University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Charleston Southern
Bulldogs Set to Face Charleston Southern on Friday in Quarterfinal Roud of Hercules Tires Big South Conference Championship
03.07.2024 | Men's Basketball
GAME DETAILS
- UNC Asheville (20-11, 12-4) vs. Charleston Southern (10-19, 6-10)
- Friday, March 8, 2024
- High Point, N.C. || Quebein Center
- Time: 6 p.m.
- Watch Live: ESPN+
- Listen: Bulldog Radio Network (570 WWNC)
- Live Stats
- Tickets
- Game Notes
ASHEVILLE'S LAST TIME OUT
Fletcher Abee and Drew Pember scored 20-plus points to help lead the UNC Asheville men's basketball team to a 71-62 victory against Radford on Saturday, March 2.
With less than 12 minutes remaining in the first half, Radford took the lead with an 8-0 run to move ahead 25-18. Still trailing by seven with under nine minutes to go, Asheville sparked a run of its own with a triple and a layup from Abee, followed by a layup from Solomon to tie the game at 27.
Radford extended its lead back out by as many as four points with 5:37 remaining, but Asheville closed the first half on a 15-0 run to take an 11-point lead into the second frame (43-32).
Asheville preserved its lead for the remainder of the game, holding a double-digit lead for most of the second half. With 8:23 to go, Asheville held a 15-point lead, following a layup from Solomon, but over the next 7:15 of action, Radford would go on a 10-0 run to bring the score within five (67-62). This was as close as the Highlanders would get to Asheville, as the Bulldogs closed the game on a 4-0 run, following back-to-back trips to the free throw line from Pember.
2023-24 POSTSEASON AWARDS
For the second consecutive year, Drew Pember has been named the Big South Player of the Year by the league's head coaches and media panel, which was announced Tuesday afternoon by the conference office.
Pember headlined the All-Big South First Team, Josh Banks was named to the Honorable Mention team, and Fletcher Abee was Asheville's All-Academic Team honoree.
Pember is the first back-to-back Player of the Year recipient for the Big South since Art Parakhouski of Radford from 2008-10. Pember is the second individual from Asheville to earn back-to-back Player of the Year honors, as Josh Pittman earned the award for the Bulldogs from 1996-98. Pember is the fifth individual in Big South annals to earn the award back-to-back years.
It has been another standout season for the Knoxville, Tennessee, native as Pember leads the league in scoring (20.4 ppg), blocks (57), and defensive boards (197). Pember, Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award Watch List honoree, is No. 5 in the nation in free throws made (210) and free throw attempts (248). Pember recorded seven double-doubles this season and one triple-double, the third in program history. Pember is one of 26 individuals in the nation to record a triple-double.
Pember is No. 2 on the team in assists with 102 and No. 6 in the Big South.
Pember's best performance this season came on February 3 in an 82-78 victory over Winthrop. He scored 36 points, went 11-for-16 from the field, 6-for-11 from distance, and recorded 11 rebounds.
Banks is averaging 13.0 points per game and has a .397 3-point shooting percentage, a .423 field goal percentage, and a .870 free throw percentage. On Dec. 20, he knocked down 10 triples in a 76-63 victory over Appalachian State, breaking the school record for most 3-pointers in a single game.
Abee earned a spot on the conference All-Academic team for the second year in a row. Off the court, Abee has been named to the 2023 National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors Court, was named to the 2023 Division I-AAA ADA Scholar-Athlete Team, and earned a spot on the 2022-23 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team. On the court, Abee is averaging 11 points a game and leads the team and Big South in 3-point field goals per game with 2.3 and total field goals with 72. Abee leads Asheville with a .424 3-point percentage. Abee's top game of the season came on Nov. 18 against Virginia-Lynchburg, where he knocked down nine 3-pointers to break the 3-point record before Banks.
AS A TEAM
The Bulldogs are No. 1 in the Big South in assist/turnover ratio (1.28), assists per game (15.5), blocks per game (4.3), and effective field goal percentage (.542).
The Bulldogs are No. 7 in the nation in free throws made per game (18.0), No. 10 in free throw attempts per game (24.2), and No. 25 in 3-point percentage (.373).
In the latest Field of 68 Mid-Major Poll, Asheville was listed at No. 21, ahead of High Point at No. 22.
THIS SEASON vs. CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
FIRST MATCHUP: AVL- 71 CSU- 65
The UNC Asheville men's basketball team earned their sixth Big South Conference victory on Saturday (Jan. 27), defeating Charleston Southern 71-65.
The Bulldogs shot 28-for-60 (.467) from the field and 6-for-17 (.353) from the 3-point range. Drew Pember led all scorers with 30 points, recording a season-high five 3-pointers and 11 field goals. Asheville outshot Charleston Southern, who finished 28-for-72 from the field (.389) and 4-for-19 (.211) from 3-point range. At the free-throw line, the Bulldogs shot .563, and the Buccaneers shot .417.
