UNC Asheville Men s Roster

UNC Asheville Men s Basketball Gamenotes UNC Asheville (5-11 overall, 2-3 Big South) vs. Liberty (5-11 overall, 3-2 Big South) Vines Center/Lynchburg, Va. Wednesday, Jan. 22/7 p.m. WISE Radio (1310-AM)/Tape Delay at 10 p.m. 2004-05 UNC Asheville Schedule November 6 vs. Mars Hill &83-76,W 10 vs. Brevard &68-71,L 19 at Texas Tech 55-119,L 23 at Clemson 59-78,L 27 vs. UNC Wilmington 54-57,L December 1 at Furman 68-72,L 4 vs Western Carolina (DH) 85-71,W 12 at Maryland (TV) 72-96,L 15 vs. Montreat 75-61,W 17 vs. Lenoir-Rhyne 95-60,W 19 at Charlotte 52-64,L 29 at Michigan State 63-92,L 31 at Michigan 54-75,L January 5 vs. Charleston Southern* 63-64,L 10 vs. Winthrop* 70-78,L 12 at High Point* 73-92,L 15 vs. VMI* 87-77,W 17 at Birmingham-Southern* 78-58,W 22 at Liberty* 7 p.m. 25 vs. Radford* 7 p.m. 29 at Charleston Southern* 4 p.m. 31 at Coastal Carolina* 7 p.m. February 5 vs. High Point (DH)* 4:30 p.m. 7 at Winthrop* 7 p.m. 12 at VMI* 1 p.m. 14 vs. Birmingham-Southern* 7 p.m. 18 vs. Coastal Carolina (TV)* 7 p.m. 24 vs. Liberty* 7 p.m. 26 at Radford* 7 p.m. March 1 Big South Tournament 7 p.m. 3 Big South Tournament TBA 5 Big South Championship Game Noon &-Exhibition Games *-Big South Conference Games 2004-05 UNC Asheville Men s Roster No. Name Pos. Ht. Hometown 1 Brett Warner F/C 6-9 Smyrna, Tenn. 2 K.J. Garland G 6-1 Greensboro, NC 3 Omar Collington G 6-1 Decatur, Ga. 15 Bryan McCullough F 6-6 Salisbury, NC 20 Mykail Vibbert G/F 6-4 Clinton, Tenn. 21 Chad Mohn F 6-9 Fayetteville, NC 22 Oliver Holmes G/F 6-6 Wilmington, NC 23 Steven Rush G 5-10 High Point, NC 25 Garrett Moles G/F 6-5 Wilmington, NC *31 Matt Day F 6-7 London, Ont. *42 Joseph Barber F/C 6-9 Plymouth, NC 44 Joey Harrell G/F 6-7 Durham, NC 55 C.J. Walker C 7-1 Raleigh, NC *-Red-Shirt Head Coach: Eddie Biedenbach (N.C. State, 1968) Associate Head Coach: Thomas Nash (Vanderbilt, 1995) Assistant Coach: Nick McDevitt (UNC Asheville, 2001) Assistant Coach: Trip Cogburn (North Carolina, 2002) Director of Basketball Operations: Jeff Lafave (So. Conn, 1993) UNC Asheville Quick Facts Location: Asheville, N.C., 28804 Founded: 1927 Enrollment: 3,500 Colors: Royal Blue and White Conference: Big South Chancellor: Dr. Jim Mullen (Holy Cross, 1980) Athletics Director: Janet Cone (Furman, 1978) Arena/Capacity: Justice Center (1,100) Head Coach: Eddie Biedenbach (N.C. State, 1968) Record at UNCA/Years: 116-132/9 years Overall Record: 146-182/11 years SID: Mike Gore Website: www.uncabulldogs.com

UNC Asheville Probable Starters Notes #15-F Bryan McCullough, 6-6, Sr., Salisbury, NC (13.2. ppg, 5.0 rpg) Leads team in scoring, rebounding & steals #22-F Oliver Holmes, 6-6, Jr., Wilmington, NC (7.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg) Averaging 11.2 points in 5 league games #55-C C.J. Walker, 7-1, So., Raleigh, NC (3.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg) 23 rd in the nation in blocked shots with 41 #2-G K.J. Garland, 6-1, So., Greensboro, NC (8.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg) Leads team in assists with 53 #3-G Omar Collington, 6-1, Jr., Decatur, GA (7.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg) Only UNCA player to start in all 16 games Off the Bench for the Bulldogs: #21-C Chad Mohn, 6-9, Jr., Fayetteville, NC (6.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg) Season-high 14 points vs. Winthrop #23-G Steven Rush, 5-10, So., High Point, NC (10.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg) Career-high 20 points at Birmingham-So. #44-F Joey Harrell, 6-7, So., Durham, NC (1.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg) 4 points & 5 rebounds at Birmingham-So. #20-F Mykail Vibbert, 6-4, Fr., Clinton, Tenn. (3.0 ppg. 1.5 rpg) Tallied 4 points at High Point ##1-F/C Brett Warner, 6-9, Fr., Smyrna, Tenn. (4.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg) Grabbed career-high 10 reb s on Saturday. Resurgent Bulldogs Head to Defending Big South Champ Liberty: The suddenly red-hot UNC Asheville Bulldogs head to Liberty University for a key Big South Conference battle Saturday night. The Bulldogs have won two straight after a six-game losing streak. UNCA picked up its most impressive victory of the season Monday night when the Bulldogs shocked Big South Conference preseason favorite Birmingham-Southern on the road, 78-58. UNCA is in the middle of a tough road stretch. Starting with Birmingham-Southern Monday night, the Dogs are playing four of their next five games on the road. UNCA is at home Tuesday night against Radford before heading to the coast of South Carolina and taking on Charleston Southern (Jan. 29) and Coastal Carolina (Jan. 31). The Series: This will be the 33 rd time that UNC Asheville and Liberty square off as the last two champions of the Big South Conference meet for the first time this season. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series, 19-13, but the Flames have won the last three meetings. Liberty holds an 8-7 edge over UNCA at the Vines Center. The Vines Center has seen some highs and lows for the UNCA program. The lowest point came in 1998 when the Dogs dropped the Big South Conference title game to Radford, 63-61. The highest point came in 2003 when the Bulldogs upset Winthrop, 81-80 in the semifinals and routed Radford, 85-71 in the BSC Tournament. Last Game: UNC Asheville picked an impressive place to earn its first road win of the season. The Bulldogs shocked and routed Big South Conference preseason favorite Birmingham-Southern at Bill Battle Coliseum, 78-58 Monday night. UNCA had lost its previous eight road games of the season. It was the Bulldogs biggest road margin of victory since the 2000-01 season when UNCA won at Appalachian State, 84-64. It was the Dogs biggest margin of victory in a road league game since a 75-54 win at Winthrop in the 1997-98 season. The victory broke a 10-game homecourt winning streak by the Panthers and was the worst home loss in school history for BSC. Asheville was led by sophomore guard Steven Rush with a career-high 20 points. Rush was 7-of-14 from the field and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. He also had four steals. Bryan McCullough added 11 points, while Omar Collington finished with 10 points. UNCA took control of the game midway through the first half as it went on a 10-0 run to take the lead for good at 25-17. The Bulldogs built the lead to 11 late in first half before the Panthers scored the final four points of the half to cut the lead to 35-28 at halftime. In the second half, the Bulldogs pushed the lead to 13 early in the half at 45-32. BSC made several attempts to rally in the second half but good free throw shooting by UNCA down the stretch kept the Panthers at bay. The Dogs led by as many as 23 late in the game on two big dunks from C.J. Walker before settling for the 20-point win. UNCA controlled the boards with a 41-26 advantage Chad Mohn led Asheville on the boards with eight. Barber to Red-Shirt 2004-05: Senior center Joseph Barber will red-shirt the 2004-05 season. Barber played in Asheville s first six games and averaged 11.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. He had started in five of those six games. The Plymouth, N.C. native suffered an ACL injury against VMI last season. He missed the rest of the season and had surgery on his knee. Barber tried to come back this year but had minor surgery prior to preseason practice. He played in the Blue-White game on Nov. 1 but did not play in the Bulldogs two exhibition games. Barber played the first six games of the year, but the Bulldog coaching and medical staff decided to red-shirt the senior this season. Barber has been with the Bulldogs since the 2001-02 season and moved into the starting lineup in the 2002-03 campaign. He was a starter for UNCA at the power forward spot on the Bulldogs Big South Conference championship team in 2003 as he averaged 7.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Joseph moved to the center spot last year and averaged 9.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game before going down with the ACL injury against VMI in UNCA s first Big South Conference game. He played in 12 games last year and started in 10 contests with his top game being against defending national champ Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. Barber earned the second double - double of his career against the Orange with 17 points and 10 rebounds. He also had a double-double against Furman (Dec. 1) this year with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Inside the Numbers UNC Asheville s Record in 2004-05 when: Bulldogs win the opening tip:... 4-6 Opponent wins tip:.... 1-5 Bulldogs lead at halftime:.....4-0 Bulldogs trail at halftime:......1-11 Bulldogs tied at halftime:.. 