The 2011 NCAA Tournament opens play on Tuesday, March 15th with a meeting between 16 seeds North Carolina-Asheville and Arkansas-Little Rock. The two squads, which hail from the Big South and Sun Belt respectively, are scheduled to take the court at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio at 6:30pm ET. Tomorrow's tournament opener will be broadcast live on TruTV. NCAA Basketball Odds have UNC-Asheville listed as a -4 college basketball picks favorite; the Over/Under is set at 160.
North Carolina Asheville garnered its NCAA 
Tournament bid by virtue of a 60-47 win over Coastal Carolina in the Big South Conference title game. The Bulldogs, which posted a 19-13 overall record and a 11-7 mark in league play, were one of two teams to hand the Chanticleers a regular season conference loss (Gardner-Webb).
UNC-Asheville, which allowed an average of 68.2 points per game on the season, limited Coastal Carolina to 34 percent field goal shooting in the conference championship game. The Bulldogs also forced the Chanticleers into 21 turnovers, helping make up for a 2-for-11 night beyond the arc and a 10-for-15 effort at the charity stripe.
Four Bulldogs scored in double figures in the critcal contest, including guard Matt Dickey, the team's leading scorer (15.3 ppg), and forward John Williams. Dickey posted 12 points on 3-of-10 shooting while Williams, who also tallied nine boards and six blocks, recorded 10 points to extend the team's current win streak to six games.
Arkansas Little Rock, which finished with a 7-9 regular season conference record, won four straight games in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament to secure a spot in the Big Dance. The Trojans closed out the regular season with three straight losses, but they avenged all three of those setbacks (South Alabama, Arkansas State, and North Texas) in route to the tournament championship.
Arkansas Little Rock defeated North Texas 64-63 in the championship game after Sun Belt Player of the Year Soloman Bozeman buried a three pointer with 1.5 seconds on the clock. Bozeman, who leads the Trojans in scoring at 16.5 points per game, tallied 20 points in the win over the Mean Green.
UNC-Asheville, which is making its second ever NCAA Tournament appearance, has not faced Arkansas-Little Rock (fourth tournament appearance), nor did the two share any common opponents this season. The Bulldogs did, without question, play the more difficult non-conference schedule, though, after squaring off against North Carolina (L 69-80), Georgetown (L 72-87), and Ohio State (L 49-96).
North Carolina-Asheville vs Arkansas-Little Rock 2011 NCAA Bracket Picks:
North Carolina-Asheville -4 (-110), Over 160 (-110)
Arkansas-Little Rock +4 (-110), Under 160 (-110)
