RADFORD SET FOR NEW YEAR’S EVE CLASH AT HIGH POINT

Follow @RadfordMBB

SETTING THE STAGE

Radford men's basketball team plays its final game in 2015 while starting the rest of its Big South schedule Thursday night as it travels to preseason favorite High Point.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. inside the Millis Center.
Series: Radford leads 22-17
Last meeting: Radford 67, High Point 64 (Feb. 3, 2015)
The Highlanders are 6-2 against High Point under head coach Mike Jones. They have won five of the last six, including both matchups last year.
High Point is 26-3 in its last 29 home games, but two of the losses have been to Radford, which has won three straight at the Millis Center.
Live Stats
Live Video
Live Audio
Game Notes

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

Record: 8-6, 1-1 Big South
Radford players combined to set or tie 17 individual career game-highs in points, rebounds or assists during Sunday's rout of Central Penn.
The Highlanders' bench totaled 77 points, outscoring Central Penn's entire team by 14.
Rashun Davis recorded four assists, bringing his career total to 372, passing R.J. Price for fifth in program history. With 28 more dimes, Davis would become just the fourth RU player to have at least 1,000 points and 400 assists.
Radford ranks sixth in the NCAA with 563 total rebounds. The Highlanders rank first in the Big South with 40.2 rebounds per game and 14.3 offensive boards per contest, with the latter ranking 21st nationally.
Individually, Ed Polite, Jr. stands 26th in the country with 3.71 offensive rebounds per game. His total of 52 is 11 more than any other player in the Big South.
Polite, Jr. is 11th in the conference in overall rebounding (6.2 rpg) and third in blocks (20), while scoring 9.9 ppg.
RU ranks eighth in the country in 3-point percentage defense, holding teams to 27 percent behind the arc.
Davis is second in the Big South in assists (4.6), tied for ninth in scoring (14.1) and tied for fifth in steals. (1.6 per game).
Cameron Jones is seventh in the conference in 3-point percentage (.397), while averaging 12.4 points per game.
Caleb Tanner had posted career-high scoring efforts in each of the last three games and combined for eight 3-pointers in the last two.
Brandon Holcomb equaled a career-high with 14 points against Central Penn, while Taj Owens has hit 11 of his 13 shots over the last three games.
A total of 12 different Highlanders now have at least one double-digit scoring game this season.

SCOUTING HIGH POINT

Record: 9-4, 2-0 Big South
High Point snapped a two-game losing skid with a 46-point rout of Methodist College on Monday night.
The Panthers' four losses have come by a combined 13 points on the road at Texas Tech, Georgia, N.C. State and William & Mary (in OT). The defeat to the Wolfpack came on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
HPU is 7-0 at home, including four wins by at least 18 points, but three of those were against non-Division I opponents.
High Point's two Big South victories came at home against Longwood (90-66) and at Gardner-Webb (66-64). Its most notable non-conference win was at Drexel in the third game of the year.
Big South Preseason Player of the Year John Brown is third in the conference in scoring (18.7), seventh in rebounding (7.0), second in blocks (2.1) and tied for fifth in steals (1.6).
Senior forward Lorenzo Cugini ranks second in the nation in 3-point percentage at 59.6, connecting on 34 of his 57 attempts. He is second on the team with 14.2 ppg.
High Point stands 14th in the country in the 3-point field goal percentage (41.5) and 22nd in field goal percentage overall (49.1), leading the Big South in both categories.
However, only two Panthers have made more than seven 3-pointers (Cugini and Anthony Lindauer).
Senior guard Adam Weary averages 10.5 ppg, with Lindauer at 7.9. Tarique Thompson contributes 7.2 points off the bench.
HPU ranks second in the conference in scoring (80.4) and first in assists, with four players recording at 30 on the season.
The Panthers are just eighth in the Big South in overall rebounding, although Brown is tied for second with 41 offensive boards.

UP NEXT

Following a bye over the weekend, Radford returns to action Wednesday when it plays host to Charleston Southern.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Dedmon Center.

Print Friendly Version