COACH: Eddie Biedenbach, 15 years at UNC -Asheville, two years in NCAA tournament.
HOW THEY GOT IN: Automatic bid (Big South tournament champion).
GO-TO GUYS: Asheville's backcourt makes the Bulldogs go. G Matt Dickey averaged 15.3 points per game and was a first-team all-Big South selection. He scored a season-high 29 points in Asheville's Big South tournament quarterfinal win over Charleston Southern. He missed his first five 3s in the tournament title game against Coastal Carolina but knocked down a key 3 down the stretch to help seal the win. G J.P. Primm, a fellow junior, ranked second in the Big South in assists and averaged 14.4 points per game. F John Williams is hands down the most athletic player in the conference. He's only 6-foot-5, but he averaged 1.5 blocks per game and blocked six in the tournament title game. He has a 42-inch vertical leap and is playing well after missing a chunk of the season due to a broken facial bone incurred in a game against North Carolina. He continues to play with a protective mask.
X FACTOR: The Bulldogs have a pair of athletic wings in Chris Stephenson and Jaron Lane who can score off the bounce and keep teams honest in the way they defend Dickey and Primm. Lane came off the bench to score 13 points in the Big South tournament title game win against Coastal Carolina, and Stephenson scored a team-high 14 in the win.
STRENGTHS: When Dickey and Primm are on from the outside, the Bulldogs are extremely difficult to defend. Both are capable of going off for huge scoring games and are nearly 40 percent 3-point shooters. When Primm plays under control and makes smart decisions, the rest of the offense opens up. Dickey shoots 85 percent from the free-throw line, and Primm shoots 78 percent, and both are active in trying to drive and draw fouls. The Bulldogs have strong wing play as well, and Williams can hang with bigger post players because of his leaping ability and his quickness around the rim. Expect a scrappy brand of defense. The team entered the postseason ranked in the top 10 in the country in steals per game (9.3).
WEAKNESSES: Size and depth. The status of 6-foot-9 C D.J. Cunningham is unknown after he re-injured his knee in the Big South quarterfinals. Without Cunningham, the Bulldogs play small with a frontcourt featuring the 6-5 Williams and 6-5 Quinard Jackson, both of whom are poor free-throw shooters. Reserve Eric Stubbs is 6-8, but he's an offensive liability. Cunningham's injury has shortened Asheville's rotation to seven or eight players, and only Lane played more than 10 minutes off the bench in the Big South tournament championship game. If Dickey or Primm get into foul trouble, Asheville is extremely thin in the backcourt. And while the Bulldogs have a few shooters, they make only five 3s per game, making comebacks harder to achieve.
