GAME PREVIEW: Men’s Basketball Welcomes High Point to Kimmel Arena for Conference Opener

GAME DETAILS

UNC Asheville (9-5, 0-0) vs. High Point (13-3, 1-0)
Saturday, January 4, 2025
2 p.m.
Asheville, N.C. || Kimmel Arena
ESPN+ (Matt Stradley, play-by-play; Coty Jude, analyst)
Listen: Bulldog Radio Network (570 WWNC) | (Brian Hall, play-by-play; Mike Gore, analyst)
Live Stats
Tickets
Gameday Central
Game Sponsor: Matt & Molly
Promotion: All K-12 students will receive free admission to tomorrow's game. Special giveaways include Bulldog branded bookmarks and pencils. Enter promo code "K12" to claim complimentary tickets for K-12-age students. Accompanying adults can receive 25% off tickets using promo code "BACK2SCHOOL" (Must be in a separate transaction). For questions regarding ticketing, email Harmon Turner at hturner@unca.edu.

CONFERENCE RIVALRY

Saturday marks the 65th matchup between the Bulldogs and Panthers, with their first matchup dating back to the 1967-68 season.
Asheville holds a 37-27 lead over High Point.
Last season, the two teams split the regular season meetings, with Asheville falling to High Point on the road 84-79 and then defeating the Panthers in Kimmel Arena 86-81.
Dating back to 1998, Asheville has a 21-7 home record against High Point and a 25-21 conference record.
The Bulldogs are 6-4 in their last 10 matchups against the Panthers.

SECOND MOST NONCONFERENCE WINS IN D1 HISTORY

This past Monday's nonconference finale win marked Asheville's eighth double-digit win of the season and helped the Bulldogs to nine nonconference wins on the year.
Since competing at the Division I level, nine wins are the second-most nonconference wins for the program, and Bulldogs basketball has reached nine out-of-league wins three times since the 1986-87 season.
The Bulldogs closed the 2024 portion of the season 6-0 at home and finished the 2024 calendar year 13-1 in Kimmel Arena. Since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, Asheville is 31-2 in Kimmel. Asheville and Radford are the only two teams in the league without a home loss this season.

BULLDOG LEADERBOARD

Josh Banks enters league play averaging 15.4 points per game. He is second on the team with a .395 3-point percentage.
Toyaz Solomon, who started and played in all 14 nonconference games, is second, with 14.7 points per game. He leads the team with a .591 field goal percentage, has a team-high average of 8.0 rebounds a game, and a team-high 19 blocks.
Jordan Marsh is Asheville's third-leading scorer, averaging 14.6 points per game. He leads the team with 57 assists and 20 steals.
Fletcher Abee is the final Bulldog, averaging double figures with 11.5 points per game. He leads the team with a .457 3-point shooting percentage, as he is 37-81 from distance.
Freshman Kameron Taylor has been an off-the-bench asset for the Bulldogs, as he averages 8.9 points per game and 4.3 rebounds per game.

BIG SOUTH LEADERBOARD

Abee and Banks lead the league in 3-point field goal percentage and 3-point field goals per game, with each individual averaging 2.8. Abee is No. 20 in the nation in 3-point percentage.
Marsh leads the league in free throw percentage with a .905.
Greg Gantt Jr. leads the league in assist/turnover ratio (2.3).
Solomon is No. 1 in the league in field goal percentage and No. 2 in rebounding.
As a team, Asheville leads the Big South in 3-point field goals made (8.9), opponent 3-point field goals (0.298), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.32), assists (15.50), and blocked shots (4.00).

SCOUTING HIGH POINT

The Panthers entered the season as the predicted No. 1 team in the conference after winning the 2023-24 regular season.
CollegeInsider has High Point listed as the No. 17 mid-major team in the nation.
HPU opened league play on Thursday (Jan. 2) and defeated Radford 76-58.
Ahead of the 2024-25 season, Kezza Giffa was named the Big South Preseason Player of the Year after UNC Asheville's Drew Pember had the Preseason Player title for back-to-back seasons.
As a team, High Point leads the league, as the Panthers are limiting their opponents to 64.4 points a game. The Panthers have the highest margin of victory at 13.1 points, followed by the Bulldogs with 11.8 points.
The Panthers have a league-leading .478 field goal percentage, while their opponents are averaging .412.
As a team, High Point has a league-high .749 free throw percentage.
The Panthers have three individuals averaging double-digit points, with D'Maurian Williams leading the way with 14.9. Williams also has a team-high 48 assists and a .471 3-point shooting percentage. Williams is in his first year at HPU. He began his collegiate career at Gardner-Webb for two seasons before transferring to Texas Tech for two years.
Kezza Giffa is averaging 14.1 points per game and leads the team with a .839 free throw percentage.
Kimani Hamilton is averaging 13.1 points per game and leads the team with a .523 field goal percentage.
Juslin Bodo Bodo is High Point's leading rebounder, as he is averaging 7.6 boards per game. He leads the team and league with 23 blocks, averaging 1.4 per game.

STATISTICAL COMPARISON

2024-25 Season	Asheville	High Point
Scoring Offense	84.7	77.5
Scoring Defense	72.9	64.4
Scoring Margin	11.8	13.1
FG Percentage	.477	.578
FG Pct. Defense	.429	.412
3PT Percentage	.354	.362
FT Percentage	.684	.749
Rebounds Per Game	38.6	34.8
Assists Per Game	15.5	13.1
Steals Per Game	7.6	6.3
Blocks Per Game	4.0	3.6

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GAME PREVIEW: Men’s Basketball Welcomes High Point to Kimmel Arena for Conference Opener

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Fletcher Abee

Josh Banks

Greg Gantt Jr.

Jordan Marsh

Drew Pember

Toyaz Solomon

Kameron Taylor

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics

GAME PREVIEW: Men’s Basketball Welcomes High Point to Kimmel Arena for Conference Opener

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Fletcher Abee

Josh Banks

Greg Gantt Jr.

Jordan Marsh

Drew Pember

Toyaz Solomon

Kameron Taylor

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