University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Longwood
GAME PREVIEW: Asheville Travels to Longwood for Final Midweek Contest
02.20.2024 | Men's Basketball
GAME DETAILS
- UNC Asheville (19-9, 11-2) vs. Longwood (16-11, 4-8)
- Wednesday, February 21, 2024
- Farmville, Va. || Joan Perry Brock Center
- Time: 7 p.m.
- Watch Live: ESPN+
- Live Stats
ASHEVILLE'S LAST TIME OUT
Asheville welcomed Charleston Southern to town on Saturday, Feb. 17, and defeated the Buccaneers 86-55 in Kimmel Arena.
Charleston Southern got the first points of the day, but a 3-pointer from Pember helped Asheville ahead 7-5 to give the Bulldogs a permanent lead. A jumper from Pember at the 11:24 mark helped Asheville take a 10-point lead, and the Bulldogs would hold a double-digit lead for the rest of the half, extending it out by 24 points to close the half, following a 3-pointer from Pember (47-23).
Asheville went right back to work out of the break, with a 3-pointer from Pember earning the Bulldogs a 31-point lead five minutes into the final frame. Asheville's lead would not dip below 27 points for the remainder of the contest, and the Bulldogs earned their largest lead of the night at 36 points, following a free throw from Pember with 8:46 left in the contest (73-37).
The Bulldogs shot 52.4% from the field (33-63), 41.7% from 3-point range (10-24) and went 10-16 from the free throw line (62.5%). Drew Pember led the way for Asheville, scoring 25 points and recording 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. Pember was 9-for-13 from the field and 4-for-8 from 3-point shooting.
THE PEMBER FILE
Pember is averaging 20.9 points and 8.0 rebounds. He leads the team with 50 blocks and is second on the team with 91 assists. Pember is No. 1 in the nation and in the conference in made free throws with 199. He is No. 1 in the league and No. 3 in the nation in free throw attempts with 234.
Pember ranks first in the Big South in blocks, blocks per game (1.85), points (565), points per game, and defensive rebounds per game (6.56). Pember is No. 8 in the nation in points and No. 17 in points per game. Pember is No. 3 in the state of North Carolina in points per game.
FROM THE BIG SOUTH
Pember is looking to become just the eighth player in league history to average 20.0 points in back-to-back seasons. Pember was the conference's scoring leader in 2022-23 with his 20.9 average, and if he can maintain his scoring clip and top spot, he would become just the fourth player to lead the Big South in scoring in consecutive seasons with a 20+ point average.
Pember is just the second player in Big South history with 1,700 points (1,786), 700 rebounds (741), and 200 blocked shots (223). Pember, who has made 143 three-pointers while at Asheville, is just the second player in league annals with 200 career blocks and 100 made three-pointers is second all-time in conference history with 603 career free throws made.
FROM 3-POINT RANGE
Josh Banks and Fletcher Abee lead Asheville in distant shooting, with Banks averaging 13 points a game and having a .399 3-point shooting percentage. Abee averages 10.4 points a game and leads the Bulldogs with a .424 3-point shooting percentage.
FROM THE PAINT
Nick McMullen averages 10.4 a game and leads Asheville with a .592 field goal shooting percentage. McMullen leads the team with 27 steals and 55 offensive rebounds.
MR. HELPING HAND
Caleb Burgess leads the league with 134 assists and averages 4.8 a game. In Saturday's game against Charleston Southern, Burgess recorded his 500th career assist.
AS A TEAM
The Bulldogs are No. 1 in the Big South in assist/turnover ratio (1.23), assists per game (15.4), blocks per game (4.4), effective field goal percentage (.541), and 3-point percentage (.378).
The Bulldogs are No. 6 in the nation in free throws made per game (18.8), No. 10 in free throw attempts per game (25.4) and No. 16 in 3-point percentage.
LAST TIME AGAINST LONGWOOD
Asheville defeated Longwood 65-61 on Saturday, Jan. 13, in Kimmel Arena behind a perfect performance from the field by Trent Stephney. Stephney recorded a game-high and season-high 15 points.
With 8:45 left in the first half, Davion Cunningham sparked an 8-0 run to put the Bulldogs ahead 20-13. Asheville held the lead for the remainder of the half, extending it out by as many as nine before entering the break ahead by five (33-28).
Longwood's offense came out hot in the second frame, with back-to-back layups making it a one-point game a minute and a half back into action (33-32). The Bulldogs worked their way back out to a five-point lead with layups from Banks and McMullen, but the Lancers answered with back-to-back baskets to once again make it a one-point game (37-36).
McMullen would extend the Bulldogs back out to a four-point lead following a jumper and a made shot from the free throw line, but Longwood would follow by scoring back-to-back baskets to tie the game at 40. The lead would change nine times over the next five minutes of action, with Longwood extending their lead out to three, following a triple and a shot from the paint (53-50).
With 3:15 left in the game, the Lancers extended their lead out to six points. This, however, would end up being Longwood's final basket of the game, as Asheville closed Saturday's contest on a 10-0 run. A jumper from McMullen started Asheville's comeback, and a free throw from Pember, followed by a layup from Gantt, would cut Longwood's lead down to one (61-60). McMullen went on to score the game-tying free throw, and Pember would close the game out with four free throws to help Asheville on to victory.
SCOUTING THE LANCERS
Longwood is led by Walyn Napper, who is averaging 14.3 points per game and 4.2 assists per game. Michael Christmas and Johnathan Massies are both averaging 11.7 points per game. Christmas leads the team with a .415 3-point shooting percentage, a .774 free-throw percentage, and 6.7 rebounds per game.
Longwood is No. 1 in the league and No. 9 in the nation in offensive rebounds, averaging 14.07 per game.
SERIES HISTORY (D1 Era)
- Overall- Asheville leads 16-5
- Morrell vs. Longwood- 6-4
- First Meeting (D1 Era) - W 68-65 Jan. 19, 2013
- Last Meeting- W 65-61 Jan. 13, 2024
- Last UNC Asheville Win- Jan. 13, 2024
- Last Longwood Win- Feb. 2, 2022
- Series Record at Longwood- 8-2
- Series Record at UNC Asheville- 8-2
- Series Streak- UNC Asheville W3
- Last 10 Matchups- 6-4
- Largest Margin of Victory- 91-69 Feb. 11, 2017
STATISTICAL COMPARISON
|
2023-24 Season |
AVL |
LWD |
| Scoring Average | 80.6 | 75.2 |
| Opp. Scoring Average | 73.3 | 67.0 |
| Scoring Margin | 7.3 | 8.2 |
| FG Percentage | .469 | .454 |
| 3PT Percentage | .378 | .323 |
| FT Percentage | .742 | .670 |
| Rebounding Average | 35.6 | 39.7 |
| Assists Per Game | 15.4 | 12.7 |
| Steals Per Game | 6.0 | 7.2 |
| Blocks Per Game | 4.4 | 2.7 |
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