University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
USC Upstate
GAME PREVIEW: Asheville Travels to USC Upstate to Kick Off Ingles I-26 Rivalry
01.20.2026 | Men's Basketball
GAME DETAILS
- Game 21
- UNC Asheville (8-12, 2-4) vs USC Upstate (9-11, 1-4)
- Wednesday, January 21, 2026
- 6 p.m.
- Spartanburg, S.C. || G.B. Hodge Center
- ESPN+
- Radio
- Live Stats
- Tickets
ASHEVILLE'S LAST TIME OUT
The UNC Asheville men's basketball team came up just short this past Saturday, falling 69–67 to Winthrop in a tightly contested Big South matchup in Kimmel Arena.
Key Performances:
- Kameron Taylor led all scorers with 26 points and six rebounds, extending his streak of 20-point games to six.
- Toyaz Solomon added 20 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks, reaching 100 career blocks and ranking in the program's top-10 all-time.
- Justin Wright scored 14 points, with four assists and four steals, marking his 16th straight game in double figures.
With 1:18 remaining, Wright scored off a turnover, then added another layup off a turnover with 36 seconds left to pull Asheville within two. Winthrop was unable to score on its ensuing possession but ran enough time off the clock to prevent the Bulldogs from getting a final scoring opportunity before the buzzer.
SOLOMON'S MILESTONE
Solomon became the 39th Bulldog in program history to reach 1,000 career points last Wednesday and followed that milestone by becoming the 10th Bulldog to reach 100 career blocks this past Saturday. He is 33 rebounds shy of 500 for his career.
Solomon is averaging 16.4 points per game, leads the team with 6.9 rebounds per contest, and has totaled 19 blocks this season.
KAM'S CONFERENCE CONSISTENCY
Taylor is the only player to score 20 points in every Big South game this season (21-21-24-27-22-26 = 141 points in six games). His 23.5 points per conference contest rank second in the league, and he leads the Big South with 10 games of 20-or-more points.
WRIGHT ON TARGET
Justin Wright has started and appeared in all 20 games this season, scoring in double figures in 18 contests. He is currently riding a 16-game streak of double-digit scoring and is averaging 17.8 points per game in conference play.
DJ FROM THREE
DJ Patrick is the final Bulldog averaging double figures at 10.2 points per game. He leads the team with 45 made three-pointers, including 16 in league play, and tops the Big South in three-point percentage at 39.8%.
MORRELL ON THE CLIMB
Head Coach Mike Morrell ranks 15th all-time in Big South history with 124 overall wins and needs three more victories to move into a tie for 14th.
PUTTING IN THE MINUTES
Asheville accounts for four of the conference's top six players in minutes played per game, led by Taylor at 34:06 per contest. Patrick ranks second at 34:03, while Wright sits fourth at 31:35 and Solomon sixth at 31:00.
TEAMMATE TWENTY
Asheville leads the league with seven games of two-or-more teammates scoring at least 20 points.
- Nov. 8: Wright (33), Taylor (29)
- Nov. 25: Taylor (23), Solomon (21), Wright (20)
- Dec. 10: Solomon (31), Wright (26)
- Jan. 3: Solomon (34), Wright (22), Taylor (21)
- Jan. 10: Taylor (27), Patrick (24)
- Jan. 14: Wright (26), Taylor (22)
- Jan. 17: Taylor (26), Solomon (20)
A LOOK AT UPSTATE
The Spartans enter Wednesday's contest coming off an 89–69 road loss at High Point on Saturday. Upstate trailed by four at halftime before the Panthers pulled away by outscoring the Spartans 54–38 in the second half. Despite outrebounding High Point 40–37 and posting higher three-point and free-throw percentages, Upstate was undone by 15 turnovers and High Point's 50 percent shooting from the field.
In conference play, Mason Bendinger leads the Spartans at 14.2 points per game, followed by Carmelo Adkins (13.8) and Learic Davis (13.4). Jafeth Martinez, Breylin Garcia, and Davis are all averaging more than five rebounds per game, with Martinez leading the way at 5.8. Upstate ranks third in the league in rebounding at 37.8 boards per game.
STATISTICAL COMPARISON
| 2025-26 Season | Asheville | Upstate |
| Scoring Offense | 74.2 | 76.6 |
| Scoring Defense | 73.2 | 73.1 |
| Scoring Margin | 0.9 | 3.5 |
| FG Percentage | .459 | .447 |
| FG Pct. Defense | .446 | .421 |
| 3PT Percentage | .357 | .343 |
| FT Percentage | .696 | .688 |
| Rebounds Per Game | 35.3 | 37.8 |
| Assists Per Game | 11.2 | 12.9 |
| Turnovers Per Game | 13.1 | 12.1 |
| Steals Per Game | 5.8 | 6.3 |
| Blocks Per Game | 2.9 | 4.5 |
SERIES HISTORY
Wednesday marks the 30th all-time meeting between the two programs. Asheville leads the series 20–9 and has won eight of the last 10 matchups. Since 2010, the Bulldogs are 6–3 on the road against Upstate and enter Wednesday riding a five-game winning streak in the series.
INGLES I-26 RIVALRY
Wednesday marks the beginning of the winter portion of the Ingles I-26 Rivalry, with Asheville currently holding a 12–6 advantage.
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