RADFORD UNABLE TO OVERCOME EARLY DEFICIT AT UNC ASHEVILLE

Thursday, January 23

Asheville, N.C.

6 p.m.

Radford University

10-9,5-2Big Sou

UNC Asheville

9-9,3-4Big Sout

Team	1	2	F
Radford	31	36	67
UNC Asheville	47	33	80

RADFORD UNABLE TO OVERCOME EARLY DEFICIT AT UNC ASHEVILLE

1/23/2020 10:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The Radford men's basketball team fell into an early deficit that was too much to overcome as the Highlanders dropped an 80-67 contest at UNC Asheville on Thursday night at Kimmel Arena.

Travis Fields, Jr., reached a season-high 20 points, which led the team. He added three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 37 minutes of action. Carlik Jones was right behind him with 18 points and contributed six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Devine Eke, who made his first start as a Highlander, chipped in 13 points and was two rebounds shy of a double-double. He went a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor.

UNC Asheville (9-9, 3-4 Big South) opened the game on a 13-3 run after scoring the game's first eight points. From that point on, Radford could never cut the lead down to less than six points in the half, but had its smallest deficit at six points with 10:40 on the clock. The Bulldogs closed out the first half on a 9-2 run to increase their nine-point lead to 16. The 47-31 shortage at the break was Radford's largest at the time.

The Highlanders (10-9, 5-2 Big South) shot 48.0 percent from the floor in the first half but the Bulldogs one-upped them with a 63.0 field goal percentage. UNC Asheville went 7-of-14 from the 3-point line in large part to Tajion Jones' 6-for-7 performance. He finished the game with 29 points and seven 3-pointers.

The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 18 points – the largest of the game – with 14:10 remaining. That's when Radford started to chip away at the lead. A mini 8-2 run by the Highlanders closed the gap to 12 with 11:05 to play. Then after a pair of baskets from UNC Asheville, Radford exploded for a 10-0 spurt making it a seven-point game, 66-59, with 7:40 left. Altogether, it was an 18-7 run that spanned over 6:21 of the second half.

UNC Asheville scored the next four points to go back ahead by double-digits. The Highlanders didn't quit and had it down to a three-possession game with 2:11 left on the clock, but the Bulldogs finished the final two minutes 7-for-7 at the free throw line and Radford couldn't convert on two if its final three field goal attempts.

STAT OF THE GAME
The Highlanders committed 14 turnovers, which ties a season-high. UNC Asheville only committed nine. Radford is now 3-4 when the opponent wins the turnover battle.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Radford shot 43.1 percent from the floor but recorded its lowest 3-point percentage all season at 20 percent (4-for-20). Donald Hicks made his 200^th career 3-pointer as a Highlander. The senior also finished with six rebounds. Radford had 36 points in the paint and outrebounded the Bulldogs, 38-27. All of UNC Asheville's points came from the starting five. They had four bench players see the floor, but none scored.

TWEET OF THE GAME

8:07 | 2H • Radford 56, UNC Asheville 66

Donald Hicks 2??0??0??th career 3-pointer makes it a 10-point game.#RiseAndDefend x #BigSouthMBB pic.twitter.com/xFDts7WP94
— Radford Men's Basketball (@RadfordMBB) January 24, 2020

QUOTABLE
"They played extremely well in the first half, scored at a very high rate and got a lot of open looks," Mike Jones said. "Our defense was not sharp; our energy was not there from the beginning of the game and they were able to gain a lot of confidence right down to the end of the first half when they made that shot to go up 16. I thought we didn't start the game off right. I think, maybe, we thought we were going to walk in here with 'Radford' on our jerseys and walk away with a win. To (UNC Asheville's) credit, they fought and came out on top."

UP NEXT
Radford returns to the Dedmon Center on Saturday as Jermaine Marrow and Hampton make a trip across the Commonwealth. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m.

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.