The Opening Tip
•   Longwood has endured a difficult stretch in conference play, losing four straight games to a contingent that boasts a combined 18-10. Three of those teams — Winthrop, UNC Asheville and Gardner-Webb — were picked to finish in the top four in the preseason poll, while Radford is currently in fourth place in the conference.
•   The Lancers are tied for fifth place in the Big South, their highest such standing through seven games since joining the conference in 2012-13.
•   Longwood is without four scholarship players with redshirt senior forward
Damarion Geter (foot), sophomore forward
Jahleem Montague (knee) and freshman point guard
Juan Munoz (knee) all out with injuries. Additionally, junior point guard
Kendrick Thompson was announced as academically ineligible on Jan. 19 and will not return. Longwood has just eight scholarships available.
Last Time Out
•   Radford guard Justin Cousin went off for a team-high 18 points to lift the Highlanders to a 72-60 win over Longwood Thursday evening in Willett Hall.
•   Cousin scored 11 of his points in the second half to stymie Longwood's comeback effort and propel the Highlanders into a top-three spot in the Big South standings.
•   Radford also won the battle on the boards, outrebounding Longwood 43-27 and scoring 20 points on second-chance opportunities. Ed Polite outmuscled the Lancers in the paint en route to 13 points and 15 rebounds for his conference-leading eighth double-double.
•   Longwood was led by the three-player tandem of of
Darrion Allen,
Khris Lane and
Isaiah Walton, all of whom scored in double figures. Lane led the way with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Walton had 16 and Allen finished with 15.
By The Numbers
•   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.
•   Longwood is 4-0 when outrebounding the opposition this season, including all three Big South wins.
•   Longwood is down to just four available scholarship guards and four scholarship forwards following a rash of injuries and absences.
•   Longwood ranks second in the Big South with 4.4 blocks per game and has three players —
JaShaun Smith (5th, 1.4 bpg.),
Khris Lane (1.2 bpg.) and
Darrion Allen (0.9 bpg.) — ranked in the top 10 in blocks per game.
•   Smith, Lane and Allen have as many or more blocks (61) than five Big South teams.
•   Guards
Darrion Allen and
Isaiah Walton and forward
Khris Lane are the second-highest scoring trio in the Big South, averaging 43.9 points per game, trailing only Campbell's Chris Clemons, Shane Whitfield and Kyre' Hamer (46.9 ppg.).
•   In two meetings against Charleston Southern last season,
Darrion Allen averaged 18.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. In the last meeting, the 2016 Big South Championship first round, Allen scored 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
•   Allen is just 66 points shy of reaching 1,000 for his career. Allen, who also ranks among the school's top five in career three-point percentage (.371) and free throw percentage (.802) would be the sixth 1,000-point scorer of Longwood's Division I era.
•   In the second half of games, Walton averages 8.8 points per game while shooting .574 (54-of-94) from the floor, .500 (13-of-26) from three-point range and .826 (38-of-46) from the line.
•   Senior guard
Isaac Belton has started all seven Big South games and is averaging 4.7 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.
#GoWood
