HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University Panthers are prepped to host the UNC Asheville Bulldogs on Saturday night in the mix of an exciting family weekend. Both teams will hit the floor in high flying action at 7:00 p.m. inside the rockin' Qubein Center.
 
Men's Basketball - UNC Asheville
Saturday, February 8 | 7 p.m. | High Point, N.C. | Qubein Center
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Family Weekend

Records: High Point 19-5, UNCA 16-6
Last Meeting: January 18, 2025 | Result: UNCA won 101-99
All-time Record: UNCA leads 32-24
 
The Matchup
UNC Asheville currently leads the Big South with an 8-1 record and an overall record of 17-6. The Bulldogs' lone loss was to Longwood on January 8 in Farmville, Virginia. UNCA most recently defeated Gardner-Webb on Thursday night on ESPNU, 78-70 and were led by Jordan Marsh with 26 points after going 8-22 from the field and 8-9 from the free throw line. Marsh is second in the Big South in scoring averaging 17.7 points per game. High Point and UNC Asheville will matchup for the second time this season as the Panthers look to even the playing field in the Big South after falling to the Bulldogs on the road in early January.

Last Time Out
High Point picked up its 20th win of the season and fifth consecutive with the 78-75 victory at Radford University. The Panthers were led by Kezza Giffa with 20 points, followed by Chase Johnston with 14 points. Johnston reached a career milestone with his 1500th point after securing his second three of the night. As a team, High Point shot 56.5% from the floor while knocking down 10-of-16 three pointers for 62.5%.

Notable Player & Team Notes

Back-to-back 20 Win Seasons
The Panthers have posted two back-to-back 20 win seasons for the first time in the DI era. It marks the 6th 20-win season in program history.
 
100 Career Blocks
Juslin Bodo Bodo eclipsed 100 career blocks after registering four blocks at Presbyterian on Saturday afternoon.
 
1500 Career Points for Johnston
Johnston reached his 1500th career point on Wednesday afternoon at Radford. Of Johnston's 1,509 points, 1,008 points have been scored from three-point range on 39.34% shooting for his career.

Huss Buss 47th Victory
Since taking over at the start of the 2023-24 season, Head Coach Alan Huss has tabbed 47 wins in two seasons, which is the most wins by a Big South Head Coach in their first two seasons.
 
Top 10 - CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Rankings
In the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 rankings, High Point ranks No. 17 in the week 13 rankings. The Panthers highest spot in the rankings thus far was 8th in week two. HPU has been in the top 25 for 28 consecutive weeks, the most by any Big South team since 2011 and the most ever by an HPU team.

First Half Three-Point Record
As a team, the Panthers made 11 three pointers in the first half at USC Upstate, breaking the previous record of 10 made threes.

Lavender Jersey Debut
The Panthers debuted the Centennial Lavender jersey's on January 18, representing the 100th year of HPU.
 
Winning in Record Fashion
High Point's 41-point victory (96-55) over Gardner Webb is the largest margin of victory in a Conference regular season game in HPU program history.
 
Thiam Joins 1000 Point Club
Abdoulaye Thiam reached his 1000th career point on Saturday night after scoring his seventh point of the game.
 
Pettiford Dishes Out 200th Assist
Bobby Pettiford handed out his 200th career assist at UNC Asheville. He has collected 61 assists in his 18 games played in an HPU jersey.
 
27-2 in The Qubein Center in Last Two Regular Seasons
Since the start of the Huss Bus era, the Panthers have only lost two regular season games inside the Qubein Center with a current record of 27-2. HPU's two losses came from USC Upstate on February 14, 2024, and Norfolk State on December 29, 2024.

Broke DI Program Record for Non-Conference Wins
The Panthers broke the DI program non-conference wins record with their 12^th win of the season after defeating Southern Illinois before the break. The previous record was set last season in 2023-24 with 11 wins before starting conference play.
 
Williams Captures 1000th Point
D'Maurian Williams reached his 1000th career point on Tuesday night against Carolina U after knocking down his first three-point basket of the game.
 
CIC All-Tournament Team
Kezza Giffa was named to the Cayman Islands Classic All-Tournament team after averaging 16 points, 3.0 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game. He scored a week-high 23 points in the win over Old Dominion.

Pettiford Loves Thanksgiving Game Winners
In the final game of the Cayman Islands Classic, Bobby Pettiford secured the go ahead basket with 10 seconds left to go in the game. This was the third straight season that he scored a game winner in the game before Thanksgiving.

Best Start in DI History
The 5-0 start for High Point is the best start in Division I program history since becoming DI in 1999. In 2022-23, High Point started 3-0 before falling to UNLV in mid-November.

Giffa & Bodo Bodo on Lou Henson Watch List
The 2024-25 Lou Henson 'Early Season' Watch list has been announced as two players from the High Point University men's basketball team have earned recognition, Kezza Giffa and Juslin Bodo Bodo. Giffa was named a finalist in 2023-24 for the Lou Henson award after averaging 16.2 points per game, 2.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists. 

Bracketeer.com Preseason All-American Awards
In the Bracketeer's Preseason All-American Watch List Kimani Hamilton was named a First Team recipient while Kezza Giffa was named to the second team.
 
Preseason Polls
On October 15th, the Big South Conference announced the Preseason Men's Basketball Poll for the upcoming 2024-25 season. High Point University was picked to finish 1st in the poll, while Kezza Giffa was named the Preseason Player of the Year, while Kimani Hamilton & Juslin Bodo Bodo were named to the first team.
 
New & Improved
Returning eight players from last year's roster, the Panthers added 12 newcomers with six transfers and six freshmen. The reigning Big South Regular Season Champions are ready to jump back into full action after a historic 27-win season led by first-year Head Coach Alan Huss in 2023-24.
 
HPU Stat Rankings Following 2023-24 Season
-9th in NCAA in PPG (83.9)
-1st in NCAA in Free Throws Made (20.1)
-6th in NCAA in Free Throws Attempted (25.8)
-15th in NCAA in Free Throw % (77.8)
-16th in NCAA in Rebounds (40.00)
-25th in NCAA in Win % (75%)
-Highest National Kenpom Ranking in Program History (114th)
-Highest National NET Ranking in Program History (110th)
-8th in Kenpom Raw Offensive Efficiency
-10th in Kenpom Offensive Rebound %
 
2023-24 Regular Season CHAMPS
HPU was named the outright Big South regular season champs for the first time since 2015-16. This was HPU's 5th Big South Regular-Season Title and the 2nd outright title.
 
2023-24 Season Recorded Most Wins in D1 Era
With a record of 27-9, the Panthers set the record for the most wins in a single-season.
 
2023-24 Season Was the Most Wins by a First-Year Head Coach
Coach Huss won the most wins as a first-year head coach in the entirety of the men's basketball program history. Also registered the most wins by a rookie head coach in the country last season.
 
Bodo Bodo Awards
Juslin bodo Bodo was named a National Freshman of the Year and a Kyle Macy Freshman of the Year Finalist in 2023-24.
 
Lou Henson Award Finalist
Giffa was named a Lou Henson Award Finalist in 2023-24.
 
2023-24 Big South Postseason Awards
Head Coach Alan Huss was named the Big South Coach of the Year becoming the 2nd coach in program history to earn the award (Scott Cherry). Duke Miles was named the Big South Newcomer of the Year and Juslin Bodo Bodo was named the Defensive and Freshman Player of the Year. Duke Miles, Kimani Hamilton & Kezza Giffa were named to the First Team All-Conference selections while Juslin Bodo Bodo and Titas Sargiunas were named to the All-Freshman team.