0-0 Bulldogs lead with 5:00 left:..... 5-1 Bulldogs trail with 5:00 left:.....0-10 Bulldogs tied with 5:00 left:...0-0 Bulldogs outrebound opponent:.. 5-1 Opponent outrebounds Bulldogs:..... 0-10 Bulldogs tie opponent in rebounds:....0-0 Bulldogs shoot 50% or better from the field:..1-0 Opponents shoot 50% or better from the field: 0-5 Bulldogs shoot 40% or better from 3-pt:.1-3 Opponents shoot 40% or better from 3-pt.....0-3 Bulldogs shoot better than opponent from 3-pt:... 4-5 Bulldogs have better FG% than opponent:.......4-1 Bulldogs and opponent shoot equal FG%:...0-0 Bulldogs have more FT attempts:......3-3 Opponent has more FT attempts:.... 2-8 Bulldogs and opponent have equal FT attempts:..0-0 Bulldogs bench outscores opponent:. 5-5 Opponent bench outscores Bulldogs:...0-5 Bench scoring is equal:.0-1 Following a Bulldog win: 2-2 Following a Bulldog loss:.......3-8 Bulldogs commit less turnovers than opponents:... 2-2 Bulldogs commi t more turnovers than opponents:...3-9 Bulldogs and opponents commit equal turnovers:.0-0 Two or less Bulldogs score in double figures:.......2-6 Three Bulldogs score in double figures:.... 1-3 Four Bulldogs score in double figures: 0-1 Five or more Bulldogs score in double figures:..2-1 Bulldogs score 59 points or less:...0-5 Bulldogs score between 60-69 points:...0-3 Bulldogs score between 70-79 points:....2-3 Bulldogs score between 80-89 points:....2-0 Bulldogs score between 90-99 points:....1-0 Bulldogs score 100 or more points:. 0-0 In games decided by three points or less:..0-2 In games decided by 4-10 points:....1-2 In games decided by 11-20 points:..3-3 In games decided by 21-29 points:..... 0-3 In games decided by 30 or more points:.....1-1 In November games:.....0-3 In December games:.. 3-5 In January games:.. 2-3 In February games:....0-0 In March games:.0-0 Monday games:..1-1 Tuesday games:.....0-1 Wednesday games:...1-4 Thursday games:...0-0 Friday games:.1-2 Saturday games:.2-1 Sunday games:... 0-2 Afternoon games:...... 2-4 Evening games:.... 3-7 Against ranked opponents:...0-2 Televised games: 0-2 Overtime games: 0-0 Tournament games:...0-0 The Life of Bryan: Senior forward Bryan McCullough continues to have an outstanding season for the Bulldogs in 2004-05. Bryan leads UNCA in scoring (13.2), rebounding (5.0), steals (32) and field goal percentage (49.7%). McCullough is second on the club in assists with 46. He s scored in double figures in 13 of Asheville s 16 games. Bryan became the 22 nd player to score 1,000 career points against VMI on Saturday when he finished the game with a career-high 23 points. The Salisbury, N.C. native has 1,015 points. and in 21 st place on the all-time career list. He s also moving up the career list in assists and steals, as well. McCullough moved into ninth place on the career assist list and has 267 assists. He needs just four to move past Kevin Martin (270) into eighth place. Bryan has 135 career steals and is now in sixth place on the career list. He needs just four to move past Milton Moore (138) and into fifth place. Another Tough Schedule: UNC Asheville has once again played the toughest nonconference schedule in the Big South Conference this season. The Bulldogs have played at Texas Tech, Clemson, Maryland, Charlotte, Michigan State and Furman and at defending NIT champion Michigan. UNCA has also hosted Colonial Conference power UNC Wilmington. Even the Bulldogs non-division I schedule is tough as UNCA played host to Division II power Lenoir-Rhyne on Dec. 15. Lenoir- Rhyne has captured the past two SAC-8 championships. Last year, the Bulldogs played at N.C. State, Iowa, Syracuse and Tennessee plus played Charlotte at home. All five of those clubs played in the postseason last year Winning Record in Last Seven Road League Games: The Bulldogs have done a good job on the road in the past year during league play. UNCA is 4-3 in its last seven league games dating back to last season. The Dogs struggled last year with a 9-20 overall record but alive on the road in the last part of the season with three victories in their final five league games of the year. Included in that run was a 49-46 upset win over Winthrop in the quarterfinals of the BSC Tournament. The Dogs are 1-1 in league play on the road this year after a 78-58 victory at Birmingham-Southern Monday night.

