GAME INFO
Thursday, Jan. 23 -- vs Gardner-Webb (Millis Center), 7 p.m.
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The High Point University men's basketball team (5-14, 2-4 Big South) returns to Millis Center to take on Gardner-Webb (6-11, 2-3 Big South) on Thursday (Jan. 23) evening to begin a two-game Big South Conference homestand.
 
Matchup History
The two programs have played 58 times, with the series deadlocked at 29 wins a piece. Last season the Panthers and Runnin' Bulldogs split their regular season matchups, with the latter being an 87-79 Panther win at Millis Center.  
 
Across the Bench
Gardner-Webb is coming off of a win at home against USC Upstate (83-67), its first Big South victory since its conference opener against Campbell on Jan. 2.
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs are led by Big South Preseason All-Conference honoree Jose Perez. The Sophomore guard is one of two players to rank in the top 10 in points (14.5) and top five in assists (4.0) in the Big South. He is joined in the backcourt by Miami native Nate Johnson, who is seventh in the Big South in steals with 1.7 per game, while also pouring in 10.6 points per game on the offensive end.
 
Gardner-Webb is led by seventh year Head Coach Tim Craft, who's won 111 games heading coming into the 2020 season. Craft, 42, became just the fourth head coach in Big South Conference history to win at least 15 games in each of his first four seasons, joining Ron Bradley (Radford), Gregg Marshall (Winthrop) and Nick McDevitt (UNC Asheville) in that exclusive club.
 
RP3
Sophomore Rob Peterson III has started the past three games in the absence of Curtis Holland III and has not disappointed. Peterson had a career-high 12 rebounds in Monday's 70-62 win at USC Upstate and was one point away (nine) from a double-double. He went 2-3 from beyond and contributed to HPU's 47.6% (10-21) mark from downtown in the winning effort.
 
Slay off the Bench
Junior Denny Slay II tied his season-high with 17 points on Monday. has averaged 12 points over his last three games.
 
But He's Only a Freshman
Freshman John-Michael Wright leads all Big South freshmen in scoring averaging with 13.5 per game, which also ranks him 10th in scoring in the conference overall. He is also the top freshman in rebounding with 5.1 boards per game, good enough for 15th overall in the conference. The freshman has now scored at least 10 points in five straight games and 15 times this season. He recorded 24 points on Monday, one short of his career-high, and the third time he has hit the 20-point mark.
 
Swiper No Swiping!
John-Michael Wright has been a nightmare for opposing ballhandlers this season. The freshman out of Fayetteville has 18 steals, which leads the team.
 
Block Party
The Panthers rank third in the Big South in blocked shots per game averaging 3.4 per contest.
 
Home Cookin'
Freshman Eric Coleman's has stepped his game up when playing at Millis, he's scored in double digits two out of the last three games. He's averaging 10 points 4.7 rebounds per game in that span
 
JUST BLOCKin' it
Redshirt junior Cliff Thomas Jr. ranks sixth in the Big South with 0.8 blocks per game, tied with teammate Caden Sanchez.
 
Chairman of the Offensive boards
Redshirt sophomore Caden Sanchez ranks second in the Big South with 2.4 offensive rebounds a game.
 
They Are Free for a Reason
High Point has knocked down 293 free throws, good enough for 46th in the country.
 
Up Next: HPU will be back home on Saturday (Jan. 25) for a Big South matchup against Longwood.
 
 
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