Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015 8:30 p.m.
Alaska Airlines Arena, Anchorage, Alaska
Loyola finds itself stuck in the third place game of the Great Alaska Shootout on Saturday after an 82-74 loss to Toledo on Friday night. The opponent is UNC Asheville, who lost to Middle Tennessee State on Friday, 63-61. Both Loyola and UNC Asheville fought hard to overcome double-digit deficits in the second half, but never managed to secure a lead.
UNC Asheville is a very streaky team. The Bulldogs trailed by 12 points at halftime and 19 points midway through the second half of last night’s game before tying it up with four minutes to play. But they could not get over the hump to capture the lead. The previous night, they trailed Drexel by four at halftime before outscoring the Dragons 51-28 through the second half. On the season’s opening night at Tennessee, the Bulldogs erased a ten point deficit in the second half to tie up the Vols before losing by four points on late free throws.
The Bulldogs start 6’4” senior forward Sam Hughes, and four guards: 6’2” sophomore Kevin Vannatta, 6’3” junior David Robertson, 6’3” sophomore Ahmad Thomas, and 6’5” freshman Dwayne Sutton. That’s right, the tallest starter is a 6’5” guard. Vannatta and Hughes lead in scoring at 12.0 and 11.2 ppg respectively. Sutton is the leading rebounder at 8.2 rpg, and makes up the third Bulldog scorer averaging in double digits at 10.8.
In the first two games of the season, the Bulldogs started 6’6” forward Will Weeks, but he is struggling coming back from an injury and is now coming off the bench. He scored 36 points in the first two games of the season, but has only scored 11 more points in the four games since. Six-foot-five freshman guard Dylan Smith (8.0 ppg), and 6’10” senior center John Cannon see most of the time off the bench, along with Weeks. Smith and Vannatta are their most prolific and successful three point shooters (over 35%), but Robertson pulls the trigger more often and slightly less successfully.
Coach Nick McDevitt, in his 3rd season as head coach at his alma mater, has his small in stature UNCA squad holding its own on the glass against much bigger teams. They’ve out-rebounded every opposing team this year except Texas A&M, who out-boarded them 39-37. And they look to score as a pack, with equal opportunity spread amongst them, as seven UNCA players each have between 37 and 44 field goal attempts. Getting to the line is a big part of their scoring, as the Bulldogs head to the free throw stripe just under 26 times per game—32 times more than their opponents over six games this year. Stopping the clock to score from the line has been a core part of their many streaks, scoring runs, and comebacks.
The Ramblers will see some of themselves in the scrappy Bulldogs: not much height, but a lot of teamwork, movement, and energy. They may have some trouble finishing off games and winning close ones, but the only time UNCA has been really blown out this year was at Texas A&M, a team that plays a similar style with more height and better athletes. The Aggies forced the Bulldogs into an uncharacteristic 19 turnovers to take a commanding lead early in the second half to get that win. Loyola should be about a five point favorite, and probably needs a very strong game to get back in rhythm and identify productive combinations before facing Creighton and Notre Dame over the next two games.
Loyola game notes: Pending
UNC Asheville game notes: Pending
TV/Streaming video: None
Audio: UNCA Radio broadcast
http://www.iheart.com/live/news-radio-5 ... M_ID=19200Live stats:
http://www.nmnathletics.com/liveStats/l ... _ID=13400&Vegas line: Loyola by 5
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