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BASKETBALL

NC State To Host UNC Asheville Tuesday

For the third straight regular season game NC State will be at home on Tuesday night when they host UNC Asheville.

NC State who is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference comes into the game with a record of 2-0 while UNC Asheville who is a member of the Big South Conference comes into the game with a record of 1-0.

As for NC State’s previous game, they routed Maryland Eastern Shore.

 The NC State men's basketball team rolled past Maryland Eastern Shore Saturday afternoon, defeating the Hawks, 95-49, inside PNC Arena. The Wolfpack (2-0) led  wire-to-wire on the way to picking up its second win of the season. “according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/11/10/mens-basketball-wolfpack-breezes-past-hawks-95-49.aspx?path=mbball
 
Torin Dorn posted a double-double, the 10th of his career, with a game-best 22 points and 10 rebounds as he led the Pack in scoring for the second outing in a row. DJ Funderburk and Jericole Hellems joined him in double figures, each tallying 13 points, and Braxton Beverly scored 12 points in his return to the court. “according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/11/10/mens-basketball-wolfpack-breezes-past-hawks-95-49.aspx?path=mbball
 
In another solid defensive performance, NC State held its opponent under 50 points for the first time since 2015 when the Pack beat South Florida, 65-46 (12/13/15). “according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/11/10/mens-basketball-wolfpack-breezes-past-hawks-95-49.aspx?path=mbball

After holding Mount St. Mary's to 32.8 percent shooting on Tuesday, the Pack was even stingier on Saturday limiting the Hawks to 31.5 percent shooting. The two opponent field goal percentages are both lower than the Pack held any team to last season. “according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/11/10/mens-basketball-wolfpack-breezes-past-hawks-95-49.aspx?path=mbball
 
The Pack forced the Hawks into 15 turnovers, and The Shore connected on just 17 field goals. NC State turned the Hawks' 15 turnovers into 23 points and scored 16 of its points on fast breaks. “according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/11/10/mens-basketball-wolfpack-breezes-past-hawks-95-49.aspx?path=mbball
 
After the Wolfpack missed its first five attempts of the game, Dorn laid one in at the 17:09 mark of the first half for the Wolfpack's first made field goal of the game. NC State went on to hit its next seven shots on the way to building up a 21-4 lead midway through the first half.
 
The Pack led 51-15 at the halftime break, with Maryland Eastern Shore's 15 first-half points being the fewest allowed in a single half in the Kevin Keatts era. “according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/11/10/mens-basketball-wolfpack-breezes-past-hawks-95-49.aspx?path=mbball
 
Hellems and Funderburk led the team in scoring in the second half as each scored eight of their 13 in the final 20 minutes of action. Funderburk put together another perfect shooting performance as he shot 5-for-5 on the outing to improve to 9-for-9 from the field on the season “according to https://gopack.com/news/2018/11/10/mens-basketball-wolfpack-breezes-past-hawks-95-49.aspx?path=mbball

As for UNC Asheville, Like NC State they won their previous game as they defeated St. Andrews.

The Mike Morrell era of UNC Asheville men's basketball started off in emphatic fashion with the Bulldogs picking up a dominating 87-47 victory over St. Andrews at Kimmel Arena on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018. “according to https://uncabulldogs.com/news/2018/11/8/mens-basketball-bulldogs-pick-up-dominating-40-point-win-over-st-andrews-to-give-mike-morrell-first-career-win.aspx

UNC Asheville basically led from start-to-finish in the win over St. Andrews with the Bulldogs leading by as many as 41 before securing the 40-point win. “according to https://uncabulldogs.com/news/2018/11/8/mens-basketball-bulldogs-pick-up-dominating-40-point-win-over-st-andrews-to-give-mike-morrell-first-career-win.aspx

Freshman DeVon Baker led all in the game with 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Baker was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe. He had six rebounds and three assists. “according to https://uncabulldogs.com/news/2018/11/8/mens-basketball-bulldogs-pick-up-dominating-40-point-win-over-st-andrews-to-give-mike-morrell-first-career-win.aspx

