Gardner-Webb (17-10, 8-5) vs. UNC-Asheville (4-22, 2-10)
Kimmel Arena, Asheville, North Carolina; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: UNC-Asheville looks for its sixth straight win over Gardner-Webb at Kimmel Arena. The last victory for the Runnin' Bulldogs at UNC-Asheville was a 67-65 win on Feb. 13, 2013.
VARYING EXPERIENCE: Gardner-Webb has depended on senior leadership this year while UNC-Asheville has been fueled heavily by freshmen. For the Runnin' Bulldogs, seniors David Efianayi, DJ Laster and Eric Jamison have collectively scored 47 percent of the team's points this season, including 70 percent of all Runnin' Bulldogs points over their last five. In the other locker room, freshmen Devon Baker, Coty Jude and Cress Worthy have combined to score 52 percent of UNC-Asheville's points this season.
EFFICIENT EFIANAYI: Efianayi has connected on 43.7 percent of the 135 3-pointers he's attempted and has made 15 of 31 over his last five games. He's also made 73.4 percent of his foul shots this season.
WINLESS WHEN: Gardner-Webb is 0-5 when scoring fewer than 61 points and 17-5 when scoring at least 61.
ASSIST DISTRIBUTION: The Runnin' Bulldogs have recently created buckets via assists more often than the Bulldogs. UNC-Asheville has 22 assists on 65 field goals (33.8 percent) over its past three contests while Gardner-Webb has assists on 37 of 82 field goals (45.1 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Gardner-Webb has attempted the second-most free throws among all Big South teams. The Runnin' Bulldogs have averaged 21.6 free throws per game.
———
For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP—Top25
———
This was generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com
