University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Tuesday, March 3
Asheville
7 p.m.
UNC Asheville
15-15,8-10Big S
72
vs
68
Campbell
15-16,6-12Big S
1st half1
2nd half2
FinalF
Campbell
32
36
68
UNC Asheville
37
35
72
Photo by: Adrian Etheridge
Bulldogs Advance to Big South Quarterfinals with Victory Against Campbell
03.03.2020 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE – UNC Asheville's men's basketball team earned the first postseason victory in head coach Mike Morrell's tenure, defeating Campbell, 72-68, Tuesday night in the first round of the Hercules Tires Big South Men's Basketball Championship, hosted in Kimmel Arena.
The Bulldogs (15-15, 8-10 Big South) entered the tournament as the sixth seed and earned the right to host the first round game against 11th-seeded Campbell.
The home-court advantage certainly didn't hurt, as the Bulldogs turned the ball over only three times the entire game, setting a presumed program record and tying the Big South Tournament record for fewest turnovers in a game, equaling a number that hadn't been achieved since 1996.
Coty Jude led the way with a season-high 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including four made 3-pointers, to go along with four rebounds. DeVon Baker had a strong night as well, scoring 14 points, leading the team with a career-high seven rebounds, also leading with three steals, and dishing out three assists.
LJ Thorpe scored 14 points, including eight from the free-throw line. Lavar Batts, Jr. scored 11 points, with nine coming at the free-throw line, to go along with four boards.
The Bulldogs got off to a slow start in the first half, managing just two points in the first five minutes. Freshman Trent Stephney came to the rescue, converting a driving layup to tie the score 5-5 at the 14:22 mark.
A couple minutes later, Stephney sunk a contested layup, drawing a foul in the process. He converted the and-one to bring the deficit to 13-8 with 12:30 left. He also helped jump-start the offense as a whole, recording three assists in the first half.
The Camels built an eight-point lead with 10:06 remaining, but 16 seconds later, the Bulldogs would begin to electrify the crowd in Kimmel Arena. Jude found Batts for a layup, which would be the impetus for a 9-0 run to deliver the lead to the Bulldogs. Jude had five points in the run, including a layup to cap things off and give the Dogs a 21-20 lead with 7:36 remaining.
The teams would exchange the lead a couple times over the next minute of game time, but a layup by Jude at 6:26 gave the Dogs the lead they would hold for the rest of the game. A turnaround jumper in the paint by Baker with 11 seconds remaining gave the Bulldogs the 37-32 edge they took into the locker room.
Baker led the way with 11 points in the first half, while Jude added 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
Coming back from the second half, Campbell cut the lead to two or one on a number of a occasions, but the Bulldogs continued to fight to maintain the lead.
The Bulldogs were up three, 47-44, when Batts sunk a pair of free throws at the 11:25 mark to put the home team up five. The Bulldogs put together a stifling defensive sequence, forcing a shot-clock violation, and Stephney found Jude for a corner 3-pointer to put Asheville up 52-44 with 10:45 left.
On the ensuing Camels possession, the Bulldogs forced another turnover on a five-second violation. Thorpe sunk 3-of-4 free throws on the next two possessions to give Asheville a 55-44 lead and prompt a timeout from Campbell.
The Bulldogs responded out of the break, as Jamon Battle blocked the Campbell attempt at the rim and Stephney converted an up-and-under layup to cap a 13-0 Bulldogs run.
Campbell would not go away quietly, however, as the Camels engineered a 10-0 run of their own over a three-plus-minute span to narrow the gap to 60-58 with 4:14 left.
The Camels cut the advantage to two again, 66-64, with 45 seconds remaining, but the Bulldogs sunk six free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
NOTABLY
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs are set to face off against the No. 3 seed Gardner-Webb in the quarterfinals in the second matchup of the day at tournament host Radford. The game is slated for 2 p.m., but will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
FROM THE MIND OF MORRELL
"What an awesome win for our program. We've come a long way since we sat in the locker room at Presbyterian this time last year. Credit to our guys: they were really motivated. They were extremely disappointed in the game on Saturday. You have to give Campbell a lot of credit: they played really well on Saturday, and I thought our guys came out tonight with a real sense of aggression. That was our goal for the entirety of the game. We got Coty (Jude) 11 shots, and when we do that, that usually bodes pretty well for us. I thought the MVP for us was Trent Stephney. He made a ton of plays early, he was aggressive and he really shined tonight. To only have three turnovers is hard to do. That's hard to do if you stayed out there all day 5-on-0 and tried to play. That's hard to do, and to do that for 40 minutes is impressive. The turnover margin was plus-11, and our goal is always to be in the plus there. I'm just really proud of our guys and excited for them."
The Bulldogs (15-15, 8-10 Big South) entered the tournament as the sixth seed and earned the right to host the first round game against 11th-seeded Campbell.
The home-court advantage certainly didn't hurt, as the Bulldogs turned the ball over only three times the entire game, setting a presumed program record and tying the Big South Tournament record for fewest turnovers in a game, equaling a number that hadn't been achieved since 1996.
Coty Jude led the way with a season-high 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including four made 3-pointers, to go along with four rebounds. DeVon Baker had a strong night as well, scoring 14 points, leading the team with a career-high seven rebounds, also leading with three steals, and dishing out three assists.
LJ Thorpe scored 14 points, including eight from the free-throw line. Lavar Batts, Jr. scored 11 points, with nine coming at the free-throw line, to go along with four boards.
The Bulldogs got off to a slow start in the first half, managing just two points in the first five minutes. Freshman Trent Stephney came to the rescue, converting a driving layup to tie the score 5-5 at the 14:22 mark.
A couple minutes later, Stephney sunk a contested layup, drawing a foul in the process. He converted the and-one to bring the deficit to 13-8 with 12:30 left. He also helped jump-start the offense as a whole, recording three assists in the first half.
The Camels built an eight-point lead with 10:06 remaining, but 16 seconds later, the Bulldogs would begin to electrify the crowd in Kimmel Arena. Jude found Batts for a layup, which would be the impetus for a 9-0 run to deliver the lead to the Bulldogs. Jude had five points in the run, including a layup to cap things off and give the Dogs a 21-20 lead with 7:36 remaining.
The teams would exchange the lead a couple times over the next minute of game time, but a layup by Jude at 6:26 gave the Dogs the lead they would hold for the rest of the game. A turnaround jumper in the paint by Baker with 11 seconds remaining gave the Bulldogs the 37-32 edge they took into the locker room.
Baker led the way with 11 points in the first half, while Jude added 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
Coming back from the second half, Campbell cut the lead to two or one on a number of a occasions, but the Bulldogs continued to fight to maintain the lead.
The Bulldogs were up three, 47-44, when Batts sunk a pair of free throws at the 11:25 mark to put the home team up five. The Bulldogs put together a stifling defensive sequence, forcing a shot-clock violation, and Stephney found Jude for a corner 3-pointer to put Asheville up 52-44 with 10:45 left.
On the ensuing Camels possession, the Bulldogs forced another turnover on a five-second violation. Thorpe sunk 3-of-4 free throws on the next two possessions to give Asheville a 55-44 lead and prompt a timeout from Campbell.
The Bulldogs responded out of the break, as Jamon Battle blocked the Campbell attempt at the rim and Stephney converted an up-and-under layup to cap a 13-0 Bulldogs run.
Campbell would not go away quietly, however, as the Camels engineered a 10-0 run of their own over a three-plus-minute span to narrow the gap to 60-58 with 4:14 left.
The Camels cut the advantage to two again, 66-64, with 45 seconds remaining, but the Bulldogs sunk six free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
NOTABLY
- The three turnovers committed by Asheville is presumed to be a school record and ties the Big South Tournament record held by UNC Greensboro against Liberty in the 1996 final. It now stands as the Big South Tournament record for fewest turnovers in a first round game.
- The win is the first in the Big South Tournament for Mike Morrell in his second season at the helm of the program.
- The Bulldogs improve to 35-29 all-time in the conference tournament, and to 5-1 in games hosted inside Kimmel Arena.
- The Bulldogs have won each of their past five home games inside Kimmel Arena.
- The Bulldogs attempted 42 free throws (28-of-42), the most since they shot 38 against Warren Wilson, December 10, 2017.
- Asheville fell just one free throw attempt shy of the Big South Tournament record of 43 set by High Point against Radford in the 2007 quarterfinals. The 42 attempts surpass the first round record of 36 set by Winthrop against the Bulldogs in 1993.
- With just three turnovers compared to 14 for Campbell, the Bulldogs forced more turnovers than their opponent for the 24th time in 30 games this season.
- It is the eighth time this season the Bulldogs have turned the ball over fewer than 10 times in a game, and are now 7-1 in those games.
- DeVon Baker set a career-high with seven rebounds, surpassing his previous high of six on multiple occasions, most recently against Chattanooga, December 21.
- Coty Jude scored a season-high 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 4-of-9 from three.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs are set to face off against the No. 3 seed Gardner-Webb in the quarterfinals in the second matchup of the day at tournament host Radford. The game is slated for 2 p.m., but will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
FROM THE MIND OF MORRELL
"What an awesome win for our program. We've come a long way since we sat in the locker room at Presbyterian this time last year. Credit to our guys: they were really motivated. They were extremely disappointed in the game on Saturday. You have to give Campbell a lot of credit: they played really well on Saturday, and I thought our guys came out tonight with a real sense of aggression. That was our goal for the entirety of the game. We got Coty (Jude) 11 shots, and when we do that, that usually bodes pretty well for us. I thought the MVP for us was Trent Stephney. He made a ton of plays early, he was aggressive and he really shined tonight. To only have three turnovers is hard to do. That's hard to do if you stayed out there all day 5-on-0 and tried to play. That's hard to do, and to do that for 40 minutes is impressive. The turnover margin was plus-11, and our goal is always to be in the plus there. I'm just really proud of our guys and excited for them."
Team Stats
CAMPB
AVL
FG%
.446
.373
3FG%
.364
.316
FT%
.714
.667
RB
40
31
TO
14
3
STL
1
6
Game Leaders
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
9
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ 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