NASHVILLE, Tenn. (February 19, 2025) – A clash of the titans will take place in Nashville on Thursday night, as the North Alabama men's basketball team will battle Lipscomb for Atlantic Sun Conference regular season supremacy at 7 p.m. inside Allen Arena.
North Alabama is 12-3 in the ASUN, sitting alone in first place. However, Lipscomb is on UNA's heels with an 11-4 record and will look to even the score after a road loss to UNA in January.
Lipscomb and UNA are the top two teams in the ASUN went it comes to NCAA NET, KenPom and Massey rankings. Lipscomb leads the ASUN in all three, followed closely by UNA in second.
The highly-anticipated game will air on ESPN+ and locally on WLX Radio. Fans in the Shoals can listen to the hometown call with "Voice of the Lions" Benjamin Ray and Bryan Neece on 98.3 and 103.5 FM beginning with the countdown to tipoff at 6:40 p.m.
GAME INFORMATION
Game: North Alabama vs. Lipscomb
Date: Thursday, February 20
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Venue: Allen Arena
Capacity: 5,028
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: WLX 98.3 & 103.5 FM ("Voice of the Lions" Benjamin Ray, Bryan Neece)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets: Click Here
Game Notes: Click Here
Social Media: @UNA_Basketball
NOTES
LAST TIME OUT: North Alabama locked up its first 20-win season since 2013-14 on Tuesday night inside CB&S Bank Arena, using a dominant second half to complete the season sweep of West Georgia by an 80-62 final. The Lions are 8-0 at home during ASUN play and ride a six-game win streak into Nashville on Thursday. Jacari Lane broke the all-time Division I career scoring record with 22 points, passing Jamari Blackmon for sixth on the all-time UNA scoring list at 1,356 points.
SCOUTING THE LIONS: North Alabama is riding a six-game win streak that spans the entire month of February, owning the most wins in the ASUN with a 20-8 overall record and 12-3 record in league play. UNA averages 79.6 points per game to rank second in the ASUN, while giving up just 70.8 to rank third. UNA's bread and butter has been turnovers and rebounding, averaging just 9.0 turnovers per game to rank second in the nation and 38.6 rebounds per game to lead the conference.
SCOUTING THE BISONS: Lipscomb is 19-9 overall and 11-4 in conference play following a 66-57 loss at Eastern Kentucky. The Bisons are tied with EKU for second place in the conference and are still in contention for the regular season title just one game back of the Lions. Lipscomb leads the ASUN defensively with just 67.2 PPG allowed while scoring 78.9 PPG. Post player Jacob Ognacevic is the leading scorer in the conference with 20.0 PPG while ranking third behind two UNA players at 8.0 RPG.
SERIES HISTORY: UNA and Lipscomb have a rich tradition in basketball with 81 all-time meetings. The Bisons lead the all-time series with a 50-31 record, dating all the way back to 1931 when UNA was coached by Eddie Flowers. However, recent history has been kinder to the Lions with three straight wins and four wins in the last five meetings.
LIONS VS. LENNIE: Lipscomb is led by former Alabama-Huntsville head coach Lennie Acuff. Since 1997, Acuff has coached 55 games against UNA with a 33-22 record. Acuff went 28-16 against the Lions while at UAH, but is 5-6 against UNA since taking the Lipscomb job in 2019.
LET'S RECREATE THE MADNESS: The last time UNA played Lipscomb in Allen Arena was a game for the ages. The game made national headlines, as the Lions defeated Lipscomb 77-75 in the 2024 ASUN Quarterfinal Round. With 12 seconds to go and UNA up three, KJ Johnson missed a free throw and allowed Lipscomb to tie it with four seconds remaining. The Lipscomb crowd quickly turned from celebration to deflation, as Johnson hit the redemption shot at the buzzer for a 77-75 win for UNA. The shot by Johnson was the top play on SportsCenter that night.
STATE OF BASKETBALL: The state of Alabama has a case for the best basketball state in the nation right now. Eight of the 10 Division I basketball programs in Alabama are ranked among the top 140 teams in the NET rankings, including UNA at 120. Nine of the 10 schools won on Saturday, except No. 2 Alabama who lost to No. 1 Auburn in the Iron Bowl of Basketball. The 10 schools combine for a conference record of 94-37, including five schools leading their conferences and eight in the top three.
WATCH OUT FOR LANE: Junior guard Jacari Lane was named to the Lou Henson Early Season Watch List, an award given to the top mid-major basketball player each season. He is averaging 16.6 PPG and is the only remaining first team All-ASUN selection back in the league this year.
PASSING LANE: On Tuesday against West Georgia, Jacari Lane also broke his own Division I school record for single-season assists. He set it as a freshman with 108 and broke it again as a sophomore with 122. He now enters the final three games of the regular season with 123.
SCORING LANE: On Tuesday against West Georgia, Jacari Lane broke UNA's Division I scoring record with 1,356 career points. He passed the former record holder, Jamari Blackmon, for sixth on the school's all-time scoring list. Blackmon had 1,346 points from 2018-22.
TRIO OF GREATNESS: For the first time since 1971, UNA has three active 1,000 point scorers on the same team — Jacari Lane, Daniel Ortiz and Will Soucie. This only includes players that have scored 1,000 points at the school. The 1971 team included Larry Smith, Don Faint and Tommy Ledbetter. There has only been two other teams with a pair of active 1,000 point scorers in UNA history — 1980 with Otis Boddie and Gerald Lavendar and 2009 with Kenny Johnson and Thomas Fraise.
FAST TO TEN: Senior Taye Fields accomplished an interesting feat earlier this season, as he currently has the fastest-recorded double-double in the NCAA, according to reports. He reached 11 points and 10 rebounds at the 6:18 mark of the first half against Stetson and finished with 23 points and 17 rebounds. The second fastest is perhaps the best player in the NCAA this season, Auburn's Johni Broome, who reached a double-double at the 5:18 mark against Ohio State.
CAREER GUY: Fifth-year senior Will Soucie is the all-time leader in career games for UNA with 144 appearances. He also has 100 career starts, becoming just the second player to start in 100 Division I games for the program along with Jamari Blackmon.
THE MAGIC NUMBER IS 70: UNA is 20-2 when scoring at least 70 points and 0-6 when scoring under 70 points. Defensively, the Lions are 16-1 when giving up 70 points or less. UNA is 4-7 when allowing more than 70 points, including last week against Jacksonville and North Florida.
ON DECK: UNA will close the regular season next week with a trip to Central Arkansas on Monday and the final regular season home game against Queens on Wednesday.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
