Bulldogs Travel to Hampton for Monday Night Tilt

GAME NOTES | at HAMPTON

HAMPTON, Va. – UNC Asheville's men's basketball will make the trek to Hampton, Va. to take on Hampton in a Monday-night showdown set for 7 p.m. inside the Convocation Center.

The Bulldogs (10-12, 4-7 Big South) took down USC Upstate Thursday night, 84-71, in a rematch from earlier in the season. DeVon Baker had an offensive explosion in the game, scoring 30 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the floor. It was Baker's second 30-point game of the season and third of his career.

The Pirates (10-13, 5-5 Big South) fell Saturday night at Charleston Southern, 85-72, and have dropped two league contests in a row. However, the Pirates are 9-3 on their home floor this season, including a 4-1 mark during Big South play.

Hampton has won each of the first two meetings in the series that dates back to last season. The teams met in Kimmel Arena earlier this season, with the Pirates claiming a narrow 88-86 result. In that game LJ Thorpe became the first Bulldog in two seasons to lead the team in points (career-high 31), rebounds (9) and assists (4). The Pirates won last season's lone matchup, 81-63, in Hampton.

Monday's game will be live streamed on ESPN+ HERE, and live stats will also be available HERE.

NOTABLY

With 30 Points against USC Upstate at home, DeVon Baker recorded his second 30-point output of the season after scoring 37 against UT Martin. He became the first Bulldog since Andrew Rowsey in 2014-15 with multiple 30-point performances in a season. He is among a trio of Bulldogs with a 30-point game this season (Lavar Batts, Jr. - 40, at SC State; LJ Thorpe - 31, vs. Hampton).
The Bulldogs rank third in the country in turnover margin at plus-5.9 per game, and they rank 28th in the country in fewest total turnovers. The Bulldogs have turned the ball over more than their opponent in only two games this season.
The Bulldogs force their opponents into 17.8 turnovers per game, which ranks 11th in the country. They also average 8.6 steals per game, ranking 21st in the nation. Lavar Batts, Jr. leads the Big South, averaging 1.9 steals per game, while LJ Thorpe (1.6 spg), DeVon Baker (1.5 spg) and Trent Stephney (1.4 spg) all rank in the Top 15.
Four Bulldogs rank inside the Top 15 in scoring in the Big South Conference (DeVon Baker – 4th, 16.5; Tajion Jones – 8th, 14.5; LJ Thorpe – 11th, 13.8; Lavar Batts, Jr. – 12th, 13.0). No other team has more than two in the Top 15.
The Bulldogs are averaging 76.5 points per game, ranking 54th in the country and third in the Big South. The Bulldogs finished the 2018-19 campaign ranked 349th nationally in scoring, averaging 59.9 points per game. The team is averaging 16.6 more points per game than it did last season.
The Dogs are third in the Big South, hitting 35.1 percent from three, and they are third in the conference and 72nd nationally with 8.5 makes per game from beyond the arc. Tajion Jones is second in the conference, hitting 2.3 3-pointers per game. Against St. Andrews, the Bulldogs drained a program-record 19 3-pointers.
According to KenPom, the Bulldogs rank 18th in the country in turnover percentage defense, forcing opponents into turnovers on nearly a quarter of their possessions, with 23.4 percent of opponents' possessions ending in a turnover.

BY THE NUMBERS

1 – The Bulldogs have used just one starting lineup all season. Asheville is the only team in Division I to use one starting lineup all season.
5 – The Bulldogs starters all scored in double figures against USC Upstate at home, marking the fifth time this season they have done so. The Bulldogs are 4-1 in those games.
10 – 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 10th-youngest team, according to KenPom.
50 – The Bulldogs hit 50 percent from the field against USC Upstate at home, marking the fourth time this season they shot 50 percent or better in a game. They hit 56.9 percent against The Citadel, 50 percent against Charlotte and 52 percent against Radford. They are 4-0 in those games
97.3 – The Bulldogs underclassmen (freshmen and sophomores) have scored 97.3 percent of the team's points this season, representing the highest percentage of underclassmen scoring in Division I.

Bulldogs Travel to Hampton for Monday Night Tilt

Next Event

Players Mentioned

DeVon Baker

Lavar Batts, Jr.

Tajion Jones

Trent Stephney

LJ Thorpe

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics

Bulldogs Travel to Hampton for Monday Night Tilt

Next Event

Players Mentioned

DeVon Baker

Lavar Batts, Jr.

Tajion Jones

Trent Stephney

LJ Thorpe

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