Asheville opened the game 7-0 and extended their lead out to nine, which would end up being their largest lead of the game, as CSU went on an 11-2 run to take a 17-15 lead. Asheville regained the lead 22-20 following a triple from Josh Banks. Charleston Southern tied the score twice over the final six minutes of the first half but never retook the lead, as Asheville closed the half on a 6-2 run to enter the second half ahead 32-28.
Asheville began the second half on a 6-1 run sparked and ending with a layup from Caleb Burgess. Over the first 10 minutes of action, Asheville held at least a two-possession lead, but a 9-1 run by Charleston Southern cut Asheville's lead down to one with 9:40 remaining (50-49). The Bulldogs extended their lead back out to five points, but the Buccaneers responded with a 6-0 run to take their first lead of the half (57-56).
Asheville called a timeout following CSU's run, and out of the timeout, Pember sank back-to-back triples to help Asheville retake a 5-point lead. The Buccaneers brought the score within two points with less than a minute left of action, but a rebound and a layup from Banks helped extend Asheville's lead back to four. Burgess secured Asheville's lead with a pair of free throws to close the game.
SECOND MATCHUP: AVL- 86 CSU- 55
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 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.
SCOUTING THE BUCCANEERS
Taje' Kelly, RJ Johnson, and A'lahn Sumler were each named to the league's Honorable Mention list. Kelly led the Big South in double-doubles with nine. He averaged 14.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Johnson averaged the most minutes per game in the conference at 33.5 overall. He led the conference in free throw percentage at 89.4. Sumler averaged 14.5 points per game and led the team with 26 steals.
SERIES HISTORY
- Overall- Asheville leads 56-39
- Morrell vs. CSU- 11-3
- First Meeting (D1 Era) - L 73-63 Jan. 29, 1987
- Last Meeting- W 86-55 Feb. 17, 2024
- Last UNC Asheville Win- Feb. 17, 2024
- Last CSU Win- March 2, 2022
- Series Record at CSU- 17-19
- Series Record at UNC Asheville- 30-12
- Series Streak- UNC Asheville W5
- Last 10 Matchups- 9-1
- Largest Margin of Victory- 92-54 Jan. 14, 2021
STATISTICAL COMPARISON
|
2023-24 Season |
AVL |
CSU |
| Scoring Average | 80.0 | 68.0 |
| Opp. Scoring Average | 73.3 | 74.1 |
| Scoring Margin | 6.7 | -6.1 |
| FG Percentage | .470 | .416 |
| 3PT Percentage | .373 | .332 |
| FT Percentage | .744 | .740 |
| Rebounding Average | 35.1 | 35.2 |
| Assists Per Game | 15.5 | 10.1 |
| Steals Per Game | 5.9 | 3.9 |
| Blocks Per Game | 4.3 | 2.9 |
ASHEVILLE IN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT PLAY
No. 2 SEED: This is just the third time Asheville has been the No. 2 seed (2002, 2017). Asheville is 0-2 as the No. 2 seed, falling to High Point in 2002 in Roanoke in heartbreaking fashion by one point off a free throw with one second left. Asheville fell in another heartbreaker to Campbell at Winthrop in 2017 when Campbell's Chris Clemmons scored 51 points. Both No. 7 seeds who beat Asheville advanced to the championship game before losing to top-seeded Winthrop each time.
PLAYING CHARLESTON SOUTHERN: This will be the third straight year that UNC Asheville has played CSU in the Big South Tournament. The Bucs are the third opponent that Asheville has played for three consecutive years. The Bulldogs played Liberty four straight tourneys (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001), going 3-1. They then played High Point thrice in 2010, 2011, and 2012 and went 3-0.
Asheville is 5-3 all-time vs. CSU in tournament action and 4-0 in quarterfinal action. In a quarterfinal victory over CSU in 2011, Bulldogs' Head Coach Mike Morrell was an assistant on the Charleston Southern staff. That conference tournament game would be the final men's basketball game ever played in the Justice Center.
2023 BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT RECAP: Asheville earned its sixth Conference Tournament Championship in 2023, as the Bulldogs defeated Campbell 77-73 in a monumental comeback effort.
Campbell entered the second half of the championship contest ahead by three and built its lead to as many as 14 points, 66-52, with 7:52 to go.
Asheville did not panic and chipped away at the Campbell lead as Tajion Jones caught fire and brought the Bulldogs back. The sixth-year senior scored 16 points in the final seven minutes and hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with a little under a minute to go, 75-73.
The 3-pointer from Jones gave Asheville its first lead since the 14:11 mark in the first half, putting the pressure on the Camels. Suddenly facing a deficit, Campbell attempted a trio of 3-pointers to try and tie or retake the lead. However, all three attempts were off the mark, and Asheville got the rebound each time. Made free throws from Caleb Burgess and Pember following a couple of those rebounds helped finish off the 77-73 victory for the Bulldogs and clinch their sixth Big South Tournament Championship.
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