HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men's basketball team kicks off the New Year and begins Big South Conference play on Thursday, January 2 at 7:00 p.m. The Panthers will take on the Highlanders of Radford University inside the Qubein Center and will air Nationally on ESPNU in the Big South's first ESPNU Wildcard game of the season.

Men's Basketball - Radford University
Thursday, January 2 | 7 p.m. | High Point, N.C. | Qubein Center
Watch Live ESPNU |  LiveStats

Records: High Point 12-3, RU 10-5
Last Meeting: March 8, 2024 | Result: HPU won 77-63
All-time Record: RU leads 31-26

The Matchup
This will be the 58th meeting between the Panthers and Highlanders. Currently, Radford has been off to a strong start in non-conference action and is third in the league behind Longwood with a 10-5 record. The Highlanders have picked up wins over familiar opponents that HPU has played this season, including Old Dominion and North Carolina Central. Radford also won the Sunshine Slam Tournament after defeating Chicago State and Purdue Fort-Wayne. The Highlanders are led by Jarvis Moss who ranks fifth in the Big South in scoring averaging 15.3 points per game with a bulk of his points coming from the three-point line, averaging 2.7 per game on a 37.0%. Moss is in his first season with Radford after spending the past season at Davidson. Radford is coached by Darris Nichols who enters his 4th season as the head coach.

Last Time Out
High Point hosted Norfolk State University on Sunday afternoon to close out non-conference play. After a tight game, the Panthers fell 77-74 in the final minutes. As a team HPU knocked down 15-of-36 three-pointers led by Chase Johnston with eight threes himself for a team-high 24 points. Kimani Hamilton and Juslin Bodo Bodo each had season-highs on the boards, combining for 32 of HPU's 41 rebounds. The Panthers experienced their first loss this season on the home court and only the second regular season home loss in the last two seasons.  

Notable Player & Team Notes

23-2 in The Qubein Center in Last Two Regular Seasons
Since the start of the Huss Bus era, the Panthers have only lost two regular season games inside the Qubein Center with a current record of 23-2. HPU's two losses came from USC Upstate on February 14, 2024 and Norfolk State on December 29, 2024.

Broke DI Program Record for Non-Conference Wins
The Panthers broke the DI program non-conference wins record with their 12^th win of the season after defeating Southern Illinois before the break. The previous record was set last season in 2023-24 with 11 wins before starting conference play.
 
Williams Captures 1000th Point
D'Maurian Williams reached his 1000th career point on Tuesday night against Carolina U after knocking down his first three-point basket of the game.
 
Career Milestones on the Rise
Abdoulaye Thiam is at 980 points, Juslin Bodo Bodo is at 91 career blocks in his young career and Bobby Pettiford is at 197 assists.
 
Top 10 - CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Rankings
In the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 rankings, High Point ranks No. 17 in the week eight rankings. The Panthers highest spot in the rankings thus far was 8th in week two.
 
CIC All-Tournament Team
Kezza Giffa was named to the Cayman Islands Classic All-Tournament team after averaging 16 points, 3.0 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game. He scored a week-high 23 points in the win over Old Dominion.

Pettiford Loves Thanksgiving Game Winners
In the final game of the Cayman Islands Classic, Bobby Pettiford secured the go ahead basket with 10 seconds left to go in the game. This was the third straight season that he scored a game winner in the game before Thanksgiving.

Best Start in DI History
The 5-0 start for High Point is the best start in Division I program history since becoming DI in 1999. In 2022-23, High Point started 3-0 before falling to UNLV in mid-November.

Giffa & Bodo Bodo on Lou Henson Watch List
The 2024-25 Lou Henson 'Early Season' Watch list has been announced as two players from the High Point University men's basketball team have earned recognition, Kezza Giffa and Juslin Bodo Bodo. Giffa was named a finalist in 2023-24 for the Lou Henson award after averaging 16.2 points per game, 2.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists. 

Bracketeer.com Preseason All-American Awards
In the Bracketeer's Preseason All-American Watch List Kimani Hamilton was named a First Team recipient while Kezza Giffa was named to the second team.
 
Preseason Polls
On October 15th, the Big South Conference announced the Preseason Men's Basketball Poll for the upcoming 2024-25 season. High Point University was picked to finish 1st in the poll, while Kezza Giffa was named the Preseason Player of the Year, while Kimani Hamilton & Juslin Bodo Bodo were named to the first team.
 
New & Improved
Returning eight players from last year's roster, the Panthers added 12 newcomers with six transfers and six freshmen. The reigning Big South Regular Season Champions are ready to jump back into full action after a historic 27-win season led by first-year Head Coach Alan Huss in 2023-24.
 
HPU Stat Rankings Following 2023-24 Season
-9th in NCAA in PPG (83.9)
-1st in NCAA in Free Throws Made (20.1)
-6th in NCAA in Free Throws Attempted (25.8)
-15th in NCAA in Free Throw % (77.8)
-16th in NCAA in Rebounds (40.00)
-25th in NCAA in Win % (75%)
-Highest National Kenpom Ranking in Program History (114th)
-Highest National NET Ranking in Program History (110th)
-8th in Kenpom Raw Offensive Efficiency
-10th in Kenpom Offensive Rebound %
 
2023-24 Regular Season CHAMPS
HPU was named the outright Big South regular season champs for the first time since 2015-16. This was HPU's 5th Big South Regular-Season Title and the 2nd outright title.
 
2023-24 Season Recorded Most Wins in D1 Era
With a record of 27-9, the Panthers set the record for the most wins in a single-season.
 
2023-24 Season Was the Most Wins by a First-Year Head Coach
Coach Huss won the most wins as a first-year head coach in the entirety of the men's basketball program history. Also registered the most wins by a rookie head coach in the country last season.
 
Bodo Bodo Awards
Juslin bodo Bodo was named a National Freshman of the Year and a Kyle Macy Freshman of the Year Finalist in 2023-24.
 
Lou Henson Award Finalist
Giffa was named a Lou Henson Award Finalist in 2023-24.
 
2023-24 Big South Postseason Awards
Head Coach Alan Huss was named the Big South Coach of the Year becoming the 2nd coach in program history to earn the award (Scott Cherry). Duke Miles was named the Big South Newcomer of the Year and Juslin Bodo Bodo was named the Defensive and Freshman Player of the Year. Duke Miles, Kimani Hamilton & Kezza Giffa were named to the First Team All-Conference selections while Juslin Bodo Bodo and Titas Sargiunas were named to the All-Freshman team.