Washington, DC---The best way to describe the Howard University men's basketball team as it prepares for a home showdown against Radford University is bruised, ill and battered.
    
The Bison (6-4), who are coming off a three games in six-day road trip, takes on the Highlanders (5-5) on Saturday at 4 pm in Burr Gymnasium.
    
The team has had a rash of medical setbacks that can rival anyone in college basketball this season.  After losing junior guard and team second-leading scorer James "JT" Miller in Las Vegas to a fractured hand that will keep him out four weeks, the Bison have since had a high ankle sprain to starting forward Tyler Stone and a toe injury to the nation's leading scorer James "J-Byrd" Daniel, III that kept him out of the Purdue game. 

But it does not stop there.  Junior forward Solomon "Solo" Mangham, who replaced Stone and was playing well, then suffered a high ankle sprain himself that kept him out of the Purdue game.
    
If that was not enough, starting guard Damon Collins, who was coming off a career-high 24 points in the win over NC Central, came down with a virus before the Purdue game and passed out during the first half.
      
Kofi Andoh, who had been starting for Miller, suffered a broken nose in the second half of the Purdue game.
    
"We have faced similar situations the past two years," said Howard head coach Kevin Nickelberry, who has to be scratching his head.  "We made adjustments then and we will make them now.  There are going to be people playing different positions so we are going to have to simplify things and scale down the playbook."
    
The starting lineup is one probabilities.  It is unlikely that Collins and Andoh will play and Daniel is probable.  Dalique Mingo, a 6-2 sophomore guard, who just missed a double double (12 points, career-high 9 rebounds) against Purdue and Mangham may get the nod along with junior center Marcel Boyd, power forward Tyler Stone and Daniel.

In the Highlanders, the Bison will face a team that has posted victories over Georgetown and Penn State this season, but they have lost two in a row.
    
"We know that Radford is a god basketball team," said Nickelberry.  "They have some quality victories and they have some veteran players.  But we can't concern ourselves about that.  We just need to focus on playing Howard University basketball and everything else will take care of itself."

GAME NOTES: The Bison are 3-0 at home this season…the series is tied at 2-2 with the Highlanders having won 61-52 last season…Mike Jones and Nickelberry both served as assistant coaches under then head coach Mike McLeese.

NEXT UP: Howard hosts UMBC next Saturday at 4 pm. In the Burr.
 
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