Men's Basketball 11/13/2018 7:45:00 AM

RADFORD HITS THE ROAD TO NOTRE DAME FOR MIDWEEK CLASH

Follow @RadfordMBB

RADFORD, Va. – The Radford men's basketball team puts its perfect start to the season on the line when it travels to Notre Dame for a midweek match-up with the Fighting Irish.

SETTING THE STAGE
Opponent: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2-0, 0-0 ACC)
Date/Time: Wednesday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.
Location: Purcell Pavilion (South Bend, Ind.)
Watch Live (ACC Network Extra)
Listen

SERIES HISTORY
The Radford and Notre Dame men's basketball programs will meet for the first time ever on Wednesday night.

LAST TIME OUT
The Highlanders moved to 2-0 on the season with a solid 88-78 victory against UIC at the Dedmon Center on Friday night. Redshirt sophomore guard Carlik Jones tallied a 24-point, 10-assist double-double in the game, both of which are new career highs.

Junior guard Donald Hicks went 4-for-4 from 3-point range to contribute 16 points, junior guard Travis Fields Jr. poured in 15 points and senior guard Caleb Tanner knocked down three shots from beyond the arc to add 11 points of his own.

The Flames kept things close throughout the first half, bouncing back from Radford's 19-7 run to make it a four-point game heading into halftime. UIC even took a 44-41 lead at the 16:25 mark of the second half, but the Highlanders outscored them, 47-34, from that point on the secure the victory.

RADFORD VS. ACC SCHOOLS
Radford has played 30 games against current ACC schools, earning two wins that were both against Virginia Tech.

The first win was on Dec. 9, 1999 when the Highlanders topped the Hokies, 62-60. The second win came on Dec. 7, 2014 when R.J. Price led Radford to a 68-66 victory over VT with 25 points. Brandon Holcomb added 14 points and Javonte Green pulled down 10 rebounds.

OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER
The Highlanders' offense has been clicking on all cylinders through the first two games of the 2018-19 season. They are currently averaging 89.5 points per game which ranks first in the Big South and would easily surpass the school record for scoring average of 82.9 (1987-88).

Radford also ranks first in the Big South in field goal percentage (60-120, 50%), 3-point field goal percentage (30-54, 55.6%) and assists per game (20.0).

RECORD WATCH
With 12 rebounds against UIC on Friday, Polite Jr. moved into third place on Radford's all-time career rebounding list with 829. He passed Andrey Savtchenko (1998-02) who finished his career with 823.

Tanner and Hicks both moved up the all-time career 3-point field goal percentage list as well. Tanner rose to second at 41.1% and now just trails Corey Reed (1994-98) who shot a remarkable 45.5% from long range. Hicks now sits sixth all-time at 39.7%.

SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH
Notre Dame is coming off a 21-15 season in which they battled through some hardluck injuries to go 8-10 in the ACC. Star players Bonzie Colson (19.7 ppg, 10.7 rpg), Matt Farrell (16.3 ppg) and Martinas Geben (11.1 ppg, 8.0 rpg) all graduated from the program, but the Fighting Irish are healthy and looking ahead to a strong year.

The 2018-19 ACC Preseason Poll tabbed the Fighting Irish to finish ninth in the 15-team conference. While no players made the preseason First or Second All-ACC teams, junior guard T.J. Gibbs did receive one vote for Preseason Player of the Year. Forward Nate Laszewski also earned one Preseason Freshman of the Year vote.

Through two games, its Laszewski who leads Notre Dame in scoring at 12.0 points per game. The Jupiter, Fla. native is also tied with sophomore guard/forward D.J. Harvey for the team lead in rebounding at 6.5 per game. The Fighting Irish have begun the year 2-0 with an 84-67 win over UIC and an 89-62 victory against Chicago State.

NEXT HOME GAME
Radford hits the road for three straight games in the Gotham Classic before returning to the Dedmon Center to face Glenville State on Monday, Nov. 26 at 7 pm. Tickets can be purchased on RadfordTickets.com or by calling the Radford Ticket Office at (540) 831-7889 during business hours.

FOLLOW RADFORD MEN'S BASKETBALL
To follow the Radford men's basketball team, visit RadfordAthletics.com, follow @RadfordMBB on Twitter, 'radfordmbb' Instagram or Radford Men's Basketball on Facebook.

Print Friendly Version