With the NCAA taking precautionary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the 2020 NCAA Basketball Championships have been canceled. In lieu of March Madness, UNC Asheville and Big South Conference Hall of Famer Mike Gore will take Bulldog fans down memory lane, recounting each Asheville trip to The Big Dance.
Two years ago, the greatest upset in NCAA Tournament play occurred when 16th-seeded UMBC shocked top-seeded Virginia.
It was a win for the little guys. It was a win for all the 16 seeds that had gone before and fell to the big-time opponent. For some folks in the Big South, there was some additional happiness as UMBC had once been a member of league 20 years earlier.
It was noticed in Asheville partly due to UMBC's head coach Ryan Odom. Ryan had once been an assistant at UNC Asheville for Eddie Biedenbach during the 1999-00 season.
But for most Asheville fans, it was a bitter reminder of a game six years earlier when the Bulldogs had almost been the first 16 seed to win a game. Asheville had lost a bitterly-fought contest to Syracuse, 72-65. A game where officials said they made mistakes, apologized publicly and privately to the school and changed a rule because of the game. The controversial loss galvanized the country to be on UNC Asheville's side.
However, the 2011-2012 season needs to be remembered for more than the Syracuse loss. This was a team that won the most games in school history (24), opened Kimmel Arena in style, won both the Big South regular-season and conference tournament in dominating fashion. It produced players that set records that might not be broken in a long time.
There was much to be excited about for Asheville fans as the 2011-12 season was reason to begin. The Bulldogs had four starters back from the previous season's Big South championship team. They were the preseason favorites to win the Big South. Matt Dickey was named the league's Preseason Player of the Year. Not only did the Bulldogs have a strong team back, they were bringing in some impressive newcomers like junior forward Jeremy Atkinson plus freshman guard Keith Hornsby: the son of Grammy-award winning artist Bruce Hornsby. In a summer concert in Asheville, Bruce told people to come out and support the Bulldogs in the upcoming season.
Matt Dickey
Added to that excitement was the new building the Bulldogs were about to move into. After years of playing in one of the smallest arenas in the country, Justice Center, the Dogs were going to play in the new, state-of-the-art Kimmel Arena. Part of the Wilma M. Sherrill Center, the new arena would sit 3,200 fans and there wasn't a bad seat in the house.
Those seats would be filled for its inaugural game. UNC Asheville would host top-ranked UNC Chapel Hill on November 13. Tar Heel head coach Roy Williams would return to his hometown to help open up the building.
More than 3,200 fans saw the Dogs give the Tar Heels a real battle before falling, 91-75. Three days later, Asheville would pick up its first win of the season in record-setting fashion with a 126-75 victory over Mars Hill.
A week later, the Bulldogs had the opportunity to play in the first ever Battle4Atlantis Tournament in the Bahamas. Asheville would go 1-2 in the strong field. Its one win would be an impressive 87-65 triumph over Pac-12 foe Utah.
The Bulldogs would open Big South Conference play early on the road against an improved Gardner-Webb team coached by current Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann. The Runnin' Bulldogs raced to an early lead before a boisterous crowd. But slowly Asheville would get back into the game. Jaron Lane tallied 15 points off the bench and the Dogs would make enough plays down the stretch to win, 66-60.
Asheville would pick up another impressive non-conference win at home vs. USC Upstate. Trailing by nine with 3:30 left, the Bulldogs would score the final 16 points of the game to win, 88-81. Dickey scored 22 points in the win, while Chris Stephenson pumped in 20 points and picked up nine rebounds.
The Bulldogs truly began their run toward a Big South regular-season title right after the holidays. On New Year's Eve, Asheville travelled to Winthrop and trailed its old rival by 14 points in the second half. But again the Bulldogs came together and rallied. A three-point play from Hornsby sent the game to overtime.
In overtime, walk-on senior center Jeremy Harn hit a crucial jumper after almost winning the game at the end of regulation. Harn would finish with six points, three rebounds and two steals. Hornsby added 11 points and the Dogs prevailed in overtime, 73-68.
The Bulldogs began to roll with a road win at Radford. High-octane VMI was the first Big South Conference game in Kimmel Arena and the Dogs won 94-85. Next came Liberty, who never enjoyed playing in Justice Center. They didn't enjoy coming to Kimmel either as the Bulldogs rolled, 98-75.
Next up was a stretch of five games in 10 days with three of those contests on the road. The first was an early-season showdown with league newcomer Campbell. Both teams were 5-0 in league play. The Camels had posted impressive non-conference wins over Iowa and DePaul. They were looking forward to rejoining the Big South and making an impact. CU led by 19 in the first half before a late run by the Dogs cut the margin to 12 at halftime.
Jeremy Atkinson would almost single-handily lead Asheville back. The junior forward scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half as the Bulldogs rallied for an 89-82 win. Four different times, Atkinson drove through the teeth of the Camel defense, scored and was fouled for three-point plays. Dickey would finish with a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. JP Primm added 18 points as the Dogs showed their championship-mettle with key free throws down the stretch.
JP Primm
The Dogs would hold on for an 86-79 victory at High Point setting up another showdown with Coastal Carolina at Kimmel Arena. Cliff Ellis' team might not have the favorite this year but his club had already beaten LSU and wanted revenge for the Dogs' championship the year before.
A nationally televised audience on ESPNU saw a heavyweight fight between two great teams. Primm would tally 23 points, while Dickey would add 19 to help give Asheville an 88-81 win. The Dogs would go an amazing 31-of-33 run from the free throw line to pick up the victory.
