GAME INFO
Thursday, Feb. 27 -- vs UNC Asheville (Millis Center) 7 p.m.
ESPN+ | Live Stats | Tickets
 
The High Point University men's basketball team (9-20, 6-10 Big South) returns to Millis Center for its final Big South Conference home game when it welcomes UNC Asheville (13-14, 7-9 Big South) on Thursday evening (Feb. 27).
 
Prior to the contest HPU will recognize seniors Cliff Thomas Jr. and Jamal Wright, along with team manager Avery Semidey.
 
Last Time Out
The Panthers are coming off of a 57-54 loss to Longwood last Saturday (Feb. 22) in Farmville. HPU was led by sophomore big man Caden Sanchez who scored 13 points. Sophomore Rob Peterson III was also big for the Panthers, finishing just shy of a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.  
 
Matchup History
High Point is 25-31 in the series history against UNC Asheville. HPU has won three straight including the opening matchup between the teams earlier in the season. The Panthers were fueled by Denny Slay II's season-high 17 points in a 68-66 win.
 
Across the Bench
The Bulldogs are coming off of a 75-64 home win against Presbyterian last Saturday (Feb.22). They have won three out of the last four with victories over Charleston Southern, Longwood and the aforementioned Blue Hose.
 
UNC Asheville is led by preseason all-conference honoree Devon Baker, who comes into the contest averaging 16.8 points per game. In the Bulldogs last game Baker finished with 24 points on 44% shooting. He is aided by UNCA's stellar defense, they rank 25th in the country in steals per game with 8.4
 
UNCA is coached by Mike Morrell, who is in his second season with the program. Morrell is 11-36 in his two seasons and prior to coming to Asheville Morrell spent seven seasons under the tutelage of current Texas head coach Shaka Smart.

Coleman Time
Eric Coleman Jr. was named Big South Freshman of the Week after scoring a career-high 30 points in High Point's 82-70 win over Presbyterian last Thursday, in which he posted personal bests of 7-of-9 from the field (77.8%) and 4-of-5 from beyond the perimeter (80%), in addition to making 12-of-14 from the charity stripe.  Coleman added six points in Saturday's setback at Longwood.
 
But He's Only a Freshman
John-Michael Wright is second in Big South scoring averaging for a freshman with 13.8 per game, which also ranks him ninth in scoring in the conference overall. He is also the top freshman in rebounding with 5.2 boards per game, good enough for 16th overall in the conference. The freshman has scored at least 10 points in 21 games this season. He is also seventh in the Big South with a .773 free throw percentage.
 
The Senior is Shining
Senior Jamal Wright has averaged 12.3 points per game over his last seven contests, all coming off of the bench. He had a career night last (Feb. 6) in an 88-85 win over Hampton, dropping a career-high 34 points. He reached his career-high in the first half, while shooting an astonishing 10-13 from the field while going 5-7 from beyond the arc and 9-11 from the free throw line - all eclipsing his career-highs.
 
RP3
Sophomore Rob Peterson III has started the last 13 games in the absence of Curtis Holland III. Peterson has averaged six points per game and 7.5 rebounds a game over that span and is averaging 5.3 rebounds a game, good for 14th in conference.
 
Chairman of the Offensive boards
Redshirt sophomore Caden Sanchez ranks second in the Big South with 2.4 offensive rebounds a game.
 
Glass Cleaners
High Point have been terrific on the offensive and defensive boards. They rank third in the Big South in rebounding margin at +1.5.
 
JUST BLOCKin' it
Sanchez ranks fifth in the Big South with 1.0 block per game. His five-block game against Longwood (Jan. 25) was the first in program history since John Brown in 2016.
 
Defensive Boards
High Point is second the Big South with a 33.0 game rebounding defense.
 
Up Next: HPU travels to Winthrop this Saturday (Feb. 29) for its final regular season game of the year. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
 
 
This men's basketball preview is brought to you by Omega Sports.