University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Michigan
Bulldogs open 2023-24 Season at Michigan on Tuesday
11.06.2023 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville men's basketball team gets the 2023-24 basketball season underway on Tuesday as they travel to face the Michigan Wolverines.
Game Details
Time: 8:30 p.m. EST
Location: Crisler Center; Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Scouting the Wolverines
Michigan posted an 18-16 (11-9 Big Ten) record in the 2022-23 season. Their season ended with a 66-65 loss to Vanderbilt in the second round of the National Invitational Tournament. Michigan lost six Wolverines from last year's squad, with two entering the NBA Draft and getting selected in the first-round and three entering the transfer portal. The Wolverines picked up graduate transfers in Nimari Burnett (Alabama), Tray Jackson (Seton Hall), and Olivier Nkamhoua (Tennessee). Michigan's head coach, Juwan Howard, underwent a successful heart procedure on Sept. 15, and associate head coach Phil Martelli is serving as interim head coach during Howard's recovery. Michigan has won 20 straight season-openers dating back to the 2003-04 season.
2022-23: A Season For the Record Books
The 2022-23 season for UNC Asheville basketball was one of the best seasons in program history. Asheville not only posted a school record 27 wins during the 2022-23 season but also captured both the Big South Regular Season and Tournament Championships. It marks Asheville's fourth outright regular season championship and eighth overall. The tournament title for the Bulldogs is their sixth in program history and, with it, earned the Big South's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, their first appearance since 2016.
Asheville also won a school-record 16 Big South games during the regular season and set a new single-season program record with 25 wins against Division I opponents. The Bulldogs lost just two games during the calendar year of 2023 (18-2 record in 2023) and finished the campaign tied for the most wins among Division I men's basketball teams with Duke, which also won 27 games. The Bulldogs closed the season at No. 21 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top 25 Poll.
Last Season's Big-South All-Conference Honorees
The 2022-23 Big South All-Conference selections were highlighted by Drew Pember and Head Men's Basketball Coach Mike Morrell, earning the 2022-23 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year and Coach of the Year. Pember also repeated as the league's Defensive Player of the Year and joined fellow Bulldog Tajion Jones on the All-Big South First Team. Fletcher Abee was Asheville's All-Academic Team honoree.
Pember's Decorated Season
Pember had one of the best seasons in UNC Asheville history in 2022-23. He recorded three 40-plus point outings, including a school record 48 points against Presbyterian on January 25, 2023, the most points scored in a single game in Division I during the 2022-23 season. Pember was the first Big South player to lead the league in scoring, rebounding, and blocks in a season and led the country in free throws made and attempted. He was named the Big South Player of the Week five times and a finalist for the Lute Olson (Top Player in DiviDesion I) and Lou Henson (Top Player in Mid-Majors) National Player of the Year awards. He earned Big South Tournament MVP and is the first player in conference history to be named Preseason Player of the Year, Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Tournament MVP in the same season. He also was named to the 2023 Lou Henson All-America Team.
Preseason Looks for the Bulldogs
Asheville is predicted to finish first once again this season, according to the Big South Conference preseason poll that was released on Tuesday, Oct. 17. The Bulldogs received 16 first-place votes and 166 points to earn the top spot in the league. This is the sixth time the Bulldogs have been picked as the preseason favorites, with the previous times including 1989-90, 1997-98, 2002-03, 2011-12 and 2017-18.
CollegeInsider.com released its Preseason Mid Major Top 25 Poll on Thursday, Nov. 2, and the Bulldogs enter the season at No. 17, jumping four spots from where they ended the season.
Pember's successful 2022-23 campaign has continued to garner him recognition entering the new season, as he was named for the second consecutive year the Big South Preseason Player of the Year. This is the sixth time Asheville has had a player earn this recognition, with Pember being the fifth Bulldog to do so and the only one to win it twice. Pember is the first Big South student-athlete to be voted Preseason Player of the Year back-to-back seasons since Chris Clemons (Campbell) from 2017-19.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has announced Pember as one of 20 players named to the watch list for the 2024 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award. Named after Class of 2010 Hall of Famer and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Karl Malone, the annual honor, in its tenth year, recognizes the top power forwards in Division I men's college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.
Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds beginning Friday, October 27. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2024 Karl Malone Award will be narrowed to 10, and then in late February, to just five. In March, the five finalists will be presented to Malone and the Hall of Fame's selection committee, where a winner will be selected.
This Year's Roster
Asheville returns four of its five starters from last season, and of its 15-man roster, eight Bulldogs are returning from last season. Asheville's four returning starters from last season include Pember, Caleb Burgess, Fletcher Abee, and Nick McMullen. The Bulldogs are also returning fifth-year seniors Trent Stephney and Jamon Battle, as well as sophomores Davion Cunningham and Dean Gabrelcik.
The Bulldogs welcome five transfers and two freshmen to the roster for this season. Josh Banks (VCU), Evan Johnson (Georgia State), Greg Gantt Jr. (NC State), and Toyaz Solomon (Caldwell CCTI) highlight their transfer class.
On the Schedule this Season
Asheville is facing one of its most challenging non-conference schedules in recent years, with two opponents earning bids to the NCAA Tournament and two competing in the National Invitational Tournament last season. There are 16 Big South Conference matchups this year, with eight on the road and eight in Kimmel Arena. Campbell is no longer a member of the Big South, causing the league to go from 18 conference matchups to 16 this year. League play will begin on Jan. 3 and be played on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with the exceptions being the ESPNU Wild Card games that will be moved to Thursday later in the season.
Series Matchup with Michigan
Tomorrow's season opener in Ann Arbor will be the Bulldogs' second time facing the Wolverines in program history. The Bulldogs traveled to face Michigan on Dec. 31, 2004, and lost that matchup 75-54. Michigan is 11-0 all-time against current Big South members, while Michigan is the only current member that Asheville has faced in the Big Ten.
Watch Party at Bear's Smokehouse BBQ
UNC Asheville Athletics will host a watch party for the Bulldogs' game at Michigan at Bear's Smokehouse BBQ. The viewing party will begin at 7 p.m. with the UNC Asheville women's team playing Furman at 7 p.m. before Bear's begins showing the men's game at 8:30 p.m.
You can follow along with all updates for the men's basketball team on 𝕏.
