Game 1 | at Tennessee Nov. 5, 2019 | 7 p.m. Knoxville, Tenn. UNC ASHEVILLE Thompson-Boling Arena BULLDOGS BASKETBALL | 7 Big South Regular Season Titles | 5 Big South Tournament Titles 2019-20 GAME NOTES | Contact: Stefan Nolet Phone: (318) 294-4074 Email: [email protected] UNC ASHEVILLE (4-27 in ‘18-19) at TENNESSEE (31-6 in ‘18-19) 2019-20 SCHEDULE DATE OPPONENT TIME/RESULT MATCHUP BULLDOG BITES 10/31 BOB JONES (EX) 5 p.m. 11/5 at Tennessee 7 p.m. PRESEASON FIRST-TEAM ALL-BIG SOUTH 11/9 at The Citadel 12 p.m. 11/13 at Wake Forest 7 p.m. Sophomore guard DeVon Baker earned recogni- 11/16 BREVARD 6 p.m. tion as one of the top five players in the Big South 11/21 ST. ANDREWS 6 p.m. entering the 2019-20 season in a vote of league 12/3 at Charlotte 7 p.m. coaches and media members. Among returning 12/7 at Western Carolina 4 p.m. players in the conference, Baker ranks second in 12/11 at South Carolina State 7 p.m. points per game (16.1) and free throw percentage UNC TENNESSEE 12/14 UT MARTIN 2 p.m. (.817), third in minutes per game (33.9) and fifth in 12/17 STETSON 6 p.m. ASHEVILLE assists per game (3.0) and steals per game (1.5). 12/21 CHATTANOOGA 2 p.m. 2018-19 Record 2018-19 Record FROM GREEN TO GROWN 1/2 at Presbyterian* 7 p.m. 4-27 . 2-14 Big South 31-6 . 15-3 SEC 1/8 CAMPBELL* 6 p.m. The Bulldogs were one of the youngest teams 1/11 at Charleston Southern* 5:30 p.m. in the country last season, as eight freshmen 1/16 HIGH POINT* 6 p.m. Last Game Last Game combined for 109 starts and 4,764 minutes. This 1/18 HAMPTON* 2 p.m. at Presbyterian vs. Purdue season, 83.6 percent of last year’s minutes return, 1/20 at Longwood* 7 p.m. L, 59-106 L, 94-99 including all eight freshmen returning for their 1/23 RADFORD* 6 p.m. in Clinton (Big South) in Louisville (NCAA) second seasons. 1/25 at USC Upstate* 4 p.m. 1/30 GARDNER-WEBB* 6 p.m. Head Coach Head Coach CLOSE CALLS 2/1 at Winthrop* 2 p.m. Mike Morrell Rick Barnes Two of the last three times the Bulldogs and Volun- 2/6 USC UPSTATE* 6 p.m. Milligan (2005) Lenoir-Rhyne (1977) teers have squared off, the Vols have escaped with . 2/10 at Hampton* 7 p.m. 4-27 2nd Season AVL 88-50 5th Season UT four-point victories. In the most recent meeting, 2/13 LONGWOOD* 6 p.m. 4-27 Career Record 692-364 Career Record Nov. 13, 2015, the Vols won 82-78, and in 2011, 2/15 CHARLESTON SOUTHERN* 4:30 p.m. 2nd Career Season 33rd Career Season UT won 72-68. Sandwiched in between, Tennessee 2/20 at Radford* 7 p.m. won a seven-point game, 75-68, in 2012. 2/22 PRESBYTERIAN* 4:30 p.m. SERIES HISTORY FAMILIAR TERRITORY 2/27 at High Point* 7 p.m. 2/29 at Campbell* 4:30 p.m. Redshirt sophomore Tajion Jones and freshman All-Time Record: Tennessee Leads 10-0 Trent Stephney will be returning home when they *Big South Game First Meeting: UT won 75-69; 11/19/97 play in Knoxville. Jones hails from nearby Oak Most Recent Meeting: UT won 82-78; 11/13/15 Ridge and Oak Ridge High School, while Stephney Streak: UT won 10 prepped at Bearden High School and was team- Last AVL Victory: N/A mates with current Vol freshman Drew Pember. BROADCAST INFO SEC Network+ Michael Wottreng :Play-By-Play POSSIBLE STARTERS Vincent Yarbrough:Color Kadey Funderburg: Sideline ESPN Asheville 92.9 FM/880 AM/1400 AM Brian Hall: Play-By-Play Mike Gore: Color #20 #0 #3 #2 #22 DEVON LAVAR TAJION LJ COTY BAKER BATTS, JR JONES THORPE JUDE Pts 16.1 Pts 3.7 Pts 10.2 Pts 8.6 Pts 9.4 Ast 3.0 Reb 1.2 Reb 3.5 Reb 3.5 Reb 3.3 Stl 1.5 Ast 1.5 Stl 1.1 Ast 2.5 FG% .408 FG% .397 Stl 0.8 FG% .403 FG% .385 3PT% .422 FT% .817 FG% .321 FT% .689 FT% .679 FT% .737 *at NC State (17-18) /UNCAvlBulldogs @UNCAvlMBB @uncavlmbb www.UNCABulldogs.com IT’S WHAT YOU NOTE BAKER’S DOZEN (PLUS 3.1) vs. 2019-20 OPPONENTS Sophomore guard DeVon Baker averaged 16.1 INSIDE THE MATCHUP points per game last season to lead all Big South Nonconference freshmen and ranked ninth nationally among all AVL (18-19) STAT UT (18-19) Tennessee 0-10 freshmen. He ranks fifth in scoring among this 59.9 Scoring Offense 82.0 The Citadel 1-2 year’s sophomore class entering the season. 