UNC Asheville vs. Liberty by the Numbers UNCA Liberty Points 1103 1026 Points Per Game 68.9 64.1 Oppo. Pts. Per Game 75.9 77.3 Scoring Margin -7.0-13.2 3 Field Goals-Att. 913 909 Field Goal Pct. 42.9% 39.2% 3-Point FG-Att. 329 290 3-Point FG Pct: 35.6% 30.0.% 3-Point FG Made 117 87 3-Point FG Per Game 7.3 5.4 Free Throws-Att. 299 348 FT s Att. Per Game 18.7 21.8 Free Throws Made 202 227 FT Made Per Game 12.6 14.2 Free Throw Pct: 67.6% 65.2% Rebounds 552 599 Rebounds Per Game 34.5 37.4 Rebounding Margin -1.9-3.2 Offensive Rebounds 203 203 Defensive Rebounds 349 396 Assists 230 179 Assists Per Game 14.4 11.2 Turnovers 277 274 Turnovers per game 17.3 17.1 Turnover Margin -2.4-4.6 Assist/turnover ratio 0.8 0.7 Steals 114 97 Steals per game 7.1 6.1 Blocks 66 48 Blocks per game 4.1 3.0 Score by Periods: 1 2 Total UNCA 494 (30.9) 609 (38.1 ) 1103 (68.9) Opponents 591 (36.9) 623 (38.9) 1214 (75.9) Winning Streak 2 Home Win Streak 1 Road Win Streak 1 Losing Streak NA Home Losing Streak NA Road Losing Streak NA

Rush & Ready: Sophomore guard Steven Rush is having an excellent 2004-05 season. Rush has turned into one of the top 3-point shooters in the Big South this season. Rush is Asheville s second leading scorer this year with a 10.9 average. He s shooting 41.1 percent (37-of-90) from beyond the arc this season and tops the Bulldogs in free throw percentage at 81 percent (17-of-21). Steven is coming off a great game at Birmingham- Southern Monday night as he scored a career-high 20 points in Asheville s stunning 78-58 victory. He was 7-of-14 from the field, 4-of-8 from long distance and 2-of-3 from the free throw line. Rush is second on the team in steals with 25 and had four at Birmingham-Southern on Monday. He s had some incredible shooting stretches this year and one of those was last month against Charlotte and Michigan State. The High Point native made his last five 3-point shots against the 49ers on Dec. 19 and then went 4- of-6 from long range against the Spartans on Dec. 29 for an amazing 9-of-11 stretch (81.8%) in those two games. C.J s Block Party: Sophomore center C.J. Walker continues to get better and better with each game. One thing that hasn t changed about his game is his shot-blocking ability. Walker was 12 th in the nation last year in blocked shots with 86. He s got a chance to block even more shots this season as he s blocked 41 shots and his 2.6 average leads the Big South. He has 127 career blocked shots and is fourth on the school s all-time career list. Walker tallied seven points, grabbed three rebounds and blocked four shots last Saturday against VMI and then went 4-of-4 from the field for eight points at Birmingham-Southern Monday night. Walker blocked two shots and collected three rebounds in the BSC victory. Home Sweet Justice: UNC Asheville head coach Eddie Biedenbach has enjoyed a tremendous homecourt advantage at Justice Center during his tenure. The Bulldogs are 64-24 (.738) under Biedenbach at Justice Center. UNCA has been especially tough in league play at Justice Center. The Bulldogs are 43-14 (.777) at the Justice Center in Big South Conference play under Biedenbach. Did You Know About Eddie?: UNC Asheville head coach Eddie Biedenbach is in his 9 th season as head coach of the Bulldog program. He s done a great job at Asheville with a mark of 116-132 against a tough schedule every season. One thing about Eddie that not many people know is how many assistants have gone to become head coaches under him. And the names are familiar. Everyone knows about Texas head coach Rick Barnes getting his first job under Biedenbach when the two were in Davidson. On his Davidson staff was current Davidson head coach Bob McKillop and former Denver Nuggets head coach Jeff Bzdelik. At UNCA, one of his first hires was former N.C. State standout Monte Towe. Towe is now the head coach at the University of New Orleans. Another interesting note about Eddie is last year during the ACC tournament, the Greensboro News & Record named him as the best N.C. State Player of the 1960 s. It s not surprising as he led the Wolfpack to three appearances in the ACC title game and one championship. Eddie was an all-conference performer for two years at N.C. State. Great Game Against Montreat: The Bulldogs accomplished a great deal in their 95-60 win over Montreat College on Dec. 17. It was UNCA s biggest margin of victory in eight seasons with the 35-point margin. It was the most points scored by the Bulldogs in two years. UNCA shot better than 50 percent for the first time this season as it shot 57.8 percent (27- of-64). The Bulldogs scored a season-high 52 points for a half in the second half. Asheville had 27 assists in the game and that was the most assists for a Bulldog team in three years. UNCA s press was very effective as it forced 27 Montreat turnovers. The Bulldogs had 18 steals in the game, the second most in school history and just two off the school record of 20 set in the 1989-90 season against Coastal Carolina. Record-Shooting for a Half: The Bulldogs set a school record for three-point shooting percentage in a half against Western Carolina on Dec. 4 at the Asheville Civic Center. UNCA went 9-of-13 from the 3-point line for a sizzling 69.2 percent. The firsthalf outburst helped the Bulldogs race to a 51-30 halftime lead en route to an 85-71 victory over the Catamounts.

