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Radford University Athletics

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Justin Cousin
Red Rocket Productions & Photography
50
Radford RAD 3-5
95
Winner North Carolina NC 8-1
Radford RAD
3-5
50
Final
95
North Carolina NC
8-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Radford RAD 27 23 50
North Carolina NC 51 44 95

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

FAST START PROPELS NO. 3 NORTH CAROLINA OVER RADFORD



Box Score (PDF)

GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: North Carolina 95, Radford 50
  • Records: Radford (3-5) | North Carolina (8-1)
  • Location: Dean Smith Center | Chapel Hill, N.C.
 
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Playing at North Carolina for the first time in program history, the third-ranked Tar Heels were too much for the Radford men's basketball team at the start Sunday afternoon, dominating the first 10 minutes on the way to a 95-50 victory.
 
Radford did get on scoreboard first when Donald Hicks hit a jumpshot from just inside the arc on the team's opening possession. However, coming off its loss at Indiana and playing at home for the first time in more than two weeks, North Carolina came out firing with an expected initial surge. It began from an unlikely source though, as sophomore guard Kenny Williams scored 14 points in the first 4:40 for a quick 18-4 lead. Williams, who came in averaging 5.8 points per game, made his first five shots, including four 3-pointers.
 
The rest of the Tar Heels continued that momentum as the team combined to go 14 for 21 from the field and 6 for 11 from behind the arc boosting the advantage to 34-9 at the 9:57 mark of the half.
 
After the shaky start, though, Radford picked it up offensively and played basically even the rest of the half. Caleb Tanner got the Highlanders going with five points on a jumper and 3-pointer before Justin Cousin got hot, hitting 3 of 5 shots, 2 of 3 3-pointers and all three of his free throw attempts to tally 11 points.  His second trey brought the Highlanders within 38-22 with 4:59 left before the break. It was a 17-point margin before Radford went the last 2:47 of the half without a field goal and North Carolina pushed the lead back up to 51-27.
 
In the second half, Cousin hit his third 3-pointer to make it 62-39 with 12:58 to play, but the Tar Heels scored nine straight points to pull further away.
 
The Highlanders return to action Saturday as they host Elon for a 4 p.m. tipoff at the Dedmon Center.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Cousin finished with a team-high 14 points on 4 of 9 from the field and 3 of 7 from long range.
  • Christian Bradford also reached double figures, scoring 11 of his 13 in the second half, while Tanner totaled eight points.
  • Radford shot a decent 37 percent (10 of 27) in the opening half, but for a rare occasion this year fell off in the second 20 minutes, making just 9 of 35 attempts, finishing at 31 percent for the game.
  • Devonnte Holland posted a team-high six rebounds, including four on the offensive end. Ed Polite, Jr. was limited to his lowest total of the season, grabbing five.
  • North Carolina, which came in ranked third in the nation in rebounding, dominated once again in that category with a 52-29 advantage.
  • The Tar Heels were 21 of 37 (57 percent) from the field in the first half and finished at 52 percent overall.
  • Williams, a native of Midlothian, Va., finished with a career-high 19 points on 7 of 10 shooting, including 5 of 6 from beyond the arc. He had made 8 of his 20 3-point attempts this season coming into the game.
  • Kennedy Meeks totaled 13 points and nine rebounds, while Isaiah Hicks added 12 points and Tony Bradley chipped in 10 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. The trio led UNC to a 40-22 advantage in the paint.
  • Justin Jackson and Joel Berry II, the team's two leading scorers, combined for just 13 points.
 
QUOTABLE
  • "We talked about Kenny Williams getting some good looks early and he got about three or four of them and knocked them all down. I thought that we were executing pretty good, but our shots didn't go down early and they were able to stretch the lead. But I like the way our guys responded and fought back in the first half. Whenever we trusted what we were doing and made the extra pass we got some good looks." ~ Radford head coach Mike Jones
 
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