74.6 Scoring Defense 69.7 Wake Forest 0-8 2018-19 Freshmen Scoring .403 Field Goal % .496 Brevard 7-0 PPG Player University .476 FG Defense % .404 St. Andrews 7-0 26.1 Antoine Davis Detroit Mercy .325 3PT Field Goal % .367 Charlotte 5-11 24.8 Lamine Diane Cal State Northridge .365 3PT FG Defense % .348 Western Carolina 23-30 22.6 RJ Barrett* Duke South Carolina State 3-3 22.6 Zion Williamson* Duke .741 Free Throw % .753 17.8 Sam Sessoms Binghamton 30.0 Rebounds Per Game 37.6 UT Martin 0-2 16.5 Romeo Langford* Indiana -4.6 Rebound Margin +3.3 Stetson 0-2 Chattanooga 0-6 16.3 Jayden Gardner East Carolina 10.7 Assists Per Game 17.9 16.1 Luguentz Dort* Arizona State 16.1 DeVon Baker UNC Asheville 14.7 Turnovers Per Game 11.1 Big South Conference *Declared for NBA Draft 6.3 Steals Per Game 6.0 Presbyterian 22-12 2.8 Blocks Per Game 5.4 Campbell 25-21 WINS AGAINST THE SEC Charleston Southern 45-38 The Bulldogs have three victories against SEC op- ponents in program history, twice defeating South HEY JUDE High Point 31-24 Carolina, and most recently, taking down Auburn in Sophomore forward Coty Jude was one of the Hampton 0-1 overtime in the inaugural game played in Auburn premiere outside shooting threats in the Big South Longwood 11-2 Arena, November 12, 2010. a season ago, hitting on 42.2 percent of his shots Radford 36-37 from beyond the arc. Jude drilled 68 of his 161 USC Upstate 12-6 attempts, but because he made 2.19 attempts Victories in the SEC Gardner-Webb 20-30 per game, he did not meet the NCAA’s minimum Season Team Score Winthrop 36-43 1996-97 South Carolina W, 80-74 threshold of 2.5 makes per game to qualify toward 2007-08 South Carolina W, 61-58 three-point shooting percentage rankings. His 2010-11 Auburn W, 70-69 (OT) percentage would have put him in second place in BY THE NUMBERS the Big South last season had he made 10 more SIMILAR PATHS three pointers. Though their coaching careers began many years apart, Tennessee head man Rick Barnes and UNC MR. JONES AND ME 4 Asheville’s second-year head coach Mike Morrell Redshirt sophomore Tajion Jones finished as the Despite a rebuilding year last season, the Bulldogs have coached in some of the same locations. Bulldogs’ second-leading scorer in 2018-19 behind still ranked fourth in the Big South Conference in Barnes was the head coach at Clemson from DeVon Baker, averaging 10.2 points per game. He home attendance, averaging 1,704 fans per game. 1994-98, while Morrell was a G.A. and director of finished with 16 games in double figures last year, operations for the Tigers from 2007-10. Barnes including three with 20-plus points. He poured in a then coached Texas from 1998-2015, while career-high 30 against Milligan, December 21. 9 Morrell was a Longhorn assistant from 2015-18. In a vote of the Big South coaches and media PRESEASON READING MATERIAL Barnes hails from Hickory, N.C., just 90 miles from members, the Bulldogs were picked to finish ninth Morrell’s hometown of Elizabethton, Tenn. Both A handful of Bulldogs found their names in the Big in the league’s preseason poll. The Bulldogs fin- hometowns are less than 80 miles from Asheville. South preseason award lists of popular preseason ished 10th in the conference last season. magazines, including: NEXT UP TO BATTS... Redshirt sophomore guard LaVar Batts Jr. will suit Lindy’s up for his first season as a Bulldog after sitting out Second-Team: DeVon Baker, Tajion Jones 16.1 DeVon Baker 2018-19 due to the NCAA transfer policy. Batts Newcomer of the Year: Lavar Batts Jr. Sophomore guard led all Big South played 30 games as a true freshman at NC State, Predicted Team Finish: 5th freshmen and finished ninth nationally among where he averaged 3.7 points and 1.5 assists per freshmen in scoring in 2018-19, averaging 16.1 game. He was a consensus 4-star recruit out of Athlon points per game. Jay M. Robinson High School and named the top Second-Team: DeVon Baker, Jax Levitch player in North Carolina by 247Sports and Rivals. Predicted Team Finish: 5th He was ranked a Top 100 player by 247Sports, 42.2 Rivals and ESPN. Street & Smith Sophomore forward Coty Jude hit 42.2 percent Top Newcomer: Lavar Batts Jr.