Radford Highlanders and Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs meet in Big South Tournament
Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs (11-17, 8-8 Big South) vs. Radford Highlanders (13-16, 10-6 Big South)
BOTTOM LINE: Radford and Gardner-Webb meet in the Big South Tournament.
The Highlanders are 10-6 against Big South opponents and 3-10 in non-conference play. Radford ranks third in the Big South with 11.5 assists per game led by Joi Williams averaging 2.5.
The Runnin' Bulldogs are 8-8 against Big South teams. Gardner-Webb is eighth in the Big South with 10.6 assists per game led by Ashley Hawkins averaging 4.9.
Radford's average of 6.9 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.4 fewer made shots on average than the 7.3 per game Gardner-Webb gives up. Gardner-Webb averages 7.0 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.8 more makes per game than Radford allows.
The teams did not play each other during the regular season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Williams is averaging 12.1 points for the Highlanders. Cate Carlson is averaging 1.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Elle Blatchford is shooting 38.6% from beyond the arc with 2.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Runnin' Bulldogs, while averaging 12.1 points. Hawkins is averaging 19 points and 4.5 assists over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Highlanders: 7-3, averaging 66.7 points, 25.6 rebounds, 11.8 assists, 6.6 steals and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 44.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 60.4 points per game.
Runnin' Bulldogs: 5-5, averaging 67.5 points, 26.3 rebounds, 10.0 assists, 6.7 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 42.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.1 points.
___
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
7 hours ago
- New York Post
Jets' Sauce Gardner savoring chance to face mentor Aaron Rodgers in Week 1
Sauce Gardner doesn't sound afraid to wave a Terrible Towel at Aaron Rodgers if the Jets beat their former quarterback in Week 1. Rodgers made his Steelers practice debut this week, and the NFL has set up a juicy season-opening matchup with the future Hall of Famer returning to MetLife Stadium to face the Jets at 1 p.m. Sept. 7 in his first game since he was cut by head coach Aaron Glenn. Advertisement 'I think it's going to be fun,' Gardner said. 'There's going to be a lot of smiling out there, a lot of competing out there. I'm looking forward to it. I know Aaron is a competitor. They've got DK [Metcalf] over there, who also is a competitor. I think it's going to be a pretty good game.' Gardner famously grabbed a cheesehead and brought it back home after the Jets beat the Rodgers-led Packers at Lambeau Field in 2022. The two then became close friends in a mentor-student way over two seasons as Jets teammates. 4 Sauce Gardner is pictured during a minicamp practice June 11. Bill Kostroun for the NY Post Advertisement Could Gardner have something up his sleeve if the Jets prevail again? 'Sure, sure,' Gardner laughed. 4 Aaron Rodgers is pictured during a minicamp practice June 12. Getty Images Advertisement He continued that he might have to 'tread lightly' if the game was in Pittsburgh, 'but we play here, so we're on home court. I have to think about it.' Glenn smiled at a Rodgers-based question and danced around it without saying the quarterback's name. 'Every game there is a lot of noise because they're so critical as far as wins and losses,' he said. 'I don't care who that opponent is. It just so happened to be Pittsburgh. Listen, they have a lot of good players on that team. They have a damn good coach who I'm fond of, but our players are going to be ready to play every game. And I know that for a fact.' 4 Aaron Rodgers and Sauce Gardner are pictured during a December 2024 practice. Bill Kostroun for the NY Post Advertisement The 2028 Summer Olympics will include 5-on-5 flag football. One player per NFL team will be permitted to join the 10-man roster. 'I definitely would be interested in it,' Gardner said. 'Being able to play for my country, I think it's a big deal. Every time it's the Olympics, I'm always tuned in.' Gardner joked that it would be a nice respite from preseason grind. 'It would be good to have that during training camp when it's tough,' Gardner said. 'Being able to go to the Olympics and have some fun for a little bit before we get into the season.' Advertisement One of the go-to trick plays in the Lions playbook the past four years was throwing passes to offensive tackles Dan Skipper, Penei Sewell and Taylor Decker. To keep things loose during Thursday's practice, Glenn had his offensive linemen catching go-balls. Did he see potential? Advertisement 'Absolutely not,' Glenn laughed. 'That's going to be a work in progress, I'll tell you that.' CB Michael Carter II missed four games last season, including two of the last three, due to a nagging back injury. Carter was cleared to begin rehabbing in February. Advertisement 4 Jets cornerback Michael Carter II at a press conference. Bill Kostroun/New York Post He said he mixed in medical treatments with three or four rehab sessions per week over a six- or seven-week period. 'I'm in a lot better place now,' Carter said. 'I did the work in the offseason and everything like that and then throughout OTAs. So I feel really good.' Advertisement The Jets signed OG Marquis Hayes and undrafted rookie DE Kingsley Jonathan to take the roster spots of OG Zack Bailey and CB Tre Swilling, both of whom were waived.
