University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Thursday, January 30
Asheville, NC
6 p.m.
UNC Asheville
9-11,3-6Big Sou
56
vs
70
Gardner-Webb
8-12,4-4Big Sou
1
2
F
Gardner-Webb
29
41
70
UNC Asheville
25
31
56
Photo by: Mark Godin
UNC Asheville Unable to Get Past Gardner-Webb
01.30.2020 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE – UNC Asheville's men's basketball team fell at home to Gardner-Webb in a Big South Conference tilt, 70-56, Thursday night inside Kimmel Arena.
Redshirt sophomore LJ Thorpe led the Bulldogs (9-11, 3-6 Big South) in scoring for the second straight game, finishing as the game's leading scorer with 18 points on an efficient 7-of-9 effort from the field. DeVon Baker joined Thorpe in double figures with 15 points on 7-of-17 shooting.
Lavar Batts, Jr. hit a contested layup while being fouled at the 17:20 mark, and would hit the free throw to give Asheville a 5-4 lead – its only lead of the game.
Gardner-Webb (8-12, 4-4 Big South) held a 9-5 lead at the first media timeout with 15:58 left in the first half, but would never grow the lead to greater than seven points in the first half, though it would also not relinquish the lead either.
Batts threw down a highlight-reel dunk at the 15:28 mark to pull the Bulldogs to within one, 9-8, but Gardner-Webb answered with a 3-pointer to go up four points.
Trailing by seven, 17-10, Baker hit a jump shot at the 11:19 mark to jumpstart a 6-0 Asheville run – their best of the game – to bring the lead to within one, 17-16 on another Baker bucket. But again, GWU would answer back, pushing the lead to six late in the first half.
With the score 29-23 in favor of the visitors at the end of the first half, Baker pulled down a defensive board, hit Batts with the outlet pass who sent it ahead to Tajion Jones for an emphatic dunk as the buzzer sounded for halftime, with GWU up 29-25. The Bulldogs held Gardner-Webb to 36.7 percent shooting from the floor in the first half.
Gardner-Webb scored five quick points out of the gate in the second half to push the lead into double figures. Asheville answered with an and-one from Thorpe and a driving layup from Coty Jude to cut the lead back to five at the 17:17 mark.
The visitors, though, would push the lead back into double figures, with a converted alley-oop with 12:03 remaining giving them an 11-point lead, 51-40. They would hold a double-digit lead throughout the rest of the second half.
NOTABLY
UP NEXT
It's a quick turnaround for the Bulldogs, as they head back on the road to take on league-leader Winthrop in a 2 p.m., Saturday, contest inside the Winthrop Coliseum.
FROM THE MIND OF MORRELL
"Give Gardner-Webb a lot of credit; I thought they played their tail off tonight. They were the more aggressive team, they made shots – especially in the second half. I thought at halftime – we hadn't had a great first half either, but were kind of able to battle back and get it to two possessions. So I actually felt really good going into halftime. We didn't guard in the second half at the level that we needed to. (GWU) got going a little bit, especially from three. (Jose) Perez and (Jaheam) Cornwall combined for seven threes. That's tough, and we had a tough night shooting the basketball. But you have to give (GWU) credit. They played with tremendous effort and they deserved to win tonight."
– Head Coach Mike Morrell
Redshirt sophomore LJ Thorpe led the Bulldogs (9-11, 3-6 Big South) in scoring for the second straight game, finishing as the game's leading scorer with 18 points on an efficient 7-of-9 effort from the field. DeVon Baker joined Thorpe in double figures with 15 points on 7-of-17 shooting.
Lavar Batts, Jr. hit a contested layup while being fouled at the 17:20 mark, and would hit the free throw to give Asheville a 5-4 lead – its only lead of the game.
Gardner-Webb (8-12, 4-4 Big South) held a 9-5 lead at the first media timeout with 15:58 left in the first half, but would never grow the lead to greater than seven points in the first half, though it would also not relinquish the lead either.
Batts threw down a highlight-reel dunk at the 15:28 mark to pull the Bulldogs to within one, 9-8, but Gardner-Webb answered with a 3-pointer to go up four points.
Trailing by seven, 17-10, Baker hit a jump shot at the 11:19 mark to jumpstart a 6-0 Asheville run – their best of the game – to bring the lead to within one, 17-16 on another Baker bucket. But again, GWU would answer back, pushing the lead to six late in the first half.
With the score 29-23 in favor of the visitors at the end of the first half, Baker pulled down a defensive board, hit Batts with the outlet pass who sent it ahead to Tajion Jones for an emphatic dunk as the buzzer sounded for halftime, with GWU up 29-25. The Bulldogs held Gardner-Webb to 36.7 percent shooting from the floor in the first half.
Gardner-Webb scored five quick points out of the gate in the second half to push the lead into double figures. Asheville answered with an and-one from Thorpe and a driving layup from Coty Jude to cut the lead back to five at the 17:17 mark.
The visitors, though, would push the lead back into double figures, with a converted alley-oop with 12:03 remaining giving them an 11-point lead, 51-40. They would hold a double-digit lead throughout the rest of the second half.
NOTABLY
- The Bulldogs forced 16 Gardner-Webb turnovers while turning it over 14 times themselves. The Bulldogs have turned the ball over more than their opponent in only one game this season and have forced more turnovers than their opponent in 17 of 20 games.
- Asheville outscored Gardner-Webb, 14-10, in fastbreak points.
- LJ Thorpe led the team in scoring with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. It is the second-straight game he has led the team in scoring and fourth time this season.
- Thorpe also led the team in rebounding with six, marking the 12th game this season he's been the leading rebounder.
- Lavar Batts, Jr. led the team with four assists, marking the eighth time he's led the team in assists this season.
- Cress Worthy tied his season-high with five points, which he set previously against UT Martin, December 14.
- Jeremy Peck secured five rebounds, the most he's had this season since coming down with six against Brevard, November 16.
UP NEXT
It's a quick turnaround for the Bulldogs, as they head back on the road to take on league-leader Winthrop in a 2 p.m., Saturday, contest inside the Winthrop Coliseum.
FROM THE MIND OF MORRELL
"Give Gardner-Webb a lot of credit; I thought they played their tail off tonight. They were the more aggressive team, they made shots – especially in the second half. I thought at halftime – we hadn't had a great first half either, but were kind of able to battle back and get it to two possessions. So I actually felt really good going into halftime. We didn't guard in the second half at the level that we needed to. (GWU) got going a little bit, especially from three. (Jose) Perez and (Jaheam) Cornwall combined for seven threes. That's tough, and we had a tough night shooting the basketball. But you have to give (GWU) credit. They played with tremendous effort and they deserved to win tonight."
– Head Coach Mike Morrell
Team Stats
GW
AVL
FG%
.509
.429
3FG%
.588
.188
FT%
.571
.500
RB
34
29
TO
16
14
STL
9
7
Game Leaders
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ 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