Men's Basketball 2/7/2020 3:58:00 PM

MEN’S BASKETBALL HEADS TO BIG SOUTH FOE HIGH POINT

HIGH POINT, N.C. – After a week without competition, the Radford men's basketball team heads to the Millis Center for another Big South matchup against High Point on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Radford (13-9, 8-2 Big South) will begin another tough stretch that features four games over the next seven days. Three of the games will be played away from the Dedmon Center and it all begins with High Point.

The Highlanders hold a 28-21 lead over the Panthers that includes a win this season. However, the two teams are tied with 12 wins each when playing at High Point. Last time against the Panthers, Radford used a second half surge in a 73-62 victory on Jan. 4. Carlik Jones carried the squad with 26 points, six rebounds and five assists in the conference opener against the Panthers, while Travis Fields, Jr., and Devine Eke picked up double-digit point outbreaks.

Jones' 28 points and late game heroics in the 77-74 overtime win over Charleston Southern helped him earn his fifth Big South Player of the Week award. The Cincinnati, Ohio native averaged 22.0 points per game through two games last week, along with 5.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds. He shot extremely efficient going 16-for-31 from the field (51.6 percent), along with two 3-pointers and knocking down 10-of-12 free throws.

He recently moved into sole possession of 10^thplace on the all-time scoring list at Radford. He's corralled 1,348 points in his career and is 29^th in the nation averaging 19.9 points per contest this season. He's picked up 12 20-plus point games this season and is the seventh player in Big South history to have 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 400 assists in a career.

Donald Hicks is coming off a 16-point game against the Buccaneers last Saturday, where he knocked down four 3-pointers and went 6-for-9 from the field. He's made 205 3-pointers in a Radford uniform and just moved into eighth place in program history.

Radford continues to rank first in Big South games in scoring defense with 66.1 points allowed, in addition to leading the circuit in field goal defense at 39.3 percent permitted. The Highlanders are the only team holding league foes under 40 percent shooting. Radford is 9-1 when opponents shoot 40 percent or less against them.

After losing six of its first eight conference games, High Point (7-16, 4-6 Big South) is looking to pick up its third win in a row on Saturday. The Panthers topped Campbell, 62-57, in Buies Creek to end January and began the month of February with a win over Hampton, 88-85.

Senior Jamal Wright reached a career-high in the first half and finished the game with 34 points against Hampton on Thursday night. Wright shot 10-for-13 from the field while going 5-of-7 from beyond the arc and 9-of-11 from the free throw line – all eclipsing his career-highs. Wright is averaging seven points per game.

Freshman John-Michael Wright leads the team with 15.1 points and 5.1 rebounds. He's played and started all 23 games for the Panthers and is shooting 41.3 percent from the floor, as well as 81.6 percent from the free throw line.

Saturday's game can be seen on ESPN+ or heard live online through Stretch Internet or radio outlets, WRAD 101.7 FM and WVRU 89.9 FM.

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.

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