Bulldogs Close Out Regular-Season Home Slate in Homecoming Showdown with Presbyterian

GAME NOTES | vs PRESBYTERIAN (PDF)

ASHEVILLE – UNC Asheville's men's basketball will close out its regular-season home schedule when it hosts Presbyterian on Homecoming with tipoff set for 4:30 p.m., Saturday, inside Kimmel Arena.

The game will be a part of a doubleheader presented by Biltmore Farms Hotels and will be played after Asheville's women's team takes on USC Upstate. Former Bulldogs head coach and Athletics Hall of Famer Jerry Green will be honored during the second half of the game.

The Bulldogs (12-14, 6-9 Big South) played the Big South Conference's Wildcard game, Thursday night, falling to league-leader Radford, 79-64. The Dogs have won four of their past five games at home, including each of their past three and will look to make it four-in-a-row, Saturday.

The Blue Hose (9-19, 6-9 Big South) are coming off of a Thursday defeat at the hands of High Point on the road, 82-70. PC has dropped each of its last four games, and after winning its first two league games on the road, PC has fallen in its past six road games.

The Bulldogs and Blue Hose opened the Big South season in Clinton, as Presbyterian escaped with a 79-77 victory, January 2. All five starters scored in double-figures in the game for Asheville, led by 21 points from Tajion Jones. The Bulldogs own a 22-13 advantage in a series that dates back to both programs' NAIA days in 1966-67, though they will be looking to snap the Blue Hose' four-game winning streak in the series. The last time the teams squared off in Kimmel Arena, February 23, 2019, PC won, 71-55.

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

NOTABLY

With eight victories more than their total from last season, the Bulldogs are tied for third in the country in largest win improvement over last year, behind only Western Carolina and Stephen F. Austin. One of the teams Asheville is tied with is Stetson, whom the Bulldogs defeated, December 17.
With their victory at home against Charleston Southern, the Bulldogs won their 12th game of the season, tripling their win total from all of last season. The victory was also their sixth of Big South play, tripling their conference win total as well.
The Bulldogs rank fifth in the country in turnover margin at plus-5.0 per game, and they rank Top 60 in the country in fewest total turnovers. The Bulldogs have turned the ball over more than their opponent in only three of 26 games this season.
The Bulldogs force their opponents into 17.1 turnovers per game, which ranks 16th in the country. They also average 8.3 steals per game, ranking 29th in the nation. Lavar Batts, Jr. leads the Big South, averaging 1.9 steals per game, while DeVon Baker (1.5 spg) and LJ Thorpe (1.4 spg) rank in the Top 15.
DeVon Baker has scored 928 points in the first two seasons of his Bulldog career and is now just 72 points away from becoming the 34th player in program history to hit the 1,000-point miletsone.
Four Bulldogs rank inside the Top 20 in scoring in the Big South Conference (DeVon Baker – 5th, 16.8; Tajion Jones – 7th, 14.4; LJ Thorpe – 12th, 13.9; Lavar Batts, Jr. – 20th, 12.2). Only Gardner-Webb has three scorers in the Top 20.
The Dogs hit a season best 55 percent (11-of-20) on 3-pointers against Longwood. They are third in the Big South, hitting 35.1 percent from three, and they are third in the conference with 8.3 makes per game from beyond the arc. Coty Jude is fourth in the league, hitting 2.3 3-pointers per game.
The Bulldogs are averaging 75.7 points per game, ranking third in the Big South and 62nd nationally. The Bulldogs finished the 2018-19 campaign ranked 349th nationally in scoring, averaging 59.9 points per game. The team is averaging 15.8 more points per game than it did last season.

BY THE NUMBERS

1 – The Bulldogs have used just one starting lineup all season. Asheville is one of three teams in Division I to use one starting lineup (North Texas, Furman).
5 – All five starters scored in double-figures at Radford for the sixth time this season. The Bulldogs are 4-2 in those games. All five starters average double-digits in scoring.
13 – 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 13th-youngest team, according to KenPom.
50 – The Bulldogs hit a season-best 59.6 percent from the field against Longwood, and followed that with a 51.9 percent effort against Charleston Southern. The Bulldogs have shot 50 percent or better in a game six times and are 6-0 in those games, including each of their last four victories.
96.8 – The Bulldogs underclassmen (freshmen and sophomores) have scored 96.8 percent of the team's points this season, representing the highest percentage of underclassmen scoring in Division I.

Bulldogs Close Out Regular-Season Home Slate in Homecoming Showdown with Presbyterian

Next Event

Players Mentioned

DeVon Baker

Lavar Batts, Jr.

Tajion Jones

Coty Jude

LJ Thorpe

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics

Bulldogs Close Out Regular-Season Home Slate in Homecoming Showdown with Presbyterian

Next Event

Players Mentioned

DeVon Baker

Lavar Batts, Jr.

Tajion Jones

Coty Jude

LJ Thorpe

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