New York Post
9 hours ago
- New York Post
Sauce Gardner feels ‘really good' about Jets contract talks as he takes high road with minicamp status
In a beautiful coincidence, Sauce Gardner expressed optimism that his contract talks with the Jets are headed in the right direction while standing in front of a backdrop advertising Cash App. Gardner participated in mandatory minicamp this week instead of holding out and accepting a fine to send a message about urgency and leverage in negotiations. Advertisement Veterans Trey Hendrickson (Bengals) and T.J. Watt (Steelers) are trying the opposite path. 'I just wanted to show my teammates and the coaches how much I'm bought into this,' Gardner said after Thursday's practice. 'I want to win. I want to be a part of changing the organization.' Gardner's first three seasons include a Defensive Rookie of the Year award, two Pro Bowls and two First-Team All-Pro selections. 4 Sauce Gardner pictured during the Jets' minicamp session on June 11, 2025. Bill Kostroun for the NY Post Advertisement 4 Sauce Gardner addresses reporters during a press conference on June 12. Bill Kostroun for the NY Post He is due $5.2 million this season and is under team control on a fifth-year option in 2026. The easy solution is to make Gardner the NFL's highest-paid cornerback sooner than later and avoid the flashbacks to standoffs with Jamal Adams and Darrelle Revis. No need to convince head coach Aaron Glenn — a former Pro Bowl cornerback for the Jets — on the value of lockdown coverage. Advertisement That contract ceiling — occupied momentarily by the Texans' Derek Stingley Jr. at an average annual salary of $30 million over three years — only will continue climbing, and Stingley (No. 3) and Gardner (No. 4) were back-to-back picks in the 2022 draft. There is plenty of room between Stingley and the No. 2 option, Panthers' Jaycee Horn ($25 million per year over four seasons). 'My main focus is being the best football player I can be,' Gardner said, 'but my team and the Jets have been talking, and I feel really good about how the talks have been going. I don't really want to get into the numbers.' Advertisement 4 Sauce Gardner is pictured during a Jets minicamp session on June 11. Bill Kostroun for the NY Post General manager Darren Mougey could play hardball and make Gardner wait another year, but it gets tricky with receiver Garrett Wilson and Gardner on the same contract timeline and only one franchise tag available per offseason. Not to mention 2026 free agents Jermaine Johnson and Breece Hall. 'Since Day 1, [Wilson and I] came here saying we have to push each other because we want to help the organization,' Gardner said. 'If you win in New York, it's big for your legacy individually, big for the organization. 'Fast-forward, we're going into Year 4 together, and we always talk about competing at practice and how we have to make each other better because we are the building blocks for this organization. We are the homegrown talent that A.G. talks about.' Critics — and Gardner strangely has more than most top players — say the 24-year-old star took a step back last season when he wasn't named a Pro Bowler or an All-Pro. And they point to his low three-year interception total of three compared to Singley's 11. Advertisement 'His standard is so high because he's such a different player than everybody else on the field,' cornerback Michael Carter II said. 'He's focused, locked in. His mindset doesn't change one way or the other.' 4 Sauce Gardner is pictured during the Jets' minicamp session June 10. Bill Kostroun for the NY Post Gardner appreciates the challenge from Glenn and defensive coordinator Steve Wilks to chase perfection. 'I know I'm not perfect,' Gardner said, 'but the fact that [Wilks] is trying to get perfection out of me is what I need. I've had a lot of early success in the league, and the last thing I need is a new regime to come in here and allow me to be complacent — not saying that's who I am. It's great to have those types of guys who are going to demand a lot out of me and push me in ways I've never been pushed before.' Advertisement Gardner still feels like an 'underdog' as a Cincinnati product. 'Everybody was saying, 'He's going to be an All-Pro,' but they didn't really believe that was going to happen until it happened,' Gardner said. 'Then they quickly jumped ship. I'm really used to it. I always feel like I have something to prove every year.' The new defense is expected to be more blitz-heavy and man-to-man-coverage based than what Gardner previously experienced. Advertisement Is he ready for a new role? 'I thank them every day because they put me in a position to make plays,' Gardner said. 'Not me finding ways to make plays and trying to do Herculean things. They are putting me, the rest of our secondary and our whole defense in a position to make plays.' And playmakers get paid big bucks.
