Men's Basketball 2/12/2016 3:02:00 PM

RADFORD, WINTHROP MEET AGAIN SATURDAY FOR NOON TIPOFF

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RADFORD, Va. – About 37 hours after concluding its victory over UNC Asheville Thursday night, Radford's men's basketball will be back in action to host Winthrop inside the Dedmon Center on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 12 p.m. with the game being broadcast by American Sports Network.

The Highlanders (14-11, 7-6) will look to avenge their 10-point loss to the Eagles just two weeks ago, while improving their position in a crowded conference race. Radford enters Saturday's action one game out of fourth place and two games behind second-place Winthrop (17-7, 9-4). The top seven teams are separated by just two and a half games.

SETTING THE STAGE

Series: Radford leads 35-33
Location: Dedmon Center
Time: 12 p.m.
TV: ASN (MASN and CSN-MidAtlantic locally)
Live Stats
Live Video
Live Audio
Game Notes

LAST MEETING
Winthrop connected on nine first-half 3-pointers and led nearly the entire way before pulling away to an 87-77 win on its home floor on Jan. 30. Radford, which shot 57 percent in the first half and still trailed by six points, tied the game three times in the second half, the last at 58-58 with just over 12 minutes left. However, the Eagles went on a 13-4 spurt to regain control.

The Highlanders finished at 49 percent from the field and were led by Brandon Holcomb's career-high 18 points. Rashun Davis scored 15 and Cameron Jones tallied 13.

For Winthrop, Jimmy Gavin scored 23 of his game-high 29 points in the first half, hitting all five of his 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. Keon Johnson tallied 16 points, while Bjorn Broman added 14 points and three 3-pointers off the bench. The Eagles shot 50 percent in the game and went 29 of 40 at the free-throw line, compared to just 6 of 11 for Radford.

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS
Thursday night's win at UNC Asheville was Radford's sixth this season when taking the lead for good with less than 1:30 on the clock. In addition to allowing its fewest points in a second half this season (27), the 17 forced turnovers against UNC Asheville were the Highlanders' highest total since the Prairie View A&M game on Nov. 21. RU held the Bulldogs almost 17 points below their season average despite UNCA shooting 52 percent from the field. Radford also improved to 25-3 under Mike Jones when limiting teams to fewer than 60 points. The Highlanders' total of 21 offensive rebounds Thursday night was their second-highest of the season (23 at Howard).

Cameron Jones and Rashun Davis now share team-high honors with 14.0 ppg on the season, tied for 10th in the Big South. Against UNCA, Jones extended his double-figures scoring streak to eight games and tallied his eighth career 20-point game. He is up to seventh in conference play with 15.9 ppg.

Davis has three game-winning field goals in the final 15 seconds of games this season, all coming on the road. He upped his career scoring total to 1,220, nine away from tying Amir Johnson for 14th in program history. Along with leading the conference in assists (4.6), Davis is tied for second in steals (2.0), totaling nine in the last two games. He is up to 36th in the NCAA.

Ed Polite, Jr. posted his seventh double-digit rebounding performance against Asheville, with four of them coming in the last eight games. He is averaging 9.5 boards per contest during that span and ranks tied for third in conference play at 8.2 per game. Polite's 85 total offensive rebounds lead the Big South and his 3.40 per game average is 31st in the nation and fourth among freshmen.

Radford has won its last three games against Winthrop inside the Dedmon Center, including a 73-66 decision last year.

SCOUTING WINTHROP
Winthrop has played just twice since the first game against RU. It had its seven-game win streak stopped at Liberty on Feb. 2, before pulling away for an 88-80 home win over Longwood Thursday night. The Eagles trailed 77-76 with under four minutes left before Gavin scored eight straight points to pull them in front to stay.

Gavin totaled 25 points in the game, while hitting 7 of 14 3-pointers. Xavier Cooks added 20 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, following up a career-best 26-point outing in the Liberty loss. In the first meeting with the Highlanders, Cooks scored all of his nine points in the second half after playing just four first-half minutes with foul trouble.

Leading scorer Keon Johnson was limited to 10 points against Longwood on 2 for 11 shooting. He was also 2 for 11 against RU. He is now third in the Big South at 19.5 ppg, with Gavin fifth at 17.5 and Cooks ranked seventh with 14.3.

Winthrop has topped 80 points in four of its last five games, upping its league-leading average to 83.2, 15th-best in the NCAA. They also rank first in the conference and 23rd nationally in field-goal percentage (48.1) and second in the Big South in 3-point percentage (37.9).

The Eagles are still the conference's leader in blocked shots, with Duby Okeke ranking 11th nationally at 2.7 per game. They also stand second in the league in field-goal percentage defense.

UP NEXT
Radford heads back on the road to face streaking in-state foe Liberty Thursday night. Tipoff in the Vines Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Highlanders won the first meeting 56-52 on Dec. 3, but the Flames enter Saturday's play on a six-game win streak.

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