ROCK HILL, SC—After a three-game road swing in which Winthrop grabbed two wins, the men's basketball team returns to the Winthrop Coliseum to take on Radford on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
The Eagles are 8-8 on the year and have a 3-2 mark in the Big South while Radford enters the game at 11-7 overall and 2-3 in the league. The games are normally aired on 104.1 The Bridge but Saturday's game can be heard on WRHI as the women's basketball game at Charleston Southern will air on The Bridge at 2 p.m.
This marks the 66
th meeting all-time between Winthrop and Radford as the Highlanders lead the all-time series 33-31 and have won two of the last three meetings. The Feb. 1, 2011 meeting in Radford in which the Eagles lost 67-66 was vacated and isn't reflected in the all-time series.
Winthrop came within two points of winning all three road games as it started off its trip with a win at Presbyterian College followed by a one-point loss at Gardner-Webb before finishing it off with a double-digit win at UNC Asheville. The team averaged 68.3 points per game while allowing 63.3 ppg in the three road games and shot an impressive 47 percent from the field.
Senior
Keon Moore led the Eagles in scoring the last three games at 14.3 ppg and continues to lead the team on the season at 17.8, which is ranked 4
th in the Big South. Moore is one of the league's top sharp shooters and leads the league in three-pointers made per game at 3.13. Despite starting the road trip with two points in the win at PC, sophomore
Keon Johnson averaged 13 points in the three games and capped it off with 22 points in the win over Asheville. Johnson is 6-for-10 in the last two games behind the arc after going 1-for-11 in the previous three games. His 11.1 ppg average is second best on the team and his average is up to 11.8 in league play.
There has been a slight increase in scoring for the Eagles between their scoring average on the season overall (74.4) and their average through five league games (74.8). The team has averaged 75.5 in their two losses and 74.3 in their three wins against Big South Teams. The two losses in league play are by a combined four points.
Redshirt freshman
Duby Okeke scored in double-figures in two of the last three games as he had 13 points and five blocks in the win over PC and 12 points and four blocks in the win at Asheville. Okeke is averaging 7.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.2 blocks in conference play. He is shooting 68 percent from the floor in conference play and 69 percent from the free throw line.
Radford started off league play 0-3 as it fell by two points at home to Asheville and then lost back-to-back double-overtime games at Longwood and Gardner-Webb. The Highlanders have bounced back with a 13-point win over Presbyterian College at home and are coming off a 72-55 road win at Campbell on Thursday as this will be their fourth road game in six Big South contests.
One of Radford's strengths is scoring inside as it averages 40.4 points in the paint in five league games. While the Highlanders scoring average on the year is 5
th in the league at 72.6, they are averaging a league-best 78.2 in conference games only.
All-Big South performer Javonte Green leads the Highlanders with 14.4 ppg and 8.9 rpg as he shoots 51 percent from the floor and 70 percent at the foul line. He is second in the league in free throw attempts with 112, which is an average of 6.2 attempts per game. The 6-4 forward is fourth all-time at Radford in scoring and is 13 points from third place. Green has increased his second to 19.0 ppg in league play and is also pulling down 8.2 boards per game while shooting 54 percent. He has three straight games in which he's posted 20 or more points.
R.J. Price is the team's top shooter and is second on the team in scoring at 12.1. He has 41 made threes and is shooting 33 percent behind the arc and is third on the team with 23 steals. Rashun Davis is third on the team in scoring at 9.0 ppg while Ya Ya Anderson, who had 15 points in the win over the Eagles in 2014, is averaging 7.8 ppg and shooting 46 percent from the floor.
