The Radford Highlanders and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish meet Thursday in college basketball action from Joyce Center. Radford is 0-1 so far this year after a 10-point loss to Marquette. As for Notre Dame, this will be their season opener following a 24-11 campaign last year. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Radford had a forgettable season in 2021-22, going 11-18 overall with a 7-9 run in the Big South Conference. The Highlanders finished in fourth place in the standings behind Longwood, Campbell and High Point. Radford lost to North Carolina A&T in the conference tourney.
In their first action of the season against Marquette back on Monday, the Highlanders were outscored 42-34 in the first half. Radford mustered another 35 points from there in a 79-69 loss. Kenyon Giles was the top scorer on 15 points.
Over on the Notre Dame side, they managed a 24-11 overall record last season with a respectable 15-5 run in a tough Atlantic Coast Conference. That would leave the Irish in third place in the standings behind Duke and North Carolina.
Notre Dame had a shaky 2-5 run early in the season but outside of that the team didn’t lose consecutive games. After a loss to Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament, the Irish made it to the Second Round of the national tourney before losing to Texas Tech.
PICK: I’m probably staying with Notre Dame but not going near it. The Irish should be a pretty great offensive team again this year. They’ve added a couple of intriguing recruits in JJ Starling and Van-Allen Lubin, and if all the pieces fit together the Irish could do some damage in the ACC and national tournaments. As for Radford, they were out-rebounded 41-34 by marquee and shot just 20 percent (5-of-25) from 3-point range in their opener. This matchup isn’t going to be any easier.