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MBB Up Next vs UNCA

Men's Basketball

First-Place UNC Asheville and Second-Place Radford Clash on ESPNU Thursday Night

RADFORD, Va. – All eyes will be on the Dedmon Center Thursday night when the Radford men's basketball team faces off against the UNC Asheville Bulldogs in a battle between the top two teams in the Big South on national television.
 
SETTING THE STAGE
Opponent: UNC Asheville Bulldogs (20-7, 12-2 Big South)
Date/Time: Thursday, Feb. 16th at 7:00 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: CLICK HERE
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Highlanders and Bulldogs entered this season deadlocked at 39-all through 78 games all-time between the two premier Big South programs. With a hard-fought 62-58 win in Asheville earlier this season, UNC Asheville now has a one-game advantage.
 
Radford has lost back-to-back games and three of the last four against Mike Morrell's squad, including a 78-74 overtime defeat at home last season. That loss was a bit of an anomaly, however, as the Highlanders are 23-11 against UNCA while playing on their home floor here in the New River Valley.
 
In the first matchup this season, Radford nearly pulled off the road win despite shooting only 38.6% from the field. DaQuan Smith led the team with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting from deep, but the Bulldogs had four players reach double-figures in a 47.8% shooting performance. 
 
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
There is no doubt about it: the UNC Asheville is one of the top teams in the league and it boasts one of the best players in the league in Drew Pember. The Bulldogs lead the Big South in scoring with 75.5 points per game and Pember is responsible for a league-leading 20.3 points of that. Oh, and he also leads the conference in rebounding (9.3 per game) and blocks (2.3 per game).
 
That doesn't mean they're unbeatable however, far from it. The Highlanders held UNC Asheville to 62 points and Pember to just 12 points in their first meeting this year. The Bulldogs do give up 69.9 points on average, which ranks just seventh in the conference, and they also rank seventh in both offensive rebounding (8.6 per game) and turnover margin (-0.52).
 
Veteran guard Taijon Jones is arguably just as important, having recently broken the Big South record for career games played at more than 140. Jones and junior forward Nick McMullen have both started all 27 games and average 14.4 points/5.2 rebounds and 8.2 points/5.1 rebounds, respectively.
 
FIRST ROUND BYE: CLINCHED
With an 11-3 conference record and only four regular season games left to play, the Highlanders have officially clinched a bye in the opening round of the Big South Tournament. 
 
This means Radford is guaranteed a top-4 seed and will play its first postseason game on Friday, March 3rd at Bojangles Coliseum. The 7 through 10 seeds will face off on Wednesday, March 1st and the winners of those two games will go up against the 1 and 2 seeds.
 
Tickets for the Big South Tournament are available now on RadfordTickets.com.

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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Players Mentioned

DaQuan Smith

#1 DaQuan Smith

G
6' 1"
Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

DaQuan Smith

#1 DaQuan Smith

6' 1"
Redshirt Junior
G