QUEENS CHRISTMAS: STJ Meets Asheville On Holiday Sweater, Toy Drive Night
Red Storm hosts Pre-Christmas clash with the Bulldogs (ESPN3, Bloomberg Radio 1130-AM).
Sophomore point guard Jamal Branch is expected to make his St. John's debut on Friday.
Dec. 20, 2012
GAME NOTES: St. John's vs. UNC Asheville (PDF)
WATCH LIVE VIA WATCHESPN.COM (FREE!): St. John's vs. UNC Asheville
PREGAME QUOTES: St. John's vs. UNC Asheville
Follow @STJ_Basketball on Twitter
EYE OF THE STORM BLOG:
UNC Asheville comes into Friday's matchup at 4-7 and winners of three of its last four, including a 79-73 triumph over Northeastern on Wednesday. After posting an early 3-1 record at home, the victory over the Huskies marked the first road win of the year for the Bulldogs. UNCA has an RPI of 239, the third-highest in the Big South Conference after playing four teams inside the RPI top-100.
The Bulldogs are an efficient offensive team, shooting .454 from the field, second-best in the Big South. Friday's matchup will be a test of two tough interior defenses as like St. John's, UNC Asheville leads its conference in blocked shots at 5.3 rejections per contest.
Senior forward Jeremy Atkinson leads the Bulldogs in scoring at 17.7 points per game, while also collecting a team-high 7.5 rebounds per contest. Atkinson is one of four players to start all 11 games for UNCA, along with sophomore guard Keith Hornsby, junior guard Trent Meyer and senior forward Jon Nwannunu. Hornsby averaged 23.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in two games last week en route to being named the Big South Conference Player of the Week
The head coach of the Bulldogs is Eddie Biedenbach, who is in his 17th year at the helm in Asheville. Beidenbach, who has been named Big South Coach of the Year three times is the longest tenured coach in the league's history and has a career mark of 244-249 in his time at UNC Asheville.
FWIW, Hornsby is the son of Bruce Hornsby, singer and Grammy winner.