RADFORD WELCOMES BIG SOUTH CO-LEADER UNC ASHEVILLE THURSDAY

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SETTING THE STAGE

Radford will look to protect its homecourt and knock off one of the Big South's co-leaders Thursday night as it plays hosts to UNC Asheville in men's basketball action.
Tipoff inside the Dedmon Center is set for 7 p.m.
Series: UNC Asheville leads 34-32
Last meeting: Radford 75, UNC Asheville 68 (Feb. 21, 2015)
UNC Asheville has won eight of the last 11 meetings, but the teams traded road victories last season. YaYa Anderson scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Highlanders in their win.
RU is 20-10 all-time against UNCA at home, but the Bulldogs have won three of the last four.
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HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

Record: 9-8, 2-3 Big South
Radford aims to remain unbeaten in Big South play at home and improve to 7-1 this season coming off of a loss.
Rashun Davis is averaging 15.2 points over the last five games and ranks seventh in the Big South for the season at 14.1 per contest. He ranks tied for first in the conference with 4.5 assists per game and tied for third in steals (1.7).
Ed Polite, Jr. leads the Big South with 61 offensive rebounds and his 3.59 per game average is 25th nationally and second among freshmen behind only James Thompson IV of Eastern Michigan and just ahead of LSU star Ben Simmons.
Polite, Jr. ranks first among conference freshmen with 1.3 blocks per game (tied for fourth overall) and second in rebounding at 6.2 per outing.
Brandon Holcomb needs two rebounds to reach 500 for his career and become the 24th player in Big South history with at least 500 rebounds and 100 blocked shots. Holcomb is averaging 5.5 boards per game, ranking 15th in the conference.
Radford remains the conference leader in rebounding (39.9 per game) and is now 14th nationally on the offensive end (14.5). The Highlanders are averaging 15.6 offensive boards in Big South play.
RU is second in the league in blocks with 73. Individually, Holcomb ranks just behind Polite, Jr. and sixth in the conference with 1.2 per game.
Cameron Jones is 10 points away from 500 as a Highlander, just past the midway point of his second season.
Justin Cousin is averaging 9.7 points over the last four games, while connecting on 8 of 21 3-point attempts.

SCOUTING UNC ASHEVILLE

Record: 12-5, 5-0 Big South
UNC Asheville has won 10 of its last 11 games and five in a row, including four in conference play.
The Bulldogs overcame an early double-digit deficit to win at Charleston Southern 83-73 last Saturday. In their prior game, they rallied from 23 down in the second half to beat Winthrop by one.
Their other Big South wins came at Longwood and Liberty and at home versus Campbell.
UNCA's only loss since in November was an 86-81 non-conference decision to Elon on Dec. 21, which followed the team's six-point victory at Georgetown.
With last year's leading scorer Andrew Rowsey transferring to Marquette, the freshmen duo of Dwayne Sutton and Dylan Smith has given the Bulldogs a huge boost. They rank second and fourth, respectively, among rookies in the conference in scoring.
Sutton, a 6-foot-5 guard, is averaging 12.4 ppg while sharing the conference lead with 8.1 rebounds per game. A three-time Big South Freshman of the Week honoree, including this week, he has scored in double figures in eight of the last nine games and grabbed at least 12 rebounds in five contests on the season.
Smith, also a 6-foot-5 guard, claimed the league's rookie award last week and leads the team with 13.0 points a game despite only starting the last two games. His 38 3-pointers are also a team-high, while shooting 39 percent from behind the arc. He has had four games with 20 or more points, including 23 against CSU.
The Bulldogs nearly have five players averaging in double figures, with sophomores Kevin Vannatta and Ahmad Thomas contributing 12.2 and 10.1 per game respectively, while senior Sam Hughes is at 9.9.
In conference play, Asheville is averaging a league-best 78.8 ppg, while ranking fourth in field-goal percentage at 45.1, third in rebounding (38.2) and second in rebounding margin (+5.6).
Overall on the season, UNCA is also first in the Big South in free-throw attempts and second in makes.
Defensively, the Bulldogs rank 12th in the nation in field-goal percentage defense and 20th in steals.

UP NEXT

Radford turns around quickly to head back out on the road for a Saturday night matchup at Presbyterian.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Templeton Center in Clinton, S.C.

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