NASHVILLE, Tenn. (March 4, 2024) – The postseason has arrived for the University of North Alabama men's basketball team, as the No. 6 seeded Lions begin their quest for an ASUN Championship on Tuesday at No. 3 Lipscomb in the quarterfinal round.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. inside Allen Arena in Nashville.
The winner of Tuesday's game will advance to the semifinal round set for Thursday. The semifinal winners will advance to the ASUN Championship Final which will take place Sunday, March 10 at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN2. All games will be hosted by the highest remaining seeds.
Fans can watch Tuesday's quarterfinal matchup on ESPN+ or listen to the local radio broadcast on WLX Radio via 98.3 or 103.5 FM and worldwide on the WLX website and app. "Voice of the Lions" Benjamin Ray and Bryan Neece will have the call. Tickets can be purchased for all ASUN games
here.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Game: No. 6 North Alabama at No. 3 Lipscomb
Date: Tuesday, March 5
Time: 7:00 p.m. CT
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Venue: Allen Arena
Capacity: 5,028
TV:
ESPN+
Radio:
WLX 98.3 / 103.5 FM — "Voice of the Lions" Benjamin Ray
Live Stats:
StatBroadcast
Tickets:
Click here
Game Notes:
Click Here
Social Media:
@UNA_Basketball
ASUN Championship Page:
Click here
NOTES
POSTSEASON TIME: UNA enters the ASUN Men's Basketball Championship for the sixth-straight season, marking an appearance every year since moving to Division I in 2019. UNA has a 2-5 record in ASUN tournament games, including two wins in 2021 en route to the championship final against Liberty, where UNA lost 79-75. The Lions are in their second full season of Division I eligibility and seek their first appearance in "The Big Dance."
PAST POSTSEASON SUCCESS: Prior to the move to Division I, UNA appeared in 14 postseason NCAA Tournaments at the Division II level, including a pair of national titles in 1979 and 1991. The Lions also won six conference championships at the Division II level as charter members of the Gulf South Conference.
SCOUTING THE LIONS: UNA has a 14-16 overall record and finished with an 8-8 record in conference play for sixth place in the standings. The Lions are on pace to set a new Division I era best in single-season scoring at 76.6 points per game. The Lions are led by first team all-conference selection
Jacari Lane with 14.9 PPG over 30 starts, while senior
KJ Johnson averages 14.3 PPG.
SCOUTING THE BISONS: Lipscomb is the highest-ranked ASUN team according to the NET rankings, entering with a 20-11 overall record and an 11-5 finish in ASUN play. The Bisons are the No. 3 seed for the tournament after tying with No. 2 Stetson in the standings. Lipscomb scores at a high clip with 82.3 PPG on nearly 50 percent shooting as a team. Will Pruitt leads the squad with 15.0 PPG and was a second team all-conference seletion along with teammate Derrin Boyd, who is out for the season due to injury. True freshman Cody Head averaged 8.3 PPG and was named to the ASUN All-Freshman team Monday. Lipscomb is receiving votes in the College Insider Mid Major Top 25 Poll.
SERIES HISTORY: UNA and Lipscomb's rivalry goes back all the way to 1931 when the Lions were coached by Eddie Flowers, the namesake for Flowers Hall that houses CB&S Bank Arena. Lipscomb holds the 50-29 edge in 79 meetings. The two sides split this season's meetings, with the home team winning each time. Lipscomb won the January meeting in Nashville by an 88-79 final, while the Lions won in February with a thrilling 75-70 victory in Florence.
FAMILIAR FOE: While this will be UNA's first meeting against Lipscomb in the postseason, this will not be UNA's first time facing Lipscomb head coach Lennie Acuff. While leading Alabama Huntsville from 1997-2018, Acuff's team faced the Lions twice and won both meetings in 2010 and 2015.
AUTOMATIC AT THE LINE: North Alabama ended the regular season with outstanding free throw shooting, going 27-28 at the free throw line in an 82-78 win over Central Arkansas. The one miss came from
KJ Johnson, who still went 10-11 to lead in makes. This performance moved UNA from fourth to first in the conference at 77.2 percent. This clip also ranks 21st nationally.
CAREER DEDICATION: Fourth-year guard
Will Soucie played in his 114th game on Friday at Central Arkansas, breaking the school record for most games played at the Division I level. The record was previously set by former teammate Jamari Blackmon in 2022. Fellow fourth-year guard
Detalian Brown ranks third all-time with 111 Division I appearances.
LIFE IN 4K: UNA has four players with over 1,000 career points on its roster, including Johnson,
Marco Foster, Tim Smith Jr and
Damian Forrest. The latter three each achieved the feat this season, with Forrest doing it the most recently against Morehead State.
MOVING ON UP: Johnson enters this game with 1,627 points to rank second among active players in the ASUN and 33rd in league history. He is two points away from Terrell Burden at Kennesaw State and needs 22 points to crack 30th.
NO LEAD IS SAFE: In 16 conference games, UNA has experienced 88 lead to average 5.5 lead changes per game. UNA has also had five ASUN games where a team led by nine or more points and lost.
ON THE HORIZON: The winner of Tuesday's game moves on the semifinal round set for Thursday. Remaining teams jockeying for a championship include No. 1 EKU, No. 2 Stetson, No. 3 Lipscomb, No. 4 Austin Peay, No. 5 North Florida, No. 6 North Alabama, No. 8 Queens and No. 10 Jacksonville. FGCU and Kennesaw State were both eliminated from contention Monday.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