The Return of Good Free Throw Shooting: The Bulldogs are getting back to their normal way of free throw shooting in the past three games. UNCA has been a little inconsistent from the line this year and is shooting an uncharacteristic 67.6 percent from the line entering today s game. However, the past four games have been much better. UNCA shot 78.9 percent (15- of-19) against Winthrop (Jan. 10) and 76.9 percent at High Point (20-of-26) (Jan. 12). Last Saturday against VMI, the Bulldogs went 18-of-25 for 72.0 percent. UNCA continued the solid free throw shooting at BSC Monday with a 20-of-27 effort for 74.1 percent. The Bulldogs are being led at the line by Steven Rush at 81 percent (17-of- 21). In five league games, UNCA is shooting a much better 73.5 percent (83-of-113) from the charity stripe. Better Job on the Boards: After struggling on the boards for much of the season, the Bulldogs have done a sensational job in the area of rebounding the past two games. UNCA outrebounded VMI, 48-30 last Saturday in the Dogs 87-77 win over the Keydets. Asheville did another outstanding job at Birmingham-Southern Monday night as it outrebounded the Panthers, 41-26. UNCA had been outrebounded in its six previous six games prior to the VMI contest, three times by 10 rebounds or more. Slow Starts in League Play Don t Always Equal Bad Seasons: UNC Asheville is off to a 2-3 start in league play but don t count the Bulldogs out of competing for a Big South Conference championship. In the 1988-89 season, UNCA started out 1-4 in league play but rallied to finish 6-6 and captured the 1989 Big South Conference championship. In the 1999-00 season, the Bulldogs began league play with a 1-3 start but once again came back to finish at 7-7. UNCA advanced to the Big South Conference title game before falling to Winthrop. Block Party at High Point: The Bulldogs tied a season high in blocked shots Wednesday night against High Point with 10 blocked shots. UNCA got three blocks from Joey Harrell and C.J. Walker plus two more from Chad Mohn. Oliver Holmes and Omar Collington also had a blocked shot in the contest. Slow Starts Costly: UNC Asheville has been getting off to slow starts this season and that s been a big reason in eight of the Bulldogs 11 losses this year. Below is a list of the slow starts in those eight losses. Nov. 19 @Texas Tech: 20-6 after 5 minutes Nov. 23 @Clemson: 36-11 after 12 minutes Dec. 1 @Furman: 17-3 after 4 minutes Dec. 12 @Maryland: 10-0 after 4 minutes Dec. 19 @Charlotte: 14-2 after 5 minutes Dec. 29 @Michigan St.: 13-3 after 4 minutes Jan. 5 CSU: 15-9 after 5 minutes Jan. 10 Winthrop: 12-7 after 7 minutes Leaders in Scoring This Season: Below is a list of UNCA players and how many times they ve led the Bulldogs in scoring this year. Bryan McCulough 8 Steve n Rush 4 Joseph Barber 2 Omar Collington 2 K.J. Garland 1 Chad Mohn 1 Leaders in Rebounding This Season: Below is a list of UNCA players and how many times they ve led the Bulldogs in rebounding this year. Bryan McCullough 6 Chad Mohn 4 Omar Collington 3 Brett Warner 3 Joseph Barber 2 Steven Rush 2 C.J. Walker 2 Oliver Holmes 2 K.J. Garland 1 Double -Figure Scoring: A list of players and the times they ve scored in double figures in points this year. Bryan McCullough 13 Steven Rush 7 K.J. Garland 6 Oliver Holmes 5 Joseph Barber 4 Omar Collington 4 Chad Mohn 3 Mykail Vibbert 1 C.J. Walker 1 Double -Doubles This Year: Here s a list of UNC Asheville player who have had doubledoubles this season: Joseph Barber at Furman (13 pts, 10 reb s) Chad Mohn vs. WCU (13 pts, 11 reb s)