University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Charleston Southern
Men’s basketball returns home for Charleston Southern series
01.13.2021 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – After six consecutive road games, the UNC Asheville men's basketball team returns home to host Charleston Southern for a back-to-back series on Thursday and Friday. Thursday will tip off at 4:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+, with Friday's matchup beginning at 2:00 p.m. on ESPN3.
The Bulldogs are coming off a split at Hampton over the weekend, improving to 5-6 and 4-2 in Big South play after Sunday's 85-77 victory. This is the first 4-2 start in conference play since 2014-15.
Sophomore Surge
A major reason for Asheville's victory on Sunday was the play of the sophomore duo Jamon Battle and Trent Stephney, who combined for 34 points and 11 rebounds. Battle tied his career-high with 18 points (Western Carolina, 11/27/20) in the victory, grabbing seven rebounds with an extremely efficient 7-for-8 effort from the floor. Stephney, whose previous career-high for points was 14, matched that total in the first half, adding a bucket in the second to finish the game with 16 points. Both Battle and Stephney have played major roles all season, being mixed in and out of the starting lineup. Stephney, who is averaging 9.3 points per game, is tied with LJ Thorpe for assists (39), while Battle (8.8. ppg) leads the team in field goal percentage (67.2%) and offensive rebounds (31).
Road Warriors
Due to its series with Presbyterian being moved because of COVID concerns within the Blue Hose program, Asheville's game on Thursday will be the first home contest for the Bulldogs in over a month (Dec. 13 vs. High Point). Six straight games on the road is the most in program history since 1979-80 (six games), and second only to the 1976-77 season in which it played seven games in a row. Asheville traveled to Chattanooga and Marshall before the break, visiting Longwood and Hampton after.
Scouting Charleston Southern
While the Buccaneers are just 1-9 on the season and 0-6 in conference play, they have played Big South opponents tough, dropping two-point contests against Hampton and Winthrop. Thursday will mark the first road game since November 27 for Charleston Southern, most recently falling to Radford at home. Senior Phlandorous Fleming Jr. has played in just seven of the 10 games, but is pouring in 19.7 points per game, averaging 6.0 rebounds per contest. While the Buccaneers have a +3.2 turnover margin, teams are outrebounding them 37.5 to 34.4.
Series History
Asheville has the edge in the series, going 48-35 all-time against the Buccaneers, winning the last two contests in 2019-20. Both games last season were down-to-the wire, with Thorpe's double-double helping lift the Bulldogs to a 71-69 win in Charleston on January 11, grabbing a 79-75 victory in Kimmel a month later.
How to Follow
Matt Stradley and John Williams will have the TV call on Thursday (ESPN+) and Friday (ESPN3). Brian Hall and Mike Gore will have the radio broadcast on ESPN Asheville.
GAME NOTES
