Men's Basketball 2/17/2016 3:15:00 PM

RADFORD TRAVELS TO RED-HOT LIBERTY THURSDAY NIGHT

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RADFORD, Va. – Radford's men's basketball team will look to bounce back from Saturday's tough last-second loss as it makes the trip to Lynchburg to face streaking in-state rival Liberty Thursday night in a critical Big South Conference game. Tipoff in the Vines Center is set for 7 p.m., with the game to air on ESPN3.

The Highlanders (14-12, 7-7) remain seventh in the conference, but are now two games behind Liberty and High Point, which are tied for fourth. The top five teams earn first-round byes in the upcoming Big South Tournament. The Flames (12-15, 9-5) have won seven straight games to vault up the league standings. Radford is facing a team on a winning streak of at least six for the third time in its last five outings.

SETTING THE STAGE

Series: Radford leads 36-31
Location: Vines Center
Time: 7 p.m.
Live Stats
Live Video (ESPN3)
Live Audio
Game Notes: Radford | Liberty

LAST MEETING
The teams' faced off in an early conference opener, with Radford pulling out a 56-52 victory at home on Dec. 3. The Highlanders led for most of the game, but saw Liberty rally to take a three-point lead before RU scored the final seven points over the last 2:18. Rashun Davis tallied six of the points, including the go-ahead layup with 22 seconds left.

Davis finished with 16 points, while Ed Polite, Jr. totaled 10 points and eight rebounds. Radford shot just 33 percent in the game – its lowest of the season – and made only 4 of 21 3-point attempts, but converted 18 offensive rebounds into 20 second-chance points.

Evan Maxwell carried Liberty with 24 points and 12 rebounds, while shooting 9 for 11 from the field. The Flames shot 40 percent, including just 4 of 23 from long range.

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS
Radford's 55.2 percent shooting against Winthrop on Saturday was its second-best performance of the season against a Division I opponent. However, the Eagles' 60.4 percent was the highest allowed by the Highlanders. As a result, RU's 27 rebounds in the game were a season-low. The loss was just the fourth in 34 games under Mike Jones when RU has scored 80 or more points.

Radford recorded a season-high 11 steals against Winthrop, led by Ed Polite, Jr.'s career-high six. The Highlanders also equaled a season-best with 18 forced turnovers, giving them 35 in the last two games.

Cameron Jones has four 20-plus point performances in the last nine games and is averaging 18.9 ppg during that span. He now ranks seventh in the Big South at 14.3 ppg for the season and is sixth in conference play at 16.3. Jones is also tied for second in 3-pointers per game (2.8) and ranks third in 3-point percentage (39.0).

Rashun Davis is right behind Jones with 14.2 ppg and now has 1,237 points for his career, six shy of 13th place on RU's all-time list. He also has moved into a tie for 10th in program history with 161 career steals and surpassed his previous season-best assist total, now with 124 on the year. He is five shy of current assistant coach Chris Hawkins (129 in 1991-92) for 10th-most in single-season history. Davis leads the Big South with 4.8 assists and is tied for second in steals (2.0).

Polite, Jr. now has 48 blocks, tied for eighth-most in program history for a season. He would move up to sixth with three more and has recorded at least three in nine different games this season. The freshman is second in the Big South with 2.2 blocks per game in conference play, while ranking fourth with 8.0 rebounds. His 86 offensive rebounds are also second-best in the league. Radford remains the conference leader with 13.7 offensive rebounds and is second in overall rebounding and blocks.

SCOUTING LIBERTY
After starting out the season 3-13, Liberty has won nine of its last 11 games. Since Jan. 6, the Flames have played in eight games decided by four points or less, winning seven of them, including Saturday's 69-68 decision at Longwood. Despite the turnaround in the wins column, Liberty is scoring just one more point and allowing two fewer in conference play, compared to its overall season averages.

The biggest difference has been the addition of redshirt sophomore guard John Dawson, a transfer from Marquette. In 16 games since becoming eligible in mid-December, he is leading the team with 13.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Dawson has scored in double figures in 14 games and is the lone Flame averaging more than 10 points per contest in conference play, at 14.3 ppg. He is shooting 48 percent from the field, including 38 percent from 3-point range.

Maxwell, who led the team in scoring before Dawson's arrival, is now second with 10.8 ppg and 5.1 rpg, while making 63.7 percent of his field goal attempts. Lovell Cabill is averaging 9.7 points and leads the team with 74 assists and 40 steals, while Ryan Kemrite is shooting a team-high 40.5 percent from behind the arc and averaging 8.3 points per contest.

In the last three games, guard A.C. Reid has scored 17, 16 and 20 points, while hitting 13 of 22 3-point attempts, including 6 of 9 in the Longwood game. Since joining the starting lineup, freshman Caleb Homesley has scored at least nine points in seven of 12 games.

In Big South play, Liberty ranks last in scoring offense (65.4 ppg), but is first in points allowed (64.9). The Flames are third in field-goal percentage defense (43.1) and fourth in 3-point defense (33.0). Offensively, they are leading the conference with 9.5 3-pointers per game and 74.9 percent free-throw shooting, while ranking third in 3-point percentage (37.7) and fourth in overall field-goal percentage (45.4).

UP NEXT
Radford returns home to face High Point on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., following the Highlander women's game against Longwood at 2 p.m.

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