2021–22 UNC Asheville Bulldogs men's basketball team

The 2021–22 UNC Asheville Bulldogs men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Asheville in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by fourth-year head coach Mike Morrell, played their home games at Kimmel Arena in Asheville, North Carolina, as members of the Big South Conference. With the reintroduction of divisions for the first time since the 2013–14 season, the Bulldogs played in the South division.^[1] They finished the regular season 16–13, 8–8 in Big South play which resulted in a fourth place in the South division. As the No. 5 seed in the Big South tournament, they lost to Charleston Southern in the first round.

2021–22 UNC Asheville Bulldogs men's basketball
CBI, Quarterfinals
Conference	Big South Conference
Division	South Division
Record	17–15 (8–8 Big South)
Head coach	Mike Morrell (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Neil Dixon Woody Taylor Justin Levine
Home arena	Kimmel Arena
Seasons ← 2020–21 2022–23 →

2021–22 Big South men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
North
Longwood †	15	–	1		.938			26	–	7		.788
Campbell	8	–	8		.500			16	–	13		.552
High Point	7	–	9		.438			14	–	18		.438
Radford	7	–	9		.438			11	–	18		.379
North Carolina A&T	6	–	10		.375			12	–	20		.375
Hampton	5	–	11		.313			9	–	19		.321
South
Winthrop	14	–	2		.875			23	–	9		.719
Gardner–Webb	11	–	5		.688			18	–	13		.581
USC Upstate	10	–	6		.625			15	–	17		.469
UNC Asheville	8	–	8		.500			17	–	15		.531
Presbyterian	4	–	12		.250			12	–	20		.375
Charleston Southern	1	–	15		.063			6	–	25		.194
† 2022 Big South tournament winner

The Bulldogs participated in the College Basketball Invitational as a No. 13 seed, where they defeated No. 4 Stephen F. Austin in the first round before losing to No. 12 Northern Colorado in the quarterfinals.

Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Bulldogs finished the 2020–21 season 10–10, 9–5 in Big South play to finish in fourth place. They were defeated by Longwood in the quarterfinals of the Big South tournament.^[2]

Preseason

The Bulldogs were picked to finish in second place in the South division in a preseason poll.^[3] The team returned six of their top seven scorers from the prior season, including guard Tajion Jones who entered the season as the Big South's active leader in career points (1,058).^[4]

Roster

2021–22 UNC Asheville Bulldogs men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 0 Trent Stephney 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Knoxville, Tennessee F 1 Jamon Battle 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Richmond, Virginia F 2 LJ Thorpe 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Sr West Palm Beach, Florida G 3 Tajion Jones 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Jr Oak Ridge, Tennessee G 4 Martin Kawa 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Stafford, Virginia F 5 Silas Mason 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Greensboro, North Carolina F 10 Evan Clayborne 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 228 lb (103 kg) GS Dayton, Ohio F 11 BJ Marable 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Knoxville, Tennessee G 13 Quay Kimble 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) GS Shelby, North Carolina F 14 Luke Lawson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Coeburn, Virginia G 15 Dean Gabrelcik 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr East Lake, Florida G 21 Jordan Hairston 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) So Centreville, Virginia F 22 Coty Jude 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Fort Gay, West Virginia G 30 Deacon Heath 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Banner Elk, North Carolina F 55 Drew Pember 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Knoxville, Tennessee	Head coach Mike Morrell (Milligan) Assistant coach(es) Neil Dixon (West Virginia) Woody Taylor (Eckerd) Justin Levine (Ithaca) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster Last update: October 27, 2021

