel Arena. Coty Jude led the scoring effort with 18 points, while DeVon Baker and Tajion Jones each had 14.
Saturday's action will be available streaming on ESPN3 HERE. Brian Hall and UNC Asheville hall-of-famer Mike Gore will have the radio call on ESPN Asheville on 92.9 FM, 880 AM, 1400 AM or streaming HERE. Fans will also be able to follow along via live stats HERE.
NOTABLY
- The Bulldogs have not turned the ball over more than their opponent in any game so far this season and rank second in the country in turnover margin at plus-8.0 per game. Their 80 total turnovers rank 15th-fewest in the country.
- The Bulldogs force their opponents into 21.3 turnovers per game, which ranks third in the country. They also average 10.8 steals per game, ranking eighth in the nation. Lavar Batts, Jr. (2.3 steals per game) leads the Big South and ranks 38th nationally in steals, while LJ Thorpe (2.2 steals per game) is second in the Big South and 58th nationally.
- The Bulldogs are averaging 23.4 more points per game this season than last season. Their 83.3 points per game rank 14th in the country and first in the Big South. The Dogs rank in the top 75 nationally and first in the Big South, hitting 46.7 percent of their shots from the field.
- Against St. Andrews, the Bulldogs drained a program-record 19 3-pointers, led by career-highs in makes (5) and attempts (12) from DeVon Baker. The team ranks 55th in the country with 9.2 makes per game from beyond the arc, and Tajion Jones is second in the Big South and 54th nationally, hitting 41.7 percent of his shots from distance.
- Tajion Jones (16.3 points per game) and DeVon Baker (15.7 points per game) rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in scoring in the Big South. Jones has three 20-point efforts on the season, and Baker has two. With 20-point games at The Citadel and Wake Forest, Jones joined Baker as the only players with back-to-back 20-plus point games in their careers.
- Freshman guard Trent Stephney led the Bulldogs against Charlotte with career bests in assists (6) and steals (4) in a career-high 30 minutes of action. He leads all Big South bench players in assists (2.5) and steals (1.8) per game.
- 5 – All five starters scored in double figures for the Bulldogs against Charlotte, marking the second-straight game the starters did so. Previously, the last time five Bulldogs scored in double-digits was against USC, March 13, 2018 in the NIT.
- 8 – The Bulldogs only turned the ball over eight times against St. Andrews, marking the first time they'd turned it over fewer than 10 times since they had six against USC Upstate, February 13, 2017.
- 13.5 – The Dogs rank 24th in the country in offensive rebounds, averaging 13.5 on the offensive glass per game. LJ Thorpe and Jax Levitch lead the team with 12 offensive rebounds on the season.
- 18 – Despite returning 83.6 percent of its minutes from a season ago, UNC Asheville still possesses one of the 20 youngest rosters in the country, ranking as the 18th-youngest team, according to Ken Pom.
- 105 – With 105 points scored against St. Andrews, the Bulldogs eclipsed 100 points for the first time since scoring 104 in a double-overtime victory against Winthrop, February 9, 2017.
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