Hamilton Spectator
14 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Sauce Gardner says new Jets coaches trying to get ‘perfection' out of him is what he needs
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Sauce Gardner is trying to cook up an even better version of himself this season for the New York Jets. And the star cornerback's new defensive coordinator is pushing him to get there. 'It's so many things that I feel like Sauce can do,' Steve Wilks said during the Jets' three-day minicamp this week. 'Again, the word 'consistent.' He's been a Pro Bowl player. How consistent can he be to take it to another level? And that's one of the things that I challenged him Day 1 when we had our conversation.' Gardner saw Wilks' comments and appreciated them. 'He was talking about me just being the same each and every week, and that's borderline perfect,' Gardner said Thursday. 'I know I'm not perfect, but the fact that he's trying to get perfection out of me is what I need.' Gardner was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft out of Cincinnati and established himself as one of the league's top cornerbacks during his first two seasons with the Jets, which included being selected the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year and making the All-Pro team in consecutive years for then-coach Robert Saleh and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. But after what has been perceived by some as a down season — he didn't make the All-Pro or Pro Bowl teams — Gardner is out to prove his naysayers wrong. 'I feel like it's always been noise surrounding me after each of my years that I've played,' he said. 'I've always been like the underdog.' And Wilks and new coach Aaron Glenn are helping provide the motivation. 'The last thing I need is a new regime to come in here and just allow me to be complacent,' Gardner said. 'Not saying that's who I am, but it's just great to have those types of guys that's going to demand a lot out of me and just push me in ways that I've never been pushed before.' Gardner's first two seasons had some comparing him to Pro Football Hall of Famer Darrelle Revis in the way teams had to be wary whenever they threw the football in his direction. Some of Gardner's critics, though, said he often got away with holding receivers and his coverage last season slipped. Also, Gardner had just one interception and a career-low nine passes defensed. 'I feel like I played pretty smooth,' Gardner said. 'After all of my years, I always think there are things I can be better on. But it's never as bad as people try to paint it to be.' The analytics site Pro Football Focus supports Gardner's assessment, giving him a 91.9 coverage grade since 2022 that leads the league. His 46 forced incompletions are an NFL best in that span, as is his 0.60 yards per cover snap. 'I felt like, and you guys feel the same way, that he's one of the top corners in the league, but that consistency of being that dominant player each and every week, that's what we're looking for and that's been his challenge this offseason,' Wilks said. 'He's very gifted and I told him sometimes your greatest strength is your greatest weakness. He's a guy that sometimes that 85% is still better than everybody around him. 'So his thing is, and I told him, compete against yourself. That's where he has to get better, which he will.' Glenn and new general manager Darren Mougey believe Gardner is a foundation piece for the franchise, which is why the Jets picked up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract. Gardner is in line for an extension — he declined to say whether he wants to be the league's highest-paid cornerback — and opted to participate in mandatory minicamp rather than hold out to try to push for a new deal. 'My main focus is being the best football player I could be,' he said. 'But my team and the Jets have been talking and I feel pretty good about how the talks have been going.' The same for those talks Gardner has been having with Glenn and Wilks about his business on the field. 'Here's what I want Sauce to do and here's what I've talked to him about who he needs to be,' said Glenn, a three-time Pro Bowl pick during his playing days as a cornerback. 'When you do lead, just let your influence do all the talking. Like, how do you operate in the huddle with the players, in the locker room That speaks more than the rah-rah guy. 'And he understands that because influence to me is what really leadership is about. Like, how do you influence your other teammates? How do you influence people around you no matter what? And I think he's done a really good job of that.' ___ AP NFL:
