RADFORD TRAVELS TO STREAKING GARDNER-WEBB ON SATURDAY

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SETTING THE STAGE

Radford's men's basketball team looks to notch its first Big South Conference road victory Saturday afternoon as it faces a streaking Gardner-Webb squad in Boiling Springs, N.C.
Tipoff at Paul Porter Arena is set for 4:30 p.m.
Series: Tied at 7-7
Last meeting: Radford 72, Gardner-Webb 62 (Feb. 28, 2015)
The road team is 10-4 with each program earning five victories, but both squads protected their homecourt last season.
Cameron Jones posted his career high of 24 points to help the Highlanders avenge a double-overtime loss in the game at Gardner-Webb.
The matchup is a battle between two of the league's top rebounding teams as RU ranks first overall, while the Runnin' Bulldogs' lead in conference play.
The teams are a combined 15-0 this season when leading at halftime.
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HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

Record: 9-7, 2-2 Big South
Coming off Wednesday's 80-73 victory over Charleston Southern, Radford tries to reverse its trend of alternating wins and losses.
Rashun Davis posted his fifth 20-plus point game of the year and third in the last six outings. Prior to this season, Davis had four games of 20 or more in his career, all as a sophomore.
Davis also recorded at least nine assists in a game for the third time in 2015-16 to regain a share of the Big South lead at 4.7 per contest. The senior stands at 383 for his career and will pass Rod Cousin for fourth on RU's all-time list with his next one. He is now seventh in the conference in scoring with 14.1 ppg and tied fourth in steals (28).
YaYa Anderson's season-best 23 points against CSU included five 3-pointers, giving him 207 for his career, sixth-most in program history.
Freshman Caleb Tanner has scored in double figures and connected on four 3-pointers three times in the last four games. He is 14 of 27 from behind the arc over the last five contests.
Classmate Ed Polite, Jr. settled for just two offensive rebounds against the Buccaneers, but still leads the Big South with 57. He is tied for 10th conference in rebounding overall at 6.2 per game and third in blocks with 22.
Radford continues to rank first in the league in rebounding (40.1) and 19th nationally on the offensive end (14.3).
Jones is averaging 12.3 points per game and needs 15 more to reach the 500-mark as a Highlander, just past the midway point of his second season.
With 494 career rebounds, Brandon Holcomb is just six away becoming the 24th player in Big South history to record 500 rebounds and 100 blocked shots.
In its first five conference games, Radford has faced the league's four best 3-point percentage offenses and five of the top six.

SCOUTING GARDNER-WEBB

Record: 9-8, 4-1 Big South
Gardner-Webb has won four straight games, including three in Big South play, with the latest a 71-68 home decision over Campbell on Wednesday as it overcame a four-point deficit with 2:30 left.
The Runnin' Bulldogs posted a home win over Coastal Carolina (65-61) and edged Longwood on the road (67-66) in their prior two games. Their lone league defeat was a 66-64 decision at home to High Point on Dec. 5.
First-team All-Big South forward Jerome Hill was lost in the offseason as he decided to skip his senior season to pursue a professional career overseas.
However, junior Tyrell Nelson has helped fill the void. He ranks sixth in the Big South with 15.5 ppg and tied for third with 7.8 rebounds per game, while his 56.8 field-goal percentage is fourth-best.
Nelson racked up 27 points and 16 rebounds against Campbell – his league-leading sixth double-double - and is now averaging 19.6 and 9.8 in conference play.
On the perimeter, senior guard Harold McBride is scoring 12.4 ppg, while shooting 44 percent from 3-point range, fourth-best in the league.
As a team, Gardner-Webb is third in the Big South in scoring (77.5), with four other players contributing at least 7.9 per contest, and stands third in 3-point percentage (.350)
The Runnin' Bulldogs are also second in the conference in rebounding, both overall (39.0) and offensively (13.6). They outrebounded Campbell 47-27, while grabbing 22 offensive boards.
Defensively, GWU ranks 12th in the nation in steals per game (9.4), led by freshman guard Laquincy Rideau, who tops the Big South and is ninth nationally with 2.5 per contest, while coming off the bench.

UP NEXT

Radford returns home to host conference co-leader UNC Asheville on Thursday night.
Tipoff inside the Dedmon Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#11 YaYa Anderson: G; 6' 2"; Senior

#5 Rashun Davis: G; 5' 11"; Senior

#55 Brandon Holcomb: C; 6' 8"; Redshirt Senior

#3 Cameron Jones: G; 6' 4"; Senior; Brunswick CC

#24 Ed Polite, Jr.: F; 6' 5"; Freshman

#10 Caleb Tanner: G; 6' 1"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#11 YaYa Anderson
: 6' 2"; Senior
: G

#5 Rashun Davis
: 5' 11"; Senior
: G

#55 Brandon Holcomb
: 6' 8"; Redshirt Senior
: C

#3 Cameron Jones
: 6' 4"; Senior; Brunswick CC
: G

#24 Ed Polite, Jr.
: 6' 5"; Freshman
: F

#10 Caleb Tanner
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: G