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Radford (0-0) at Liberty (0-0) – 7:00 PM (ESPN+)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day is a matchup of teams expected to finish at the top of their conferences this season – the Radford Highlanders (Big South) travel to face in-state for Liberty (Atlantic Sun) in the Battle for the Blue Ridge. The Flames are coming off of a season in which they not only beat out Lipscomb in the A-Sun championship, they also recorded their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory with a win against Mississippi State in the first round last year. Most of the team returns this year – the Flames are led by Scottie James (12.6 PPG, 8.6 RPG) and Caleb Homesley (12.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG).
Radford is coming off of a season in which they were the Big South bridesmaid – they finished 2nd in the regular season behind Campbell and lost in the Big South championship game to Gardner-Webb. They haven’t played Liberty in two years, but Radford still hasn’t forgotten their game-winning 3-pointer against the Flames in the 2018 Big South championship game. This time around, the Highlanders have 3 starters returning from last year – including Justin Fields Jr. (10.8 PPG, 3.0 APG) who hit the aforementioned shot against Liberty.