Radford vs. Winthrop: 2018-19 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

The top two teams in the Big South meet on Saturday, for the first of two meetings. Here’s a look at the battle between Radford and Winthrop.

TV Schedule: Saturday, February 2nd, 2:00p.m. ET, ESPN+

Arena: Winthrop Coliseum, Rock Hill, South Carolina

The Radford Highlanders are attempting to repeat as champions of the Big South and are currently 7-1 in the conference and have an overall mark of 15-7. But on Saturday afternoon they hit the road to face what will probably their toughest obstacle on the way to a repeat, the Winthrop Eagles (14-7,6-2). Winthrop is the team directly behind Radford and is no stranger to the top of the Big South, having won nine regular-season titles since 1999, including five in a six-year span from 2002-2008. In that same time, they have won 10 Big South Tournament titles and finished as the runner-up in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Is there a changing of the guard with Radford ready to take the reins or is Winthrop still king of the hill?

Mike Jones’ Highlanders gained some early season notoriety when they knocked off both Notre Dame and Texas in November. Of the team’s seven losses, just one, a 14-point loss to Maryland came by more than nine points and that includes contests with Clemson, Duquesne, and UNC-Greensboro.  Coming into this contest, the Highlanders have won eight of their last nine and have averaged 75.5 points per game in those nine games.

Radford is a top-100 team when it comes to defense, allowing just over 67.7 points per game, but what makes them successful on the defensive end is the fact that they don’t turn the ball over, just 11.5 per game and they don’t commit fouls while playing defense, just 16 per game. At the other end of the floor, they score over 74 points per game and rank 75th in offensive efficiency at KenPom.com. Those numbers bare out when you look at the Highlanders’ field-goal percentage (47.1) and their three-point field goal percentage (38.9), both of those are in the top 63 nationally and in league play they shoot it at over 49% from the field and 38% from beyond the arc, leading the Big South in both categories by a large margin.

Senior forward Ed Polite, Jr. is the reigning conference Player of the Year and leads the team in rebounding (9.3) and blocks (1.1) while slashing shooting percentages of 52/73/36. The team’s leading scorer and assist man is sophomore Carlik Jones who nets 15.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. The other double-digit scorer on the club is 5-10 guard Travis Fields, Jr. who pours in over 10.5 per game.

Winthrop is looking to rebound after falling to Presbyterian last time out, to fall to 6-2 in Big South play. Prior to that they had won six of seven and averaged over 76 points per game in that stretch. They began the year just 2-4 against Division I opponents having suffered losses to Vanderbilt, East Tennessee State, and Kentucky. Then they rattled off four straight wins before falling to Florida State in their non-conference finale.

When it comes to Winthrop, they are all about offense and getting up and down the floor. They average 86 points per game, which is 7th best in the country, they also love the three-pointer as they shoot it at over 37% and their 12.6 makes per game trails only the Citadel in college basketball. They have attempted the 3rd most three-pointers with 700 and 264 makes on the year is No.1 as of this writing. They are also one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the country pulling down nearly 30 per game and their nearly 41 rebounds per game is the 13th highest number in Division I.

Pat Kelsey’s Eagles currently have five players in double figures led by senior guard Nych Smith who averages over 17 points per game, and fellow senior Adam Pickett nets 12.5 points and pulls down 4.7 rebounds. Junior forward Josh Ferguson is one of three other players averaging at least 10 points per game and leads the team with 7.3 rebounds per game. The other two double-digit scorers, Bjorn Broman, and Kyle Zunic add nearly 21 points per contest.

Key Matchup

The key matchup in this one will be the diminutive guards, the Highlanders’ Jones and Smith of the Eagles. The two guards are the engines that make their teams go, and this could just be the first of three possible meetings between the two.

The first meeting of the two best teams in the Big South should be an up-and-down affair, and despite the Highlanders having the two best players on the floor in Polite, Jr., and Jones, the home crowd and Winthrop’s ability to knock down the long ball will lead the Eagles to a home win.