The Opening Tip
•   The Lancers look to get back over .500 in the Big South this Thursday when Commonwealth rival Radford comes to Willett Hall for a 7 p.m. meeting.
•   Saturday's 85-79 loss to Gardner-Webb was Longwood's first in Willett Hall since Dec. 3 against James Madison. The Lancers are 5-3 at home.
•   Longwood's past three Big South games have been against teams predicted to finish among the league's top four in the preseason poll. The Lancers went 0-3 during that stretch after starting the conference season a program-record 3-0.
•   Saturday's game is presented by mid-Atlantic telecommunications company Shentel, which airs all Longwood home basketball games on channel 81.
•   Head coach
Jayson Gee announced this week that guard
Kendrick Thompson will miss the remainder of the season after being deemed academically ineligible.
Last Time Out
•   Gardner-Webb guard Jamaal Robateau scored 22 points and hit a crucial layup with 12 seconds remaining to help the Runnin' Bulldogs hold off Longwood 85-79 in a physical battle Saturday afternoon in Willett Hall.
•   Robateau knocked down 9-of-17 shots from the field, grabbed eight rebounds and swiped three steals as Gardner-Webb held off an ailing Longwood team that trimmed a 16-point deficit to just four points with 22 seconds remaining. However, Robateau broke the momentum of Longwood's comeback effort with a layup with 12 seconds left that extended Gardner-Webb's lead to 84-79.
•   Longwood outshot Gardner-Webb from the field (.492), three-point range (.391) and the free throw line (.800), but Gardner-Webb made up the difference with 21 second-chance points that came off 22 offensive rebounds.
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By The Numbers
•   Longwood is 5-3 in Willett Hall this season and 3-2 since renaming the court Jerome Kersey Court on Dec. 3. Longwood averages 76.6 points per game at home this season compared to 60.9 on the road. The Lancers also shoot .414 (65-of-157) from three-point range in Willett Hall, compared to .322 (58-of-180) on the road.
•   Longwood is down to just four available scholarship guards and four scholarship forwards following a rash of injuries and absences.
•   In Big South play, Longwood is 3-1 when entering the final two minutes of the game either tied, leading or trailing by no more than two possessions.
•   After outrebounding just one of their first 11 opponents, Longwood has outrebounded three of its six league foes. The Lancers surrender just 3.5 more rebounds per game in conference play compared to 9.3 in non-conference play.
•   Longwood is 4-0 when outrebounding the opposition this season.
•   Longwood ranks third in the Big South with 4.4 blocks per game and has three players —
JaShaun Smith,
Khris Lane and
Darrion Allen — ranked in the top 10 in blocks per game.
•   Guards
Darrion Allen and
Isaiah Walton and forward
Khris Lane are the third-highest scoring trio in the Big South, averaging 43.5 points per game.
•   In the second half of games this season, Walton averages 8.5 points per game while shooting .565 (48-of-85) from the floor, .458 (11-of-24) from three-point range and .826 (38-of-46) from the free throw line. In Big South play, his second-half scoring average jumps to 10.3 points per game and a near-perfect 20-of-21 shooting from the line.
•   Senior guard
Isaac Belton has started all six Big South games and is averaging 7.5 points per game during that span. Belton, who entered his senior season without a single career start and just 2.3 points per game, has scored in double figures a career-high four times this season.
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