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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Ed Polite, Jr.
64
Radford RAD 4-6
100
Winner UNCW UNCW 10-1
Radford RAD
4-6
64
Final
100
UNCW UNCW
10-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Radford RAD 25 39 64
UNCW UNCW 49 51 100

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

POLITE, JR. POSTS FOURTH DOUBLE-DOUBLE IN LOSS AT UNCW



GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: UNC Wilmington 100, Radford 64
  • Records: Radford (4-6) | UNC Wilmington (10-1)
  • Location: Trask Coliseum | Wilmington, N.C.
 
WILMINGTON, N.C. – Ed Polite, Jr.'s fourth double-double of the season wasn't enough to overcome another tough start against a strong opponent on the road as Radford dropped a 100-64 decision at UNC Wilmington Saturday afternoon.
 
UNCW dominated the first half behind its potent offense and mistake-forcing defense to build a 49-25 lead at the break. The Seahakws scored on their first four possessions to race out to an 11-2 lead just 2:07 into the game, forcing an early Highlander timeout. Radford played the next five minutes just about even, but UNCW took advantage of Radford turnovers to break the game open from there, scoring the last eight points of a 10-0 run off miscues, leading to a 29-9 score at the 10:15 mark of the half.
 
Despite shooting 52 percent in the half, Radford went into the locker room trailing by 24 as a result of 15 turnovers that led to 26 UNCW points. Offensively, the Seahawks shot 66 percent and placed three players in double figures in the first 20 minutes. The Highlanders scored five of the first seven points to begin the second half, but UNCW steadily increased the margin from there.
 
Radford will try to avoid a similar slow start when it plays its last non-conference road game Tuesday night at No. 12 West Virginia.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Polite, Jr. was again a bright spot for the Highlanders, tallying 20 points and 13 rebounds for his third double-double outing in four games and 10th of his career.
  • The sophomore was 9 for 12 shooting from the floor, to finish one point shy of his season-high, while notching his fourth double-digit rebounding performance of the year. He had 11 points and seven rebounds in the first half alone.
  • Christian Bradford reached double figures for the third time, adding 12 points on 4 of 6 from the field.
  • Justin Cousin totaled six of the Highlanders' 11 assists.
  • As a team, Radford finished the game at 51.1 percent shooting (23 of 45), its second-best performance of the season, best against a Division I opponent and by far its best on the road.
  • However, despite only committing seven turnovers in the second half, the 22 total for the game led to 34 UNCW points.
  • The Seahawks, who entered the game ranked 24th nationally with 17.0 turnovers forced, recorded 13 steals.
  • UNCW was also 10th in the country in scoring and surpassed its season average of 88 points, scoring over 100 for the fourth time, thanks to 67 percent (43 of 64) shooting in the game, including 8 of 19 from 3-point range.
  • Chris Flemmings led five players in double figures with 17 points, while C.J. Mosley helped the team to its strong start, scoring 11 of his points in the opening half.
  • It was the first time Radford allowed 100-plus points in a game since VMI tallied 101 on Jan. 15, 2014.
 
QUOTABLE
  • "Right from the beginning of the game, we were not the aggressor and allowed their pressure to make us do things that were on their terms and not on ours and that was very disappointing. We've got to use this as a learning lesson and instead of us being on our heels from the beginning of the game we are the aggressor and we make them fight for everything and tonight we just didn't do that. Once we got the ball into the halfcourt, I don't think they did anything defensively to stop us from getting what we wanted, but we stopped ourselves. We didn't do the things that we talked about going into the game and anytime you allow a team to dictate the terms of the game then you're going to have a hard time. " ~ Radford head coach Mike Jones
 
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