Bulldogs Host Camels in First Big South Home Game of the Season

GAME NOTES | vs CAMPBELL

ASHEVILLE – UNC Asheville's men's basketball team will play its first home game of the new year when it hosts Campbell in a 6 p.m. contest, Wednesday, January 8, inside Kimmel Arena.

The Bulldogs (6-6, 0-1 Big South) will host their first Big South Conference home game of the season as well and will be looking to pick up their first win in league play. They opened the conference season on the road at Presbyterian, Thursday, tying the game inside of five seconds, but falling on a last-second shot, 79-77.

The Camels (9-5, 0-2 Big South) also enter the matchup seeking their first victory of the conference season after opening with two defeats at home last week. Most recently, the Camels fell, 87-72, to Winthrop last Saturday.

Asheville holds a 25-21 advantage in the all-time series between the two teams that dates back to the 1967-68 season. Campbell won last season's lone matchup, 70-53, inside Kimmel Arena. The Bulldogs swept both meetings in the previous season.

Their most recent victory against the Camels was a 64-57 result that came Feb. 1, 2018, in Buies Creek. The most recent home win in the series came earlier that season with an 85-79 win in Kimmel Arena, Dec. 30, 2017.

Wednesday's game will be live streamed on ESPN+ with Matt Stradley and Bulldog legend John Williams on the call HERE, while Brian Hall and Mike Gore will have the radio call on ESPN Asheville 92.9 FM, 880 AM or 1400 AM, and can also be found streaming HERE. Live stats will also be available HERE.

NOTABLY

The Bulldogs have not turned the ball over more than their opponent in any game so far this season and lead the country in turnover margin at plus-7.6 per game. They rank 13th in the country in fewest total turnovers.
The Bulldogs force their opponents into 19.8 turnovers per game, which ranks fourth in the country. They also average 9.8 steals per game, ranking 10th in the nation. DeVon Baker ranks second in the Big South, averaging 2.0 steals per game, while Lavar Batts, Jr. (3rd, 1.9 spg), LJ Thorpe (5th, 1.8 spg) and Trent Stephney (10th, 1.5 spg) all rank in the top 10 in the conference in steals.
Four Bulldogs rank inside the Top 17 in scoring in the Big South Conference (Tajion Jones – 4th, 16.6; DeVon Baker – 5th, 16.2; Lavar Batts, Jr. – 12th, 13.3; LJ Thorpe – 17th, 11.8). No other team has more than two players in the Top 17.
The Bulldogs are averaging 81.0 points per game, ranking 18th in the country and first in the Big South. The Bulldogs finished the 2018-19 campaign ranked 349th nationally in scoring, averaging 59.9 points per game. Additionally, the Dogs rank 68th nationally and first in the Big South, hitting 46.4 percent of their shots from the field.
According to KenPom, the Bulldogs rank ninth in the country in turnover percentage defense, forcing opponents into turnovers on more than a quarter of their possessions during a game, with 25.1 percent of opponents' possessions ending in a turnover.
Redshirt sophomore Tajion Jones led the team in scoring with 21 points in the conference opener against Presbyterian for his sixth 20-point game of the season. He has two back-to-back 20-point efforts on the season and is the only player on the roster to have multiple back-to-back 20-point games in his career.
Since being held scoreless in the season opener against Tennessee, Tajion Jones has not scored fewer than 12 points in any game and leads the Bulldogs with 11 double-digit scoring efforts on the year.

BY THE NUMBERS

1 – The Bulldogs have used just one starting lineup all season, and all five starters average double-digits in scoring: (Jones - 16.6; Baker - 16.2; Batts - 13.3; Thorpe - 11.8; Jude - 10.3).
9 – Despite returning 83.6 percent of its minutes from a season ago, UNC Asheville still possesses one of the 10 youngest rosters in the country, ranking as the 9th-youngest team, according to KenPom.
11.4 – The Dogs rank second in the Big South and in the top 100 nationally in offensive rebounds, averaging 11.4 on the offensive glass per game. Tajion Jones is eighth in the Big South, averaging 1.9 offensive boards per game.
21.1 – Scoring 81 points per game, the Bulldogs are averaging 21.1 points per game more than they did a season ago.