Men's Basketball 2/26/2020 3:27:00 PM

SENIORS LOOKING TO MAKE HISTORY AGAINST HAMPTON ON ESPNU

RADFORD, Va. – The 2019-20 senior class has a chance to make history on Thursday when the Radford men's basketball team travels to Hampton for a nationally televised game at 7 p.m.

The 2019-20 seniors have accrued 78 total wins, which is tied for the most wins through a four-year period. With one more win the class would surpass the 1993-94 class with 79 wins and make them the winningest four-year class in program history.

Donald Hicks and Devonnte Holland carry the torch as the only two seniors that played at Radford for a full four-year span. Hicks has started 122 games in his career at Radford, which is tied for the second most games started at Radford. Hicks also just surpassed the 1,000 point mark and became the 33^rd player in program history to do so. Holland has played 121 games and would crack the career top-10 list with one more appearance.

Other seniors in Travis Fields, Jr., Devin Hutchinson and Devine Eke have been integral parts of the wins as transfers. Fields Jr., has been a Highlander for three years. He's connected on 141 3-pointers and is shooting 39.4 percent behind the arc, which ranks sixth in program history. Hutchinson, a junior college transfer, has contributed 10.9 minutes per game and 258 total points in his two years at Radford. The grad transfer, Eke, has helped Radford to a 9-1 record since he's been in the starting lineup and ranks third in the conference with 7.0 rebounds per outing.

Sprinkle in the players that came before the senior class as well as the players that are currently helping this class achieve such a remarkable feat and that is the brand of Radford basketball.

With one more win the senior class would also be the first class with three consecutive 20-win seasons and with five more the team will set the program history for wins in a season. One of the teams that stand in the way of the Highlanders accomplishing the task at hand is Hampton.

The two teams have had a total of 10 points separating them in the three meetings since Hampton has joined the Big South. The first matchup featured an overtime thriller that saw Jones hit two buzzer-beaters and Fields Jr., connect for a career-high 33 points last year. The most recent matchup saw the Jones drop 33 points in a 83-79 win on Jan. 25 inside the Dedmon Center. Radford owns the all-time series over the Pirates, 5-4.

Hampton (13-16, 8-8 Big South) has both of the Big South's top two scorers. The first is Jermaine Marrow, who leads the league with 23.9 points and 6.3 assists, followed by Ben Stanley averaging 22.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per outing. Stanley ranks second in the Big South in both categories.

On the schedule, the Pirates have won two of their last three games. However, the most recent result came on Monday night at Gardner-Webb in a resumption of a game originally played on Jan. 20 but was postponed due to a prolonged shot clock malfunction. The Pirates lost the contest 81-67.

Hampton has defended its home court well and have an 11-3 record inside the HU Convocation Center, including a 6-1 record in Big South contests. Two of their three overall losses at home came in early December to Richmond and Howard. The other came against Winthrop in the middle of January. Since that loss the Pirates have won their last four home contests.

This meeting will feature the league's second-best scoring offense with Hampton averaging 77.4 points per contest and the league's top scoring defense in Radford holding opponents to 65.5 points per game.

Thursday's game can be seen on national television on ESPNU. The game can also be heard live online through Stretch Internet or radio outlets, WRAD 101.7 FM and WVRU 89.9 FM.

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Players Mentioned

#11 Travis Fields, Jr.: G; 5' 10"; Senior

#5 Donald Hicks: G; 6' 3"; Senior

#15 Devonnte Holland: C; 6' 7"; Senior

#0 Devin Hutchinson: G; 6' 5"; Senior

#30 Devine Eke: F; 6' 8"; Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

#11 Travis Fields, Jr.
: 5' 10"; Senior
: G

#5 Donald Hicks
: 6' 3"; Senior
: G

#15 Devonnte Holland
: 6' 7"; Senior
: C

#0 Devin Hutchinson
: 6' 5"; Senior
: G

#30 Devine Eke
: 6' 8"; Graduate Student
: F