University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Winthrop
Men’s basketball travels to Winthrop for pivotal series starting Thursday on ESPNU
01.27.2021 | Men's Basketball
Friday to be broadcast on ESPN3
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The men's basketball team will travel to Winthrop for a pair of pivotal showdowns against the Eagles, with Thursday's matchup being aired live on ESPNU at 7:00 p.m. The two sides will finish their regular-season series clash on Friday at 6:00 p.m. at the Winthrop Coliseum.
Asheville is 9-8 overall this season, sitting in third place in the Big South with a record of 8-4. The Bulldogs are most recently coming off a home split against current No. 2 seed Radford, with a game-one, 17-point comeback victory over the Highlanders.
ESPNU
To accommodate the ESPNU broadcast, the Asheville-Winthrop series was moved from its original dates of February 18-19, making Thursday the fifth game in 10 days that Asheville has played. The match-up will mark the fifth meeting between the squads on ESPNU, with each school winning twice. This will be Asheville's 11th appearance overall on the network.
Baker's Back
It didn't take long for junior DeVon Baker to get back into the groove, leading the Bulldogs in three straight games with a season-high 26 points in Sunday's overtime win against Radford. The preseason First Team All-Big South selection returned to the Asheville lineup on January 14 against Charleston Southern and is shooting 48.4 percent from the floor and 50.0 percent from 3-point range in six games this season.
Three is Key
Knocking down the 3-pointer has been key for Asheville's success this season, going 6-1 in games in which it shoots 40 percent or above from behind the arc and 3-7 when shooting below that number. The Bulldogs are led by Tajion Jones' 59 treys this season, which ranks second in all of Division I. Jones, who is averaging 3.47 threes per game (6th in DI), is shooting 42.1 percent from 3-point range while going 47.3 percent from the field. Jones' 3-point shooting was never more crucial than in the waning moments of Sunday's 76-68 win over Radford, when the redshirt junior connected three times in the last 49 seconds, including a buzzer-beater to knot the game up at 67-67 and force overtime. With Baker back in the mix, Asheville has four guys that can consistently hit from deep including LJ Thorpe (15 made threes, 42.9%) and Coty Jude. Jude, who is second on the team with 29 three-pointers, sparked Sunday's comeback with three straight 3-pointers in the second half followed by a trey from Lavar Batts, Jr. which cut the lead down to seven.
The Closer
Thorpe is another key component to Asheville's offense, going 6-1 in games which he scores 15-plus points. The redshirt junior from West Palm Beach, Florida, is averaging 12.2 points per game this season while shooting 49.7 percent from the floor. Thorpe, whose versatile game allows him to get to the rim, leads the Bulldogs in free throws made (46) and attempted (65). Three times this season Thorpe has taken over in the second half, including a December 30 win at Longwood in which he scored 18 points in the final 10 minutes of the game. Against Charleston Southern (January 15), the 6-foot-5 five winger totaled 12 points in the last five minutes to lift Asheville to victory and scored 14 of his 21 in the second half at Gardner-Webb to give the Bulldogs their first victory in Boiling Springs since 2015.
Scouting Winthrop
The Eagles have been untouchable this season, going 15-0 overall and 12-0 in conference play. Winthrop has had some scares, winning three contests by five points or less including a one-point win over Campbell and a two-point victory over Charleston Southern. The star for Winthrop has been senior Chandler Vaudrin, who has been named Big South Player or Co-Player of the Week three times already. The 6-foot-7 guard leads the team in scoring (12.6 ppg), ranks second in the league in rebounding (6.9 rpg) while pacing the conference with 114 assists, ranking second in Division I in that category. Vaudrin powers a Winthrop offense that averages 82.9 points per game (19th, DI) while the Eagles defense is forcing over 17 turnovers a game and holding opponents to 70.3 points per contest.
Series History
Winthrop has gotten the better of Asheville over the years, going 44-36 all-time and currently riding a three-game win streak in the series. Asheville's last victory over the Eagles came on February 22, 2018 in Kimmel Arena, topping Winthrop 89-75 to clinch a share of the Big South regular-season title. The two sides played just once last season, with the Eagles winning 104-71 in Rock Hill.
How to Follow
Matt Schick and Chris Spatola will be the broadcast team for Thursday's showdown on ESPNU, while Friday's contest can be seen on ESPN3. Brian Hall and Mike Gore will have the radio call both days on 570 WNNC.
Live Stats
Thursday: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=327836
Friday: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=327837
GAME NOTES
