University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Thursday, January 23
Asheville, NC
6 p.m.
UNC Asheville
9-9,3-4Big Sout
80
vs
67
Radford
10-9,5-2Big Sou
1
2
F
Radford
31
36
67
UNC Asheville
47
33
80
Photo by: Adrian Etheridge
Jones, Thorpe Lead Bulldogs Past Big South Preseason Favorite Radford
01.23.2020 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE – Tajion Jones scored a season-high 29 points and LJ Thorpe added 20 points to help UNC Asheville's men's basketball team take down preseason Big South Conference favorite Radford, 80-67, Thursday night inside Kimmel Arena.
The Bulldogs (9-9, 3-4 Big South) used a scorching first half from Jones to claim a 16-point halftime lead, 47-31. The redshirt sophomore shot 6-of-7 from beyond the arc in the first half and scored 20 of his points before the break.
Jones finished the game shooting 9-of-14, including 7-of-11 from three, setting his career-high for made 3-pointers in a game. DeVon Baker was big in the first half as well, scoring 14 of his 15 points, making an array of pull up jump shots look routine.
The Bulldogs got off to a hot start, building a 10-point lead, 13-3, just over three minutes into the game after a Lavar Batts, Jr. bucket in the paint. Thorpe opened the scoring with a 3-pointer 27 seconds into the game, and the Bulldogs never trailed, holding the lead for 39:33 of game time.
The Highlanders (10-9, 5-2 Big South) cut the lead to 10 with a minute to go in the first half, but Jones drained consecutive 3-pointers to electrify Kimmel Arena going into the break.
Thorpe was the catalyst in the second half, leading Asheville with 12 points. He converted an and-one attempt at the 14:10 mark to give the Bulldogs an 18-point lead – their largest of the game.
But Radford, whose only loss in conference play entering the game came against league-leader Winthrop, Monday, began to chip away at the lead. They cut it to seven points, 66-59, with 7:40 remaining on a 3-pointer by Travis Fields, but the Bulldogs kept their focus and were able to push it back to a double-digit lead on a converted and-one from Batts.
The Highlanders would get the lead to nine, 73-64, with 2:11 remaining on a pair of free throws from Fields, but Baker, Batts, Thorpe and Jones would combine to make 7-of-8 free throws on the following four possessions to help salt things away.
Â
NOTABLY
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs have a quick break before making the short trek to USC Upstate for a 4 p.m. tipoff, Saturday, January 25.
Â
FROM THE MIND OF MORRELL
"I'm just really proud of our guys and their effort tonight. They really deserve this. Obviously, we have tons of respect for Radford and what they've done. Our guys were really motivated, and we really challenged them to do a better job protecting your home, protecting Kimmel Arena, and I thought they did that tonight. Our plan was just to try to be the aggressors for as long as we could, and I think they did a good job of that. Tajion Jones was terrific tonight, LJ (Thorpe) was terrific, and the whole team was. We were able to get some stops down the stretch after they made a little run to cut it to seven. I thought our zone defense helped us to wind the clock down a little bit. It's just a great win for our program, and I'm really appreciative of the support we got tonight. I thought the crowd was terrific and really got into the game and style of play. It was a good night for our players and our whole program."
– Head Coach Mike Morrell
Â
The Bulldogs (9-9, 3-4 Big South) used a scorching first half from Jones to claim a 16-point halftime lead, 47-31. The redshirt sophomore shot 6-of-7 from beyond the arc in the first half and scored 20 of his points before the break.
Jones finished the game shooting 9-of-14, including 7-of-11 from three, setting his career-high for made 3-pointers in a game. DeVon Baker was big in the first half as well, scoring 14 of his 15 points, making an array of pull up jump shots look routine.
The Bulldogs got off to a hot start, building a 10-point lead, 13-3, just over three minutes into the game after a Lavar Batts, Jr. bucket in the paint. Thorpe opened the scoring with a 3-pointer 27 seconds into the game, and the Bulldogs never trailed, holding the lead for 39:33 of game time.
The Highlanders (10-9, 5-2 Big South) cut the lead to 10 with a minute to go in the first half, but Jones drained consecutive 3-pointers to electrify Kimmel Arena going into the break.
Thorpe was the catalyst in the second half, leading Asheville with 12 points. He converted an and-one attempt at the 14:10 mark to give the Bulldogs an 18-point lead – their largest of the game.
