CHARLOTTE - ESPNU has selected the Gardner-Webb at Radford game to be the fourth enstallement of the Big South Wildcard broadcasts of the 2022-23 season. The game will be moved back to Thursday, Feb. 9 and tipoff at 7:00 p.m. from Radford instead of its current Wednesday, Feb. 8 date.
The match-up will mark the fourth meeting between the squads on ESPNU, and third as part of the league's Wildcard series on the network. The upcoming Feb. 9 broadcast will be Gardner-Webb's ninth Wildcard appearance (6-2 record), and marks Radford's second this season and 12th overall (9-2 record).
Last time these two teams played, Radford came away with a 62-58 decision in Boiling Springs to begin their current win steak.
The game features a pair of the top teams in the league as Radford is in second at 8-2 with Gardner-Webb close behind in fourth at 6-4. These are also two of the hottest teams in the league as the Highlanders have won their past seven with the Runnin' Bulldogs winning three straight.
Through 10 conference games this year, Radford is tops in scoring defense (60.5 points allowed), scoring margin (+6.2) and fewest rebounds allowed (28.7).
DaQuan Smith is fourth among the Big South leaders with 15.1 points per game, while
Justin Archer is second in rebounds (9.2).
The Runnin' Bulldogs are the second-highest scoring team in league action with 71.2 points, while ranking first in field goal percentage (47.3), assists (13.4), steals (7.5) and turnover margin (+3.30).
DQ Nicholas is fifth among the Big South leaders with 14.7 points per game, and second in assists (4.0).
This is the 10th year of the Big South's ESPNU Wildcard series, which again features six Thursday broadcasts –- Jan. 12 (at UNC Asheville 54, Longwood 46), Jan. 26 (at Radford 63, Longwood 59), Feb. 2 (High Point at UNC Asheville), Feb. 9 (Gardner-Webb at Radford), Feb. 16 and Feb. 23 -- that are selected 14-21 days in advance. A total of 43 games have been played in the series that began in 2013-14, and while the home teams are 30-13, the 43 games have been decided by an average of 8.77 points, with 27 of those being decided by single-digits (4.67 average margin in those contests).
