RADFORD TIPS OFF BIG SOUTH PLAY VS. LIBERTY THURSDAY

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SETTING THE STAGE

After notching a pair of impressive early-season road wins over power conference teams, the Radford men's basketball begins its Big South schedule Thursday night as it plays host to in-state rival Liberty.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. inside the Dedmon Center and the game will air on MASN, along with the Big South Network.
Series: Radford leads, 35-31.
Last meeting: Liberty 80, Radford 69 (Feb. 26, 2015)
The Highlanders had won three straight meetings prior to the Flames winning on their homecourt in the second-to-last game in the 2014-15 regular season.
Radford is 23-8 all-time vs. LU inside the Dedmon Center.
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HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

Record: 4-3
Rashun Davis leads the Big South with 6.0 assists per game, while ranking sixth with 16.1 points per contest. Davis has had five games with at least 18 points and three outings with seven assists or more.
With a career-high 14 points against James Madison on Monday, Ed Polite, Jr. has five straight double-figure scoring games. The freshman is now averaging 10.3 per contest.
Polite Jr. also leads the team and ranks tied for 15th in the Big South with 5.6 rebounds per game. His 23 offensive rebounds are the most in the conference.
Radford ranks first in the league as a team in offensive rebounding, averaging 13.0 per contest.
YaYa Anderson is six points away from becoming the 28th Highlander to score 1,000 points.
Cameron Jones is second on the team in scoring (11.9) and ranks tied for 11th in the Big South with 2.1 3-pointers per game.
RU is shooting 49 percent from the field during second halves of games, compared to 36 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
Radford is starting conference play at home for the fourth straight year. The Highlanders are 11-18 all-time in Big South openers, including 7-7 at home. They are beginning league play before January for the first time since 2011-12.
The lone victory for RU in its last five Big South openers came at home against Liberty two years ago. The Highlanders posted an 84-76 win over the Flames in the Dedmon Center last season.

SCOUTING LIBERTY

Record: 3-4
All three of Liberty's wins this season have come against non-Division opponents, while each of their four losses were by double figures.
The Flames dropped three straight neutral-site games last weekend during the Challenge in Music City.
Ritchie McKay is back for his second stint as LU's head coach. McKay went 39-28 as the Flames' leader from 2007-09 before serving as associate head coach at Virginia.
Sophomore center Evan Maxwell leads the team with 12.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. He is shooting 69 percent from the floor.
Guards Lovell Cabbil and Ryan Kemrite are averaging 11.4 and 11.0 points, respectively, while combining for 33 3-pointers.
Redshirt senior guard Anthony Fields is the team's assist leader with 3.1, along with 7.4 points a game. Redshirt freshman Ezra Talbert has contributed 9.0 points per outing.
Liberty is shooting 45 percent from the field, while attempting over 23 3-pointers per game, connecting on 37 percent.

UP NEXT

Radford remains in conference play for a road matchup against two-time defending Big South Tournament champion Coastal Carolina on Sunday.
Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the HTC Center as the Highlanders make their final trip to Conway, S.C. for a conference game.

Players Mentioned