But Radford, whose only loss in conference play entering the game came against league-leader Winthrop, Monday, began to chip away at the lead. They cut it to seven points, 66-59, with 7:40 remaining on a 3-pointer by Travis Fields, but the Bulldogs kept their focus and were able to push it back to a double-digit lead on a converted and-one from Batts.
The Highlanders would get the lead to nine, 73-64, with 2:11 remaining on a pair of free throws from Fields, but Baker, Batts, Thorpe and Jones would combine to make 7-of-8 free throws on the following four possessions to help salt things away.
Â
NOTABLY
- The Bulldogs never trailed in the game and led for 39:33 of game time.
- The 13-point margin of victory is the first double-digit outcome in conference play this season for UNC Asheville. The Bulldogs' previous six conference games had been decided by five points or fewer.
- The 13-point victory is also the largest margin of victory for Asheville against Radford since defeating the Highlanders 79-61, January 12, 2013.
- The all-time series with Radford is now tied at 37-37.
- Tajion Jones led all scorers with a season-high 29 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 7-of-11 from three. He finished just one point shy of his career-high of 30 set last season against Milligan (December 21, 2018).
- The seven made 3-pointers represent a career-high for Jones, topping his previous high of six set last season against High Point (March 2, 2019).
- The seven 3-pointers fell one shy of the Bulldogs' Kimmel Arena record of eight knocked down by Andrew Rowsey, February 26, 2015, against High Point.
- Jones recorded his team-leading eighth 20-point performance of the season.
- LJ Thorpe finished with 20 points on the night with a 6-of-9 shooting effort from the field and 7-of-9 from the charity stripe. It is his third 20-point game of the season.
- It is the second time in three games Jones and Thorpe eclipsed 20 points in the same game, as they both did so at home against Hampton, January 18.
- It is the fourth time this season the Bulldogs have had two players go for 20-or-more in the same game, as Jones and DeVon Baker did so against UT Martin (December 14) and The Citadel (November 9). The Bulldogs are 3-1 in those games.
- The Bulldogs forced Radford into 14 turnovers while turning it over just nine times themselves. The Bulldogs have had more turnovers than their opponent in only one of 18 games this season.
- With only nine turnovers, it marks the sixth time this season the Bulldogs have turned it over fewer than 10 times. They are 5-1 in those games.
- The Bulldogs shot 52 percent from the field in the game (26-of-50). It is the third time this season they have shot 50 percent or better (The Citadel, 56.9; Charlotte; 50.0). They are 3-0 in those games.
- With seven rebounds, Thorpe led the Bulldogs in rebounding for the 10th time this season.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs have a quick break before making the short trek to USC Upstate for a 4 p.m. tipoff, Saturday, January 25.
Â
FROM THE MIND OF MORRELL
"I'm just really proud of our guys and their effort tonight. They really deserve this. Obviously, we have tons of respect for Radford and what they've done. Our guys were really motivated, and we really challenged them to do a better job protecting your home, protecting Kimmel Arena, and I thought they did that tonight. Our plan was just to try to be the aggressors for as long as we could, and I think they did a good job of that. Tajion Jones was terrific tonight, LJ (Thorpe) was terrific, and the whole team was. We were able to get some stops down the stretch after they made a little run to cut it to seven. I thought our zone defense helped us to wind the clock down a little bit. It's just a great win for our program, and I'm really appreciative of the support we got tonight. I thought the crowd was terrific and really got into the game and style of play. It was a good night for our players and our whole program."
– Head Coach Mike Morrell
Â
Team Stats
RAD
AVL
FG%
.431
.520
3FG%
.200
.417
FT%
.542
.750
RB
38
27
TO
14
9
STL
6
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
29
FGM
9
3FGM
7
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballHighlights || Men's Basketball || #2 UNC Asheville vs #5 Longwood (Big South Tournament)
Monday, March 18
Highlights || Men's Basketball || #2 UNC Asheville vs #3 Gardner-Webb (Big South Tournament)
Monday, March 18
Highlights || Men's Basketball || #2 UNC Asheville vs #7 Charleston Southern (Big South Tournament)
Thursday, March 14
Highlights || Men's Basketball || UNC Asheville at Radford
Monday, March 04