The first league loss came two days later at home as a tired Bulldog squad would fall to an exciting and young Charleston Southern squad, 93-88. Asheville would not lose for another month. The Bulldogs won their next six games and when they routed Radford, 88-62, they had clinched the Big South regular-season title and would host the conference tournament. It was the earliest anybody in the country had clinched a regular-season championship.
Asheville entered the Big South Tournament at Kimmel Arena with high hopes and high expectations. The Bulldogs had some surprises come their way when the post-season awards were announced. Matt Dickey was Big South Player of the Year but he was the only Bulldog on the first team. Primm, enjoying an outstanding season, was put on the second team. No other Asheville played earned an award.
There had been upsets in the first days of the quarterfinals of the tournament but Asheville was not one of them. The Bulldogs roared past High Point, 88-61 as a stifling defense shut down Panthers leading scorer Nick Barbour. He entered the game averaging more than 20 points per game but finished with seven. Asheville had five players in double figures with Stephenson leading the Dogs with 18 points.
Next up in the semifinals was a rematch with Charleston Southern. The Dogs had only played the Bucs once during the year and it was a loss at Kimmel Arena. Things would be different this time. Much different.
Primm exploded for 27 points. Atkinson finished with 19 points going a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line. Stephenson added 18 points plus three blocked shots. The Dogs were focused from start to finish and would win handily, 91-64.
Kimmel Arena would crown a champion in its first year of use as the Bulldogs faced upset-minded VMI in the title game. The Keydets had won a first-round game and then routed Coastal Carolina and Winthrop to reach the finals. Over the years, VMI had given Asheville fits in Asheville and the game would mark the third time in five years that the Keydets had reached the championship contest.
A sell-out crowd was on hand to cheer for the Bulldogs. VMI came ready to play and Asheville led 36-35 at halftime.
But nobody was denying the Bulldogs a championship on this day. Senior center Quinard Jackson, who played great defense and was a tough rebounder for Asheville would score 11 points. All five starters would finish in double figures, led by Atkinson's 18 points. Primm added 16 points and seven assists. Dickey had 15 points and six assists. The Dogs would score nine straight points early in the second half to break open a close game and cruise to a championship, 80-64.
Fans stormed the floor. Nets were cut and for the first time in school history, the Bulldogs had gone back-to-back as champions. Primm got his revenge as he was named Tournament MVP. Atkinson and Stephenson made the All-Tournament team.
It was a day to remember as the first season in Kimmel Arena finished triumphantly.
UNC Asheville waited a week to find out where it would go in the NCAA Tournament. This Bulldog team wasn't interested in giving a big-time team a good game. This Asheville team was determined to advance.
The pairings came out and Asheville ended up with a 16 seed and a date with top-seeded and Big East champion Syracuse in Pittsburgh, the hometown of head coach Eddie Biedenbach.
Not many people gave Asheville a chance. One Syracuse newspaper said the Bulldogs were nothing more than a piece of lint that needed to be discarded for the Orange to advance.
Syracuse quickly found out, as did the nation, that the Bulldogs were not going away quietly. A Jaron Lane four-point play gave the Dogs the lead midway the first half and Asheville maintained the lead at halftime, 34-30. The sellout crowd at the then-named Consol Energy Center was solidly behind the Bulldogs and roared their delight with each made Asheville shot.
In the second half, the Orange rallied but the Bulldogs would never let them get too far ahead despite some tough calls and breaks. Midway through the first half, Atkinson put up a shot that was clearly goaltending and was fouled. He made the first free throw but missed the second. An incorrect call had cost the Dogs two points.
With Syracuse clinging to a four-point lead and at the free throw line with 1:30 left, Scoop Jardine would miss for the Orange. Asheville had the ball and was ready to move the ball downcourt. Suddenly a whistle came and the Dogs were called for a lane violation. Maybe it was the correct call, but it was still a call that hadn't been made all day and wasn't made right away.
Trailing 68-65 with 38 seconds left, Syracuse struggled with Asheville's full-court defense. The Orange appeared to throw the ball away. Now the Dogs would have the ball with a chance to tie or get within one. But referee Ed Corbett ruled that the ball belonged to Syracuse. It was not a popular call and when replays in the arena showed the play over and over, the booing got only louder.
Asheville would fall 72-65. The Bulldogs had been so close to history. The national media piped in and sided with Asheville. Noted ESPN analyst Jay Bilas called it the worst officiated game he ever saw in the NCAA Tournament. Thousands of basketball fans went to message boards to vent their displeasure with the outcome of the game.
Asheville handled the heartbreak as well as it could. It stayed classy in interviews, credited Syracuse and talked about how proud they were of the season and how they played.
Right after the game, the NCAA said it missed the call on the out-of-bounds play. A day later, they called Eddie Biedenbach and apologized. Months later, a new rule was put in place for officials that they could go to a monitor and check on an out-of-bounds play with less than two minutes left in regulation.
A good rule but too late to help the Bulldogs. However, the season had been a magnificent one. Asheville had the pressure of being the preseason favorite but it had never phased them. They tied a Big South record with 16 conference wins. The Dogs won three tournament games by an average margin of 24 points per game. No one in the league has ever come close to accomplishing that.
Dickey would conclude his career as the third leading scorer in school history with 1,778 points. Primm would be right behind in fifth place with 1,689 points. Primm would also finish as the program's all-time leader in assists with 607.
It was a season that will be remembered for more than just a controversial loss. The 2011-2012 season will be remembered for excellence.
UNC Asheville waited a week to find out where it would go in the NCAA Tournament. This Bulldog team wasn't interested in giving a big-time team a good game. This Asheville team was determined to advance.
