FACTS & STATS: Site: Dedmon Center (5,000) -- Radford, Virginia. Television: Big South Sports. Home Record: West Virginia 6-0, Radford 3-1. Away Record: West Virginia 0-0, Radford 1-7. Neutral Record: West Virginia 2-1, Radford 0-0. Conference Record: West Virginia 0-0, Radford 0-0. Series Record: West Virginia leads, 2-0.

GAME NOTES: The 24th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers begin a four-game road trip this evening, as they invade the Dedmon Center to take on the Radford Highlanders in non-conference action. Bob Huggins' squad has won six straight games and eight of its first nine overall to forge its way into the Top-25 this week. The most recent action for the team took place on Saturday, an 86-62 rout of UMBC. The Highlanders are sitting at four games under .500 on the year and have dropped two straight and three of five games in the month of December already. This will be the team's third games in the last five days, getting blown out at Georgetown on Saturday (110-51) and suffering an 85-74 setback at James Madison on Monday. This is the third all-time meeting between these two teams and the first since the 2004-05 season. West Virginia has won both prior affairs.

The Mountaineers made light work of the Retrievers over the weekend, outrebounding UMBC by 15 boards (39-24), while forcing 16 turnovers. Offensively, WVU shot 50 percent from the floor and converted 20-of-28 free- throw attempts, placing three players in double figures. Joe Alexander led the way, hitting 9-of-11 from the floor and finishing with 20 points. Darris Nichols poured in 16 points and Da'Sean Butler just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine boards. It has been a lot of the same for West Virginia on the season, as the team has gotten the job done at both ends of the court. The Mountaineers are boasting of a +29.4 scoring margin, averaging a robust 86.7 ppg, while holding foes to just 57.2. In addition, the team is holding a +6.7 rebounding edge and is forcing just over 20 turnovers per outing. Alexander leads the way in both scoring (16.2 ppg) and rebounding (7.1 rpg). Three others follow with double-digit averages in sharpshooter Alex Ruoff (15.4 ppg, 28 three-pointers), Butler (13.0 ppg) and Nichols (10.3 ppg).

While West Virginia has flourished at both ends of the floor, the Highlanders have struggled. Radford is averaging just 69.1 ppg, while allowing a generous 77.4. Radford has also been unable to avoid miscues, averaging 18.6 turnovers per outing. Despite the rather bland offensive numbers as a team, the squad does possess some scoring depth. Four Highlanders are currently averaging double figures, led by Martell McDuffy's 15.0 ppg. Kenny Thomas is hot on his trail with 14.0 ppg, while Amir Johnson and Joey Lynch-Flohr chime in with 12.9 and 11.0 ppg, respectively. However, the scoring dries up in a hurry outside of this quartet, with the next closest producer adding a mere 4.0 ppg. In the 11- point loss at James Madison on Monday, Thomas put up 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor. Johnson had a strong all-around game with 19 points, six rebounds and eight assists, but did turn the ball over seven times. McDuffy poured in 18 points, but the remainder of the roster could muster just 17 combined points.

The Mountaineers are clearly the better team in every facet of the game and should have no trouble kicking off their four-game road swing with an emphatic victory.

Predicted Outcome

West Virginia 88, Radford 51