Men's Basketball 12/3/2018 3:00:00 PM

MEN'S BASKETBALL PREPARES FOR TUESDAY NIGHT BATTLE WITH JMU

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RADFORD, Va. – The Radford men's basketball team looks to continue its historic start to the season when it heads north on I-81 to take on James Madison.

SETTING THE STAGE
Opponent: James Madison Dukes (6-4, 0-0 CAA)
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 4 at 7 p.m.
Location: JMU Convocation Center (Harrisonburg, Va.)
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LAST TIME OUT
The Radford men's basketball team once again defied the odds and shocked the world with a 62-59 victory over the No. 17 Texas Longhorns on their home floor at the Frank Erwin Center on Friday night.

With 24 seconds left on the clock and the Highlanders trailing 60-59, redshirt sophomore guard Carlik Jones did what he does best and made a play. The Cincinnati, Ohio native muscled his way to the rim, twisting and turning until he found just enough space to score and drew the foul to take a 61-59 lead.

Then, after preventing Texas from scoring on their next trip down the court, junior guard Devin Hutchinson skied over everyone and pulled down a huge rebound. He knocked down one of two free throws after the foul, the Longhorns missed a desperation three from the corner, and the Highlanders came away with their first-ever win over a ranked opponent.

The Highlanders held Texas to just nine field goals and two 3-pointers in the second half while matching the much-larger Longhorns in rebounds at 44 overall. Senior forward Ed Polite Jr. led the team in scoring with 11 points while adding six rebounds, three steals and a block. Graduate center Mawdo Sallah contributed 10 points, six rebounds and a block and junior guard Travis Fields Jr. notched 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal.

SERIES HISTORY
Across 15 all-time meetings between Radford and James Madison, the Highlanders have gone only 3-12.

The two programs last met on Nov. 25, 2017 in the Dedmon Center and the Highlanders came away with a thrilling 69-68 victory. Ed Polite Jr. led the way with 17 points, six rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals. With five seconds remaining and Radford trailing by one, Polite Jr. drove the lane and scored a tough layup to win the game.

PARTY LIKE IT'S '90-'91
At 6-1 on the year, the Highlanders have earned their best start to a season since the 1990-91 campaign when they began 8-0. The top wins in that run came against VMI and Davidson with two victories against Central Connecticut State, just 11 days apart.

AP TOP 25 AND NET RANKINGS
With a 6-1 record and historic wins over Notre Dame and No. 17 Texas on the road, the Radford men's basketball team received votes in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 Poll for the first time in program history, the organization revealed on Monday.

The Highlanders received nine points in the poll, tying them with TCU (9) and putting them ahead of teams such as Notre Dame (3), Oregon (3), UCLA (3), Florida (2) and Oklahoma (1).

Heads were turned last Monday as well when Radford checked in at No. 22 in the nation in the first-ever edition of the NCAA NET Rankings. The Highlanders have risen as high as No. 15 in those rankings and currently sit at No. 30 out of 353 Division I teams.

SCOUTING THE DUKES
Now in their third season under head coach Louis Rowe, the Dukes are off to their best start yet at 6-4 including a 3-1 record at home. JMU has earned notable wins over East Carolina (73-72), Charlotte (64-59) and Northern Illinois (78-74), but have dropped two of their last three.

The Colonial Athletic Association Preseason Poll tabbed the Dukes to finish sixth out of 10 teams in the conference. Senior guard Stuckey Mosley was named to the All-CAA Second Team and sophomore guard Matt Lewis appeared on the All-CAA Honorable Mention list.

Mosley leads his squad with 15.6 points per game, but sophomore guard Darius Banks may be JMU's most pleasant surprise with 15.0 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Rebounding has been a strength for the Dukes, who own a +3.6 rebounding margin on the season.

NEXT HOME GAME
The Highlanders continue their five-game road trip before returning to the Dedmon Center on Friday, Dec. 21 to take on Georgia Southern 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' on Instagram or Radford Men's Basketball on Facebook.

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