NASHVILLE (January 19, 2023) – The University of North Alabama men's basketball team travels to Music City for the second game of a three-game road stretch, as the Lions battle Lipscomb on Saturday at 4 p.m. inside Allen Arena in Nashville.
 
This will be an early test for both teams in Atlantic Sun Conference play, as the Lions are tied with four teams with a 1-3 record. Lipscomb is tied with Austin Peay at 2-2 in the standings.
 
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and will air locally on WLX Radio 98.3 and 103.5 FM and online. The pregame show begins at 3:40 p.m. with "Voice of the Lions" Benjamin Ray and Bryan Neece on the call. Live stats are also available via Stat Broadcast, and tickets can be purchased for $15 per adult.
 
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Game: North Alabama at Lipscomb
Date: Saturday, January 20
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
Venue: Allen Arena
Capacity: 5,028
TV: ESPN+
Radio: WLX — 98.3 / 103.5 FM
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets: Click here
Social Media: @UNA_Basketball
 
NOTES
 
SCOUTING THE LIONS: UNA enters Saturday with a 7-11 overall record. Six of the seven wins have come at home, while eight of the 11 losses have come on the road. The Lions remain +1.0 in scoring margin this season with 76.2 points per game and 75.2 allowed. UNA is also among the top four teams in the ASUN in free throw shooting (74.1) and rebounding (37.6 RPG). Jacari Lane and KJ Johnson, who combined for 38 points against Austin Peay on Thursday, average 14.7 and 13.3 PPG, respectively.
 
SCOUTING THE BISONS: Lipscomb enters with an 11-8 overall record, including a 6-1 record at home. The Bisons opened conference play with a loss to EKU, but then defeated Bellarmine and Austin Peay. On Thursday, the Bisons fell at home to Central Arkansas, 96-86. LU is the third-best scoring team in the league with 81.0 PPG while allowing 74.8 PPG. The Bisons lead the ASUN with a 48.1 team shooting percentage and are the top team in assist/turnover ratio at 1.38. Derrin Boyd is the leading scorer for Lipscomb, ranking seventh in the ASUN with 16.3 PPG. Joe Anderson also leads the league with a 3.5 assist/turnover ratio. They are coached by a familiar face in Lennie Acuff, who prior to 2019 spent 22 years at former in-state rival UAH.
 
SERIES HISTORY: UNA's rivalry with Lipscomb is one of the richest in program history, dating all the way back to 1931 while UNA was under head coach Eddie Flowers. The Bisons lead the all-time series 49-28. Lipscomb won many of the early battles, but the series began to turn favorably for UNA with a five-game win streak from 1972-1976. The series went on pause in 1981 and picked up again in 2019 with UNA's move to NCAA Division I. In the D1 era, the teams have met nine times — Lipscomb leading 6-3.
 
BOTH SIDES OF THE RIVALRY: KJ Johnson is in his second year at UNA after spending his first three years of college basketball at Lipscomb. Over his five seasons at the two ASUN member schools, Johnson has scored 1,441 points to rank first among active career scorers in the league 56th in ASUN history. He needs just eight points to pass former Lipscomb player Rob Marberry at 1,448 points and 34 points to enter the league's top-50.
 
LAST MEETING: UNA won the last meeting with Lipscomb in Florence, earning an 80-70 victory. Johnson was crucial for UNA against his former school, scoring 22 points to help UNA to its seventh win in eight games. Lane added 19 points, while Eoin Nelson led with six rebounds. Jacob Ognacevic led Lipscomb with 17 points.
 
BACK IN SMASHVILLE: UNA seeks its first win at Lipscomb since Jan. 11, 2020 — an 82-69 win for the Lions. The only UNA player to appear in this game was KJ Johnson, who was with Lipscomb at the time. He played 31 minutes and finished with seven points. Since then, the Bisons have won two straight home games over UNA.
 
TALE OF TWO HALVES: UNA is outscoring opponents by a narrow margin of 302-301 in league play, thanks in part to a dominant 69-53 win over Bellarmine and tight games with Central Arkansas and Austin Peay decided by three points each. UNA is being outscored 150-119 in the first half of conference games, but is crushing it in the second half with a 174-139 advantage.
 
LANE AT THE LINE: Lane leads the ASUN and ranks among the top 100 free throw shooters in the nation at 78-98 from the line. This puts him fifth in the league with a 79.6 percentage. Lane went 8-12 yesterday at Austin Peay.
 
LIFE IN 4K: UNA has four players with over 1,000 career points on its roster, including KJ Johnson, Tim Smith Jr., Marco Foster and Damian Forrest. The latter three each achieved the feat this season, with Forrest doing it the most recently against Morehead State.
 
CAREER GUYS: Last week, UNA had two fourth-year players compete in their 100th career game at UNA. Will Soucie accomplished the feat on Thursday against Bellarmine, while Detalian Brown did it on Saturday against EKU. They are just the second and third players to play in 100 games for UNA in the Division I era (since 2018). They join Jamari Blackmon with 113 career games.
 
IN OUR DEFENSE: Last week against Bellarmine, UNA allowed just 53 points to mark the lowest offensive output by a Division I opponent since 2021 against Alabama A&M, who scored just 45 points. Last season, UNA limited Austin Peay to just 57 points to tie Bellarmine for the lowest by a D1 opponent that season.
 
WORKING OVERTIME: In three road games this season, UNA has experienced overtime with losses to UT Martin, Kansas State and Austin Peay. UNA's last overtime win came at EKU last season, a 98-93 victory. UNA's last five overtime games have happened on the road.
 
HUNTING ANOTHER POSTSEASON RUN: Last season, UNA played in the 2023 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) to mark the first postseason tournament in the program's NCAA Division I history. Prior to that, UNA's last postseason appearance was an NCAA Regional in 2013-14. UNA has participated in 14 NCAA Tournaments (all Division II), including five Final Four appearances and two National Championship wins.
 
PUJOL CONTINUES PROGRAM GROWTH: UNA head coach Tony Pujol enters his sixth season at the helm, serving as the first and only coach of UNA's Division I era. Pujol enters tomorrow's bout with 70 wins over six seasons and led UNA to an 18-15 overall record in its first season out of the four-year Division I transition period.
 
ON THE HORIZON: The Lions finish a three-game road stretch next Wednesday, Jan. 24 at Kennesaw State. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT in Georgia.
 
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.