The High Point University men's basketball team returns to South Carolina for a Big South Conference contest with the Buccaneers of Charleston Southern. The Panthers are on the prowl for a conference win after a rocky start in league play. The game is set to tip-off on Wednesday at 7:00 pm, inside the Buccaneer Fieldhouse.
Game Info
Friday, Jan. 11 -- VS Charleston Southern (Buccaneer Fieldhouse) 7:00 PM on ESPN+
Live Stats | Watch | Game Notes
Last Time Out
High Point traveled to USC Upstate over the weekend for their fourth conference game of the season. Struggling on the offensive end, the Spartans were able to push past the Panthers to take the 76-57 win.
Jaden House led HPU with 15 points as
Abdoulaye Thiam added 13 points and four rebounds.
Zack Austin was the only other player to score in double figures, tallying 10 points with three blocks and three steals. Leading the team for the sixth straight game in rebounds was
Ahmard Harvey, who brought down a game-high eight. High Point struggled in the second half on the offensive end to make shots, going 8-25 from the field and 9-19 from the line to finish the game with an overall 38.5% field goal shooting percentage and a 47.8% free throw percentage. USC Upstate was able to gather majority of their points inside the paint, collecting 42 points to High Points 26.
Matchup History
High Point has the lead over Charleston Southern in matchups, with a 23-20 record, to go along with a 23-19 record in conference play. On the road, High Point is 6-14 with the Buccaneers, while holding a 17-6 record on the home court. In the last matchup between the Panthers and Buccaneers, CSU garnered their teams only conference win of the season with the 70-66 win over HPU. High Point's last win against the Buccaneers was back in the 2020-21 season, at home, 69-68 with a knock-down three from HPU's Phlandrous Fleming in the final three seconds.
Across the Bench
Charleston Southern holds an overall record of 6-9 with a Big South conference record of 2-2 after defeating Presbyterian on the road Saturday afternoon 67-61. The Buccaneers had three players score in double digits, including Tyeree Bryan (16), Claudell Harris, Jr. (16), and Taje' Kelly (15).
Overall, the Buccaneers are led by Harris, Jr. the sophomore guard, averaging 17.2 points per game (third in the Big South), shooting 45.4% from the field, 27.9% from behind the arc and 79.6% from the line. Between Harris, Jr. and Kelly, they have combined for 108 of the teams 254 free throw attempts, getting to the line 42.5% of the time. Tahlik Chavez is a three-point shooting threat, averaging the highest three-point baskets made per game in the Big South with 3.07 to go along with the third highest shooting percentage at 38.0%. As a team, Charleston Southern is shooting 44.6% from the field, 34.1% from the three-point line and 75.2% from the free throw line, averaging 75.4 points per game.
The Buccaneers are coached by Barclay Radebaugh, who enters his 17th season at Charleston Southern. Radebaugh has become the winningest coach in the programs history and is one of only eight coaches to win multiple Big South Coaches of the Year Awards. In the 2021-22 season Radebaugh led his team to an overall record of 6-25, with a conference record of 1-15.
Panther Notes
Ranked 8th in the Nation in Rebounds
Averaging 40.9 rebounds per game, HPU ranks 8th in the country in rebounding
House Averaged 20+ PPG Through Non-Con
Through non-conference play,
Jaden House averaged just over 20 points a game and continued through the start of conference for a total of 15 games. Through all 15 games, he has ranked in the Top 20 in the country in points per game.
House Leads Big South
Jaden House sits atop the poll for scoring in the Big South, averaging 19.69 points per game. Two Panthers also join House in the top 10 in scoring in the Big South, including
Abdoulaye Thiam (14.4 ppg) and
Zack Austin (13.5 ppg).
First Program Win Over Top-100 Ken-Pom Opponent
Furman ranked 85th prior to the Panthers defeating the Paladins 85-82.
Best start to a season in D1 Program History
Through the first nine games of the season, the Panthers were 8-1 overall and 5-0 at the Qubein Center. This recorded the best start to a men's basketball season since becoming Division I in 1999.
Brought the Hardware Back to N.C.
After defeating Central Michigan in the first round of the SoCal Challenge Sand Division 68-67, the Panthers took the 77-72 victory over Tennessee State in the Championship game. HPU brought back the surfboard to North Carolina, claiming the Sand Division title in the second year of the SoCal Challenge.
House Makes Lou Henson Award Watch list
Jaden House was named to the Lou Henson National Player of the Year Watch List on Tuesday, November 22nd. The award is presented annually to the top mid-major player in Division I basketball, which honors the former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach who won 775 games in 41 seasons. Henson was the winningest coach at both institutions.
First Mid-American Conference Win
For the first time in program history, HPU defeated a team from the MAC conference. The only other MAC team that High Point has competed against was Western Michigan twice.
Thiam's Seven Three's-Third in Program History
In the win over Lees-McRae,
Abdoulaye Thiam punched seven three pointers to sit third in program history in a single game.
House's 30-Piece Records New
Career-High
After recording a career-high 23 against the Falcons, House blew that out the water with a 33-point game on Saturday. House shot 66.7% from the field and 91.7% from the line. After Saturday's performance, House stated "We have a lot of guys that can come in and score points, and I guess tonight was just my night."
Thiam Drops 23 in Debut
Abdoulaye Thiam kicked off his High Point career with a bang, dropping 23 points, two rebounds and one assist. The sharpshooter went 8-for-15 from and field and knocked down 3-of-6 shots from behind the arc. The Minnesota transfer wowed the crowd with his high-flying windmill dunk early in the first half. After Saturday's performance Thiam stated " It felt really great because I did not have this opportunity where I was at so having a team that trust in me, that knows what I can do, and just come in and play and allows me to be me, made it a good experience."
Mr. Austin
Zack Austin was named to the Big South Preseason First Team. Following the 2021-22 season, Austin was named the Big South Freshman of the year while also being named to the second team all-conference selection. A key player for the Panthers, Austin started all 32 games and averaged 14.4 points per game, shooting 41.4% from the field. He contributed on the defensive end by averaging 8.0 rebounds per game (1st in Big South) and collecting a team-high 69 blocks (3rd in Big South), averaging just over two per game. Along with blocks, Austin also led the team in steals, picking up 43 for the season (10th in Big South). Within the conference, Austin made the top 10 in seven different statistical categories, including scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage, steals, 3-point field goals made, blocked shots and minutes played.
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