College of Charleston (1-1, 0-0)
UNC Asheville (0-2, 0-0)
TD ArenaTipoff at 7pm on MyTV Charleston and CofCSports.com
Are they any good?
- The UNC Asheville Bulldogs are projected to finish somewhere in the mid to upper tier of the Big South conference - a league only slightly below the current SoCon. Not much can be gleaned from their first two games; a blowout loss in the season opener against Kentucky and a hot and cold loss to Western Carolina in which the Bulldogs trailed big but rallied to lose by just seven. They are actually very similar to CofC in build, with a 5th year senior forward up front in DJ Cunningham and another big man - Will Weeks - leading them in assists. Also like the Cougars, Asheville is currently led in scoring by freshman guard Andrew Rowsey.
- The Bulldogs are a scrappy defensive team, a quality that kept them in the UK game for a while, and do the things that other big-fronted teams do well - namely rebounding and shot blocking. Cunningham was one of the country's best shot blockers last year and the hot three-point shooting of Rowsey (he hit 7 against WCU) has added some balance offensively.
- Even with the bunches of scoring by Rowsey this year, the rest of the Bulldogs have had trouble finding the bottom of the net so far this season. Even though their stats are dragged down by playing a Top 3 team in Kentucky, Asheville's field goal percentage, assist and point total numbers are not very impressive so far.
- Barry/Chealey vs Andrew Rowsey - A battle of the super talented freshmen guards. I expect Stitt and AT to guard Rowsey one-on-one but offensively both teams will lean on their freshmen perimeter players to carry the load. Barry and Chealey have already faced adversity in their first two games. Can they keep it up?
- Adjehi Baru and free throws - Against both Louisville and Charlotte you could make the case that Baru was the best player on the court anytime he got off the bench. The problem was that Adjehi has yet to adjust his defensive habits to stay in line with the new physicality rules. Baru adds important balance to the outside scoring of Barry, Stitt and Chealey and his absence is glaring. Both the Cards and Niners went on huge runs offensively with Baru unable to guard the paint. He needs to keep his hands up on defense no matter how much of an awkward adjustment it is so he can draw attention on the other side of the court. Free throws continue to be a major issue for this team and I said last week that in one of these games sooner or later it's going to cost them big. I hope the guys have practiced all this week because they're going to be at the line a lot tonight.
- Adjehi finally stays on the court by quickly turning the tables on the equally large Cunningham and drawing contact again and again. Canyon cools off from last week but veterans Willis Hall and Anthony Stitt get on the scoring bandwagon and lead the Cougs to victory 81-75
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