2002–03 UNC Asheville Bulldogs men's basketball team

The 2002–03 UNC Asheville Bulldogs men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Asheville during the 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by head coach Eddie Biedenbach, played their home games at the Justice Center and were members of the Big South Conference. They finished the season 15–17, 7–7 in Big South play to finish in fifth place. They defeated Elon, Winthrop, and Radford to become champions of the Big South tournament and receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament – the first appearance in program history. The Bulldogs were one of two No. 16 seeds in the South region, defeating Texas Southern to reach the field of 64. UNC Asheville was eliminated in the first round by No. 1 seed and eventual Final Four participant Texas.

2002–03 UNC Asheville Bulldogs men's basketball
Big South tournament champions
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Big South Conference
Record	15–17 (7–7 Big South)
Head coach	Eddie Biedenbach
Home arena	Justice Center

2002–03 Big South Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Winthrop	11	–	3		.786			20	–	10		.667
Charleston Southern	8	–	6		.571			14	–	14		.500
Liberty	8	–	6		.571			14	–	15		.483
Elon	8	–	6		.571			12	–	15		.444
UNC Asheville †	7	–	7		.500			15	–	17		.469
Radford	6	–	8		.429			10	–	20		.333
Coastal Carolina	5	–	9		.357			13	–	15		.464
High Point	3	–	11		.214			7	–	20		.259
† 2003 Big South tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

2002–03 UNC Asheville Bulldogs men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 10 Andre Smith 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Miami, Florida G 11 Alex Kragel 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Morristown, Tennessee F 15 Bryan McCullough 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Salisbury, North Carolina C 41 Ben McGonagil 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Sr Panama, Florida	Head coach Eddie Biedenbach Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 22, 2002*		at No. 9 Michigan State	L 52–66	0–1	Breslin Student Events Center  East Lansing, Michigan
Nov 24, 2002*		at No. 24 Minnesota	L 81–87	0–2	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, Minnesota
Dec 7, 2002*		at East Tennessee State	L 69–87	2–3	Memorial Center  Johnson City, Tennessee
Dec 21, 2002*		at No. 8 Connecticut	L 67–117	3–4	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion  Storrs, Connecticut
Dec 22, 2002*		at Holy Cross	L 53–84	3–5	Hart Center  Worcester, Massachusetts
Dec 30, 2002*		at No. 10 Oklahoma	L 64–100	3–6	Lloyd Noble Center  Norman, Oklahoma
Jan 2, 2003*		at No. 18 Kansas	L 50–102	3–7	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, Kansas
Mar 1, 2003		Winthrop	L 65–76	11–16 (7–7)	Justice Center  Asheville, North Carolina
Big South tournament
Mar 4, 2003*		at Elon Quarterfinals	W 68–66 OT	12–16	Alumni Gym  Elon, North Carolina
Mar 7, 2003*		vs. Winthrop Semifinals	W 81–80 OT	13–16	Vines Center  Lynchburg, Virginia
Mar 8, 2003*		vs. Radford Championship game	W 85–71	14–16	Vines Center  Lynchburg, Virginia
NCAA tournament
Mar 18, 2003*	(16 S)	vs. (16 S) Texas Southern Play-in game	W 92–84 OT	15–16	University of Dayton Arena  Dayton, Ohio
Mar 21, 2003*	(16 W)	vs. (1 S) No. 5 Texas First round	L 61–82	15–17	BJCC Arena  Birmingham, Alabama
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South Region. All times are in Eastern Time.