Three Bulldogs finished in double figures in total with Tajion Jones ending his day with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists. “according to https://uncabulldogs.com/news/2018/11/8/mens-basketball-bulldogs-pick-up-dominating-40-point-win-over-st-andrews-to-give-mike-morrell-first-career-win.aspx

Coty Jude finished his first game in a Bulldog uniform with 11 points and three rebounds. “according to https://uncabulldogs.com/news/2018/11/8/mens-basketball-bulldogs-pick-up-dominating-40-point-win-over-st-andrews-to-give-mike-morrell-first-career-win.aspx

Stephen Edoka led the Bulldogs in rebounds with 11 boards in 18 minutes on the floor. “according to https://uncabulldogs.com/news/2018/11/8/mens-basketball-bulldogs-pick-up-dominating-40-point-win-over-st-andrews-to-give-mike-morrell-first-career-win.aspx

It was a balanced UNC Asheville (1-0) attack in total with 10 different Bulldogs scoring in the win over St. Andrews (0-3). “according to https://uncabulldogs.com/news/2018/11/8/mens-basketball-bulldogs-pick-up-dominating-40-point-win-over-st-andrews-to-give-mike-morrell-first-career-win.aspx

UNC Asheville finished its victory shooting 42.9 percent (27-of-63) as a team. The Bulldog defense limited St. Andrews to just 14 made field goals and 29.8 shooting (14-of-47) as a team. “according to https://uncabulldogs.com/news/2018/11/8/mens-basketball-bulldogs-pick-up-dominating-40-point-win-over-st-andrews-to-give-mike-morrell-first-career-win.aspx

BULLDOG BITES

First Career Head Coaching Victory
After the Bulldog victory over St. Andrews, UNC Asheville Director of Athletics Janet R. Cone presented Mike Morrell a commemorative ball to congratulate him on his inaugural win. The UNC Asheville men's basketball team then congratulated Morrell in the locker room for starting his career off the right way. “according to https://uncabulldogs.com/news/2018/11/8/mens-basketball-bulldogs-pick-up-dominating-40-point-win-over-st-andrews-to-give-mike-morrell-first-career-win.aspx

Dishing it Out
UNC Asheville finished the win over St. Andrews with 18 assists on 27 made field goals. The Bulldogs also protected the basketball with only nine turnovers as a team. “according to https://uncabulldogs.com/news/2018/11/8/mens-basketball-bulldogs-pick-up-dominating-40-point-win-over-st-andrews-to-give-mike-morrell-first-career-win.aspx

Home Sweet Home
UNC Asheville is 83-18 overall and 57-12 against Big South foes within the friendly confines of Kimmel Arena inside the Sherrill Center. The Bulldogs have won 24 of their last 26 at Kimmel Arena overall. “according to https://uncabulldogs.com/news/2018/11/8/mens-basketball-bulldogs-pick-up-dominating-40-point-win-over-st-andrews-to-give-mike-morrell-first-career-win.aspx

First Season-Opening Win Since 2012
UNC Asheville secured its first season-opening win since 2012 with the win over St. Andrews. UNC Asheville had last opened its regular season with a win in the 2012-13 season when the Bulldogs knocked off Mountain Rival Western Carolina, 71-61. In 2013 the Bulldogs fell to Kentucky in the season opener before falling to Wake Forest in the season opener in 2014. In 2015 the Bulldogs dropped their opener at Tennessee and then in 2016 the Bulldogs fell at VCU. The Bulldogs dropped their season opener at Rhode Island last season. “according to https://uncabulldogs.com/news/2018/11/8/mens-basketball-bulldogs-pick-up-dominating-40-point-win-over-st-andrews-to-give-mike-morrell-first-career-win.aspx

Tip-off is set for 7:00pm from PNC Arena. The game will be televised on ACC Network Extra. “according to https://gopack.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball