The Opening Tip
• Longwood and Big South frontrunner Radford meet for the second time this season in a rivalry rematch of the Jan. 6 Big South opener in which the Highlanders overcame a 12-point second-half deficit to stun Longwood, 71-64, in Radford, Va.
• Longwood is 7-1 in Willett Hall this season, opening the year unbeaten at home before suffering their first home loss, 101-91, against Charleston Southern on Jan. 12.
• The Lancers are 6-1 in games following a loss this season. Longwood dropped its last matchup, 71-64, at Presbyterian Saturday.
• Both Longwood and Radford enter Monday's game on just two days of rest after both teams played this past Saturday, both on the road.
• Poplar Forest is the sponsor for Monday's game.
• Longwood is in the midst of its most successful 20-game start of the Division I era, amassing a 12-8 record that is the program's best since 2000-01.
Last Time Out
• Just three days after stunning Big South powerhouse Winthrop 75-61, Longwood stumbled late in the second half against Presbyterian and fell 71-64 Saturday at the Templeton Center.
• Presbyterian freshman Adam Flagler scored a game-high 21 points and sparked an end-game rally that sent the Blue Hose to their fifth straight home win.
• Flagler scored 10 points in the game's final eight minutes, jump-starting a game-changing 12-0 run that saw Presbyterian turn a 53-50 deficit into a multi-possession lead they held for the duration.
• Longwood entered halftime trailing 34-27 but mounted a 17-4 run out of the break to reclaim the lead. The teams exchanged the lead four times from there until Romeo Crouch's three-pointer with 7:23 left gave the Blue Hose the lead for good.
•
Shabooty Phillips led Longwood with 18 points and five assists.
By The Numbers
• Longwood leads the Big South in both opponent scoring average (66.6 oppg.) and opponent field goal percentage (.390).
• The Lancers are off to their best home start of the Division I era at 7-1 in Willett Hall. Longwood outscores opponents by an average of 12.6 points per game at home with five of those seven home wins coming by double digits.
• Longwood enters Monday's game 6-1 in games following a loss, having lost back-to-back games just once all season.
• Of
Shabooty Phillips' four 20-point games this season, three have come in games following a loss. He averages 15.6 points per game in his seven games following a loss, compared to 13.1 in his other 13 outings.
• Longwood has held five of its past six opponents under 30.0 percent shooting from three-point range, including Radford, which shot just 4-of-22 (.182) from long range on Jan. 6.
• Guard
Isaiah Walton has scored at least 20 points in seven of his 12 games, leading Longwood to a 6-1 record in those outbursts.
•
Damarion Geter is just 20 rebounds shy of becoming only the seventh player in school history to grab at least 600 career rebounds, and only the third to reach 100 blocks and 600 rebounds.
• Of the 18 new head Division I coaches who inherited teams that won single-digit games last year, only
Griff Aldrich and Pitt's Jeff Capel (12-6) have winning percentages above .500.
• Of the 55 newly hired Division I head coaches around the nation this season, Aldrich is one of just 17 with a winning record.
• Junior guard Sean Flood has hit at least one three-pointer in 11 consecutive games, the longest active streak on the team. He is 21-of-41 (.512) from three-point range during that tear.
Quotable
"Our guys have to learn and understand that each and every night if you want to win and play at your highest level, you have to compete to the best of your ability. You can't take plays off or just hope things are going to fall into place. This league is too good. Every team has good players, and they want to win too."
— Head coach
Griff Aldrich following Longwood's 71-64 loss at Presbyterian Saturday
Series History
• Longwood and Radford meet for the second time this season and 31st time in series history Monday in Willett Hall.
• Radford is Longwood's longest-running Big South rival, having begun the series in the Longwood program's second year of existence during the 1977-78 season. The Highlanders lead the all-time series 23-7.
• Radford is on a six-game win streak dating back to a regular-season sweep during the 2016-17 season.
• Longwood's last win over the Highlanders came in the 2015-16 regular-season finale when the Lancers overcame a 20-point second-half deficit to top Radford 92-81 in Radford, Va.
#GoWood
