Longwood (12-5) vs UNC Asheville (10-5)
January 8, 2025 at 07:00 PM EST
The Line: Betting Odds: Longwood -3.5 — Over/Under: 153.5
The UNC Asheville Bulldogs and the Longwood Lancers meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Joan Perry Brock Center. Here’s a Longwood vs UNC Asheville prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Longwood vs UNC Asheville pick. We will examine:
The UNC Asheville Bulldogs’ recent form and player performance
The Longwood Lancers’ recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the UNC Asheville Bulldogs
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Longwood Lancers
Recent betting trends in games played between Longwood and UNC Asheville
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Longwood vs UNC Asheville game
UNC Asheville Bulldogs Betting Preview
This year the Bulldogs opened up their season on a spotty run, but they’ve been much better since then. UNC Asheville lost four of its first seven games versus Alabama, Ohio, Central Arkansas, and George Mason. Otherwise, it was wins over North Florida, Southeast Missouri State, and Tennessee State. UNC Asheville has since posted an impressive 7-1 run with a lone loss to UNC Wilmington along the way. The victories have come versus St. Andrews, Bluefield University, Western Carolina, North Florida, Virginia-Lynchburg, Columbia International, and High Point otherwise in that stretch for a 10-5 start for the Bulldogs.
Matched up against High Point on Saturday, the Bulldogs came out of the break looking up at a 47-43 advantage on the scoreboard. UNC Asheville maintained the pace on a 56-56 stretch the rest of the way for a 103-99 win in the end. Leading the team in scoring was Jordan Marsh with his 29 points, eight assists, and four rebounds. Toyaz Solomon put up 22 points with five rebounds, and Kameron Taylor came off the bench to supply 12 points with five rebounds and three assists. Fletcher Abee chipped in eight points and two rebounds as well.
Longwood Lancers Betting Preview
Over on the Longwood side, they opened up the year on a nice run, taking wins over the first six outings of the season. The Lancers rolled to victories over Randolph College, Morgan State, Milwaukee, TN-Martin, Binghamton, and UAB in that time. Following losses to McNeese and Kansas State, the Lancers beat Regent, Maryland Eastern Shore, Mary Baldwin, Campbell, and North Carolina Central (with a loss to North Carolina Central as well) in the next six. From there it’s been losses to SMU and Presbyterian with another win over Charleston Southern.
In the Charleston Southern game on Saturday, the Lancers were down 35-31 going into the second half. Longwood hit a 52-43 run the rest of the way however, and won in comeback fashion 83-78. Leading the team in scoring was Kyrell Luc with 19 points and four assists. Colby Garland had a nice game with 17 points, six assists and three rebounds, while Emanuel Richards led the bench scoring on nine points and two rebounds in 25 minutes of work.
Why the Longwood Lancers will win
- Longwood has won each of its last six night games at Joan Perry Brock Center.
- North Carolina-Asheville has lost three of its last four road games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
- North Carolina-Asheville has lost the first half in three of its last four road games.
Why the North Carolina-Asheville Bulldogs will win
- North Carolina-Asheville has won seven of its last eight games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
- Longwood has lost eight of its last 10 night games against Conference opponents.
- North Carolina-Asheville has won the first half in seven of its last eight games.
Longwood vs UNC Asheville Prediction
I’ll lean toward UNC Asheville here, but this should be a pretty fun game and you could call it either way. The Bulldogs took out a good High Point team in their last outing thanks to 50.7 percent shooting from the field and 18 team assists alongside just two turnovers. UNC Asheville shot just 27-of-37 (73 percent) from the line though, and got out-rebounded 40-34 along the way. Still, the Bulldogs are scoring well lately with 74 or more points in every game during this current 7-1 stretch.
As for Longwood, they had a harder time than they probably should have against a struggling Charleston Southern team in their last outing but everything worked out well in the end with a victory. The Lancers have 77 or more points in four of the last five games (a 3-2 run), so they’re certainly capable of keeping a cover pace here. I like UNC Asheville a little better in that regard, though.