Men's Basketball 1/20/2023 1:00:00 PM

Streaking Highlanders and Panthers Clash In Dedmon On Saturday

RADFORD, Va. – Winners of four straight games, the Radford Highlanders aim to keep it rolling when the High Point Panthers travel to the New River Valley for a Saturday matinee.

SETTING THE STAGE
Opponent: High Point Panthers (10-9, 2-5 Big South)
Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 21 at 2:00 p.m.
Location: Carilion Clinic Court at the Dedmon Center (Radford, Va.)

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Watch: CLICK HERE (ESPN+)
Listen: CLICK HERE (WRAD 101.7 FM)
Live Stats: CLICK HERE
Buy Tickets: RadfordTickets.com

SERIES HISTORY
Radford has shown well against HPU over the years, going 30-22 in a series that first began more than four decades ago. The Panthers earned a 59-40 victory at home on Jan. 15, 1980 before the Highlanders rattled off nine consecutive wins between February of 1980 and February of 2002 to take a commanding lead.

Radford is 26-18 against the Panthers as Big South opponents and is 7-3 in the last 10 contests between the two sides.

The Highlanders have gone 17-9 at home when facing High Point, including a narrow 66-64 victory a year ago. In that game, Josiah Jeffers went off for 17 points and five rebounds while Zach Austin led the opposition with 24 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
We'll put it this way – High Point is a tough team to figure out. The Panthers looked unstoppable throughout non-conference play, earning wins over Wofford, Central Michigan, North Florida and Furman while shooting the lights out along the way.

Then, Big South play began and all that momentum disappeared. Picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll, the Panthers proceeded to lose each of their first five conference games, surprising just about everyone who had just watched them play the two months prior.

Now, with back-to-back wins over Presbyterian and Winthrop, head coach G.G. Smith has his team back on track heading into a tough matchup with the streaking Highlanders.

HPU ranks second in the nation in free throw attempts per game and third in the nation in fastbreak points per game, due in large part to an extremely high-paced offense that puts up 77.1 points per game to lead the Big South.

The three-headed monster of breakout star Jaden House (18.9 points per game), Minnesota transfer Abdoulaye Thiam (14.1 points per game ) and reigning Co-Big South Freshman of the Year Zack Austin (12.8 points per game) are the driving force behind this team's success.

CAREER MILESTONES

DaQuan Smith has surpassed 50 career games started
Smith has reached more than 700 career points scored and is just 12 assists away from hitting 200
Josiah Jeffers is even closer, needing just two assists to hit 300 for his career
The longest tenured Highlander on this year's roster, Jeffers has played in 110 career games. The program record is R.J. Price with 130 games played
With nine more rebounds, Madiaw Niang will reach 400 for his career

ESPNU IS COMING
When Radford hosts Longwood on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m., the entire nation will be able to watch as ESPNU will be on a nationally televised broadcast from the Dedmon Center. There will be free food available for students and tickets are still available for fans at radfordtickets.com.

The game marks the first time the Highlanders have been chosen for an ESPNU Big South Wildcard game since Jan. 14 against Gardner-Webb. Overall, Radford has now been picked for an ESPNU game five times since the Wildcard Game initiative began.

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

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