The Bulldogs are coming to town. Twice actually. Gardner-Webb’s Bulldogs visit the Vines Center tonight. UNC Asheville’s Bulldogs are in town Saturday.

First, follow me on Twitter for in-game updates.

The starting lineups for tonight’s game:

GARDNER-WEBB (4-11, 1-4 Big South)
C Auryn MacMillan (6-8, 235) 7.8/5.3
G C.J. Hailey (6-0, 190)  11.1/2.1
G-F Anton Silver (6-3, 175)  7.7/2.8
G Brian McNair (6-0, 165)  3.4/1.1
G-F Jonathan Moore (6-4, 190)  8.6/2.5

LIBERTY (8-9, 3-2 Big South)
F Patrick Konan (6-5, 205)  6.8/4.3
G Kyle Ohman (6-4, 200)  15.1/5.4
F Antwan Burrus (6-6, 210)  5.1/2.7
G Evan Gordon (6-2, 185)  11.4/3.9
G Jesse Sanders (6-3, 200)  6.4/6.2

—Liberty enters tonight a game back of the lead pack in the Big South and has a huge opportunity to get to 5-2 in conference. In reality, two wins this weekend are a must because the Flames will be underdogs in both of their games next week (at High Point, at Radford). Gardner-Webb is struggling mightily, having lost 11 of the 12 Division I games it has played this year. The only win was at home last Thursday against schizophrenic Charleston Southern, a game in which the Bucs blew a 13-point second-half lead.

—The Grayson Flittner watch: Just spoke to someone with Gardner-Webb’s media relations, and he told me that Flittner practiced this week and was dressed yesterday for practice when Gardner-Webb arrived in Lynchburg. He’s not expected to start, but if he’s practiced, I’d guess he’ll play. Flittner, a preseason all-Big South pick, is really the heart of the Bulldogs team. When he plays well, they have a chance. When he’s not on the floor, GWU struggles more often than not. Flittner can get smoking hot, too, as evidenced by his 9-for-16 night from 3-point range at North Carolina and a 6-for-11 showing from long range at High Point.

—Auryn MacMillan, the Bulldogs’ 6-foot-8 Aussie center, looks like he’ll get the start tonight. He’s big but not tremendously physical, or at least he hasn’t been in the past when I’ve seen him play.

—The Kyle Ohman 1,000-point watch should end tonight. The Liberty senior needs four points to reach the milestone.

—Liberty coach Dale Layer is coaching against Gardner-Webb for the third time tonight. As the coach at Colorado State, he beat the Bulldogs in two of three meetings.

Some quick Big South thoughts:

—I think Radford beats Coastal tonight, and by double digits. Coastal’s been very good this year, but I still think the Highlanders are the most complete team in the league. The loss at High Point exposed some flaws for the Highlanders, and I can just see Coastal getting a little too geeked up over this game and falling behind early.

—If Charleston Southern is going to get a win this weekend, it’ll be tonight against High Point. The Bucs match up terribly with Radford.

—UNC Asheville has given VMI fits in the past, and the Keydets just look lost defensively. No offense to Randolph College, which has put together a nice little program up on Rivermont Avenue, but there’s no way VMI should have allowed the game against the WildCats to be close after holding a 27-point lead.

And because I know a few LU fans that read this blog also care about UVa basketball, some extras from last night:

—I was up there to start work on a story on former Flames coach Ritchie McKay and how he’s adjusting to life as an assistant coach after years as a head man. You can see the progress he has made with UVa’s guards, who are playing with confidence they never had under Dave Leitao. To only turn the ball over seven times against a Georgia Tech team that applies great man pressure is an accomplishment. The Cavs have done a great job taking care of the ball, and it’s a big reason why they’re 2-0 in the ACC.

—Forward Jerome Meyinsse is another guy who sort of languished on the bench for the Cavaliers last season. Given playing time, though, he has blossomed into a serviceable ACC big. He’s not a star and never will be. His offensive game is limited. He doesn’t have much of a floor game. But he hustles, and he really made Georgia Tech’s Gani Lawal earn everything he got last night. Lawal is a heck of a player, one capable of a double-double every night out. Meyinsse had four offensive rebounds, including a huge one late in which he wrestled the ball away from Lawal. Folks who cover UVa a lot more than I do say that was Meyinsse best game as a Cavalier.

—You clearly don’t want to get into a free-throw shooting contest with the Cavaliers, who made 23 of 26 from the stripe last night. One of the misses turned into an offensive rebound that led to Sammy Zeglinski’s big 3-pointer with about two minutes left.

—Tony Bennett talked after the game about how his team improved defensively after halftime and made Georgia Tech “earn it.“ The Jackets still shot better than 50 percent for the game, but Virginia played outstanding defense for about a 10-minute stretch in the second half, and that stretch was enough to allow the Cavs to pull away.

—The JPJA crowd was a tick less than 9,000, but the students were out of town, and many will be back Saturday when UVa hosts Miami. Those at the game last night had to like what they saw—a team that hustles, plays defense and can get out in transition and finish. It’s not a boring brand of basketball.

—Bennett on Mike Scott’s first half dunk, in which the UVa forward got free in transition, passed the ball to himself and slammed it home with one hand: “He’s lucky he didn’t get called for a travel,“ Bennett joked.

—I really hope Derrick Favors stays at Georgia Tech for more than one year. He’s very skilled but he’s still pretty raw and inconsistent. He could be an absolute beast as a sophomore. Georgia Tech’s frontcourt was as good as advertised, but the Yellow Jackets are young, and winning on the road in the ACC isn’t easy.