Schedule and results

During the non-conference half of the season, the Bulldogs used a balanced attack (Tajion Jones, Drew Pember, and LJ Thorpe all averaging 10-15 points per game) to begin the conference half with the best record in either division of the Big South.^[5]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 9, 2021* 7:30 pm, CUSAtv		at UAB	L 77–102	0–1	Bartow Arena (2,923) Birmingham, AL
November 11, 2021* 6:30 pm, ESPN+		Brevard	W 101–44	1–1	Kimmel Arena (1,290) Asheville, NC
November 14, 2021* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Chattanooga Coke Zero Sugar Classic	L 45-75	1–2	McKenzie Arena (2,250) Chattanooga, TN
November 18, 2021* 6:00 pm		vs. Tennessee Tech Coke Zero Sugar Classic	W 61–55	2–2	McKenzie Arena (412) Chattanooga, TN
November 23, 2021* 7:00 pm, ACCNX		at North Carolina	L 53–72	2–3	Dean Smith Center (15,710) Chapel Hill, NC
November 28, 2021* 4:30 pm, ESPN+		St. Andrews	W 106–36	3–3	Kimmel Arena (659) Asheville, NC
December 1, 2021* 6:30 pm, ESPN+		The Citadel	W 65–58	4–3	Kimmel Arena (751) Asheville, NC
December 4, 2021* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		North Carolina Central	W 82–66	5–3	Kimmel Arena (580) Asheville, NC
December 8, 2021* 6:30 pm, ESPN+		Chattanooga	L 73–78	5–4	Kimmel Arena (405) Asheville, NC
December 11, 2021* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Western Carolina	W 73–72	6–4	Ramsey Center (2,418) Cullowhee, NC
December 14, 2021* 8:00 pm, ESPN+		at UT Martin	L 68–79	6–5	Skyhawk Arena (1,041) Martin, TN
December 18, 2021* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		East Tennessee State	W 79–64	7–5	Kimmel Arena (767) Asheville, NC
December 21, 2021* 6:30 pm, ESPN+		Milligan	W 114–54	8–5	Kimmel Arena (641) Asheville, NC
December 29, 2021* 7:00 pm, BTN		at Indiana	Canceled due to COVID-19 protocols		Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall  Bloomington, IN
Big South regular season
January 5, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Campbell	W 60–54	9–5 (1–0)	Gore Arena (0) Buies Creek, NC
January 8, 2022 4:30 pm, ESPN+		Charleston Southern	W 82–59	10–5 (2–0)	Kimmel Arena (175) Asheville, NC
January 12, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPNU		at Winthrop	L 80–86 ^OT	10–6 (2–1)	Winthrop Coliseum (1,698) Rock Hill, SC
January 15, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+		USC Upstate	L 73–76	10–7 (2–2)	Kimmel Arena (85) Asheville, NC
January 19, 2022 6:30 pm, ESPN+		North Carolina A&T	L 71–73	10–8 (2–3)	Kimmel Arena (441) Asheville, NC
January 22, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Radford	W 78–74 ^OT	11–8 (3–3)	Dedmon Center (1,181) Radford, VA
January 27, 2022 6:30 pm, ESPNU		Gardner–Webb	L 55–61	11–9 (3–4)	Kimmel Arena (614) Asheville, NC
January 29, 2022 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at Presbyterian	W 68–67	12–9 (4–4)	Templeton Physical Education Center (594) Clinton, SC
February 2, 2022 6:30 pm, ESPN+		Longwood	L 48–56	12–10 (4–5)	Kimmel Arena (507) Asheville, NC
February 5, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at High Point	L 83–91 ^OT	12–11 (4–6)	Qubein Center (4,698) High Point, NC
February 9, 2022 6:30 pm, ESPN+		Hampton	W 69–53	13–11 (5–6)	Kimmel Arena (572) Asheville, NC
February 12, 2022 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at USC Upstate	W 83–56	14–11 (6–6)	G. B. Hodge Center (267) Spartanburg, SC
February 16, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Charleston Southern	W 85–66	15–11 (7–6)	Buccaneer Field House (619) North Charleston, SC
February 19, 2022 4:30 pm, ESPN3		Winthrop	L 79–84	15–12 (7–7)	Kimmel Arena (1,505) Asheville, NC
February 23, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Gardner–Webb	L 59–60	15–13 (7–8)	Paul Porter Arena (687) Boiling Springs, NC
February 26, 2022 4:30 pm, ESPN+		Presbyterian	W 98–96 ^OT	16–13 (8–8)	Kimmel Arena (1,691) Asheville, NC
Big South tournament
March 2, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+	(5)	vs. (12) Charleston Southern First round	L 78–79	16–14	Bojangles Coliseum  Charlotte, NC
CBI
March 19, 2022 2:30 pm, FloSports	(13)	vs. (4) Stephen F. Austin First Round	W 80–68	17–14	Ocean Center (588) Daytona Beach, FL
March 21, 2022 3:30 pm, FloSports	(13)	vs. (12) Northern Colorado Quarterfinals	L 84–87	17–15	Ocean Center (706) Daytona Beach, FL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Source^[6]

References

1. "Big South Announces 2021-22 Men's Basketball League Schedule". Big South Conference. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
2. "Men's basketball returns after layoff, falls in Big South Quarterfinals". UNC Asheville Athletics. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
3. "Campbell, Winthrop Earn Top Spot in 2021-22 Men's Basketball Preseason Polls". Big South Sports. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
4. "2021-22 Big South Media Guide" (PDF).
5. "Big South Conference Statistics". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
6. "2021-22 Men's Basketball Schedule". UNC Asheville Athletics. Retrieved October 27, 2021.