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ROCK HILL, SC-- The Winthrop men's basketball team looks to end a three-game skid as it heads to Lexington, VA to take on Virginia Military Institute, Saturday afternoon at Cameron Hall.

The Eagles look to avoid an 0-3 start in league play as they take on a VMI team that is 7-7 on the year overall and off to a 2-0 start in the Big South.

Winthrop (6-8 overall, 0-2 Big South) has lost three straight games, in which it has averaged 60.3 points while allowing 71.0. Opponents have shot 46 percent from the field and 39 percent from three (26-for-66).

Despite the three-game losing streak, Winthrop has shot 40 percent or better in all three games.

This will be the 26th meeting all-time as the Eagles hold a 14-11 advantage but have lost four of the last five meetings with VMI. In six of the last seven meetings, the game has been decided by under 10 points. Historically the Eagles are 8-3 all-time against VMI in games played in January (6-8 in other months).

On Wednesday the Eagles lost 75-63 at Charleston Southern on the road, despite shooting 8-for-16 behind the arc. It was the second straight game in which Winthrop has allowed 70 or more points.

The loss overshadowed the post production Winthrop received from sophomore's James Bourne and Larry Brown as the duo combined for 23 points and eight rebounds on 9-for-11 shooting. Bourne scored a career-high 11 points while Brown had 12 points.

Sophomore Derrick Henry still leads the team in scoring at 13.1 points, but is struggling to find his shot since his injury prior to the Auburn game as he was just 3-for-12 at Charleston Southern. He hit two threes in the second half to try and keep the Eagles in the game, but the Buccaneers kept answering with a three of their own.

Gideon Gamble (R-Sr.) led the team with 13 points and has scored in double-figures in four of the last five games. He was 3-for-4 behind the arc and is shooting 40 percent from three in the last five games. He's second on the team in scoring at 10.2 points per game and is shooting 44 percent from the floor on the year. Gamble has also been hitting the boards pulling down an average of 5.0 per game in the last five games.

VMI enters the game on a three-game winning streak and a record of 5-1 at home on the year with the only loss coming on Dec. 1 against Morgan State (81-80).

The Keydets have scored 80-plus points in each of the last three games and five of the last seven games.

Senior Stan Okoye, The 2012-13 Big South Preseason Player of the Year, leads the nation's number four offense (83.4 per game) with a scoring average of 20.9. His scoring average ranks 14th nationally and he's shooting 49 percent on the year from the field and 40 percent behind the arc. His 21 threes are the third most on the team.

D.J. Covington, a junior forward/center, is second on the team in scoring at 13.9 per game as he does all of his damage inside of the arc and is shooting 55 percent on the year. He's also tied for the conference lead in blocks per game at 2.8. The third VMI player averaging double-figures is junior guard Rodney Glasgow at 10.9 points per game as he is also averaging 5.1 assists.

As a team VMI ranks ninth nationally in threes per game at 9.1 and knocked down 12 in the win over Liberty on Wednesday.

The top three-point shooter for the Keydets is sophomore guard Brian Brown, who is averaging 9.3 points per game on the year and has a team-high 36 triples. Tim Marshall is second on the team with 23 threes (all but eight of his field goals on the year).

In VMI's seven losses on the year, only one time did it knock down 10 or more threes (opener at The Citadel).