Men's Basketball 12/5/2017 10:00:00 AM

RADFORD TAKES ON VIRGINIA TECH IN NRV SHOWDOWN

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GAME INFORMATION

SETTING THE STAGE

Wednesday's game is a big one for both teams with the entire New River Valley keeping an eye on who comes out on top
Radford has once again followed a tough loss with a big win, this time using a fantastic defensive effort to top the VMI Keydets, 63-50, on the road Saturday afternoon
Virginia Tech is currently riding a 5-game win streak including wins over Power Five teams Washington, Iowa and Ole Miss

SERIES HISTORY

The Highlanders and the Hokies have met nine times so far with all but one game taking place in Blacksburg
Virginia Tech holds a 7-2 lead in those nine games. The series began on Saturday, Jan. 23, 1988 when the Hokies won, 70-56
Just three years ago, Radford earned a 68-66 victory over the crosstown-rival Hokies behind 25 points from R.J. Price
The most recent meeting between the two programs came on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015 when the Hokies came to the Dedmon Center for the first time. Virginia Tech made it out with a 74-65 win

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

Record: 4-3 (0-0 Big South) | RPI: 154
Radford held VMI to the following season lows for any opponent in 2017-18 thus far: points (50), field goals made (17), field goal percentage (31.5%) and assists (8)
Sophomore forward Devonnte Holland has recorded back-to-back double-digit scoring games for the first time in his career with 11 at Vanderbilt and 10 at VMI. He also tied his career high with eight rebounds at VMI
Junior forward Ed Polite Jr. leads Radford with 12.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.3 steals per game. He is just two blocks away from becoming the 26^th player in Big South history and 5^th in Radford history to record 500 rebounds and 100 blocks in a career
Redshirt senior Justin Cousin surpassed the 50 career games started mark against JMU and is on pace to play in his 100^th career game on Wednesday at Virginia Tech. Polite Jr. joined him with his 50^th career start at VMI
After scoring in the 70's for their first four games of the season, the Highlanders have been held in the 60's for their last three
Sophomore guard Travis Fields Jr. recorded a season-high six assists at Vanderbilt and followed it with a season-high nine points at VMI. He has recorded at least one steal in six of seven games this season as well
Radford is 25-16 in all games played on Wednesday under Head Coach Mike Jones. That's the best win percentage (.610) of any day of the week for the Highlanders

SCOUTING THE HOKIES

Record: 7-1 (0-0 ACC) | RPI: 106
Virginia Tech was picked to finish seventh in the ACC Preseason Media Poll, but already look poised to surpass those expectations
No Hokie was selected for a preseason All-ACC team
The Hokies have played in front of their home crowd five times already this season, going a perfect 5-0 in those contests
Tech is outscoring its opponents by an astounding 21.9 points per game thanks to 96.8 points per game on offense and an allowed 74.9 points per game on defense
The Hokies have already scored 100+ points three times this season: 111 vs. Detroit Mercy, 132 vs. The Citadel and 103 vs. Washington
They are shooting a lot less than their opponents as well, taking 465 shot attempts compared to 533 for opposing teams to further emphasize their efficiency
Eight different players are shooting 50% or better from the floor this season to help the Hokies to a 54.6% field goal percentage as a team
Senior guard Justin Bibbs is averaging a team-leading 18.3 points per game thanks to a 56.5 FG% and a 94.7% clip from the free throw line