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ROCK HILL, SC-- The Winthrop men's basketball team hits the road for two consecutive road games beginning with Charleston Southern, Wednesday night at the CSU Fieldhouse at 7:30 p.m.
Winthrop (6-7, 0-1 BSC) looks to bounce back after dropping its Big South Conference opener on Saturday against High Point at home, 74-61.
It was a game that was tied at 44-44 with 11:04 to play after a John Brown jumper in the lane. That jumper tied the game for the fifth time and sparked a run that gave the Panthers the lead for good. Winthrop was just 3-for-12 over the final 11 minutes of the game.
In order to get back on the winning track, Winthrop faces a Charleston Southern team that is the favorite to win the South Division in the Big South Conference. The Eagles will look to avoid their first 0-2 start in league games for the first time since the 2008-09.
The Eagles have dealt with injuries and illnesses over the last week and all seem to be getting healthier and near 100 percent except junior
Christian Farmer, who is likely still a week or so away from returning. Farmer's last game was at Auburn where he poured in a career-high 15 points to lead the Eagles to a victory. He has been nursing an elbow injury since.
Sophomore guard
Derrick Henry, the team's leading scorer at 13.5 points per game has been dealing with a leg injury since the days leading up to the game at Auburn. Since his injury occured he has averaged 9.5 points while shooting just 32 percent from the field and 3-for-15 behind the arc (20 percent). Redshirt senior
Gideon Gamble has picked up some of the scoring slack as he's now averaging 10 points per game and 12.3 since Henry's injury.
Junior
Joab Jerome is averaging 8.8 points on the year while shooting 48 percent from the floor and has averaged 11 points per game since Henry's injury.
Defensively the Eagles have struggled the past two games North Carolina Central and High Point combined to shoot 45 percent from the floor and 44 percent behind the arc (16-for-36). Winthrop struggled in the two games behind the arc at 5-for-24, but from the field minus the three-point attempts the Eagles have shot 49 percent from the field.
Charleston Southern enters the game with a 6-6 record and coming off an 81-74 victory in its Big South opener on Saturday at Radford.
It was the second consecutive win for the Buccaneers, who have won five of their last six games. In three of those games they've reached the 100-point mark (all three times at home).
The Buccaneers are the second-highest scoring team in the conference at 76.6 points per game and face the Eagles who are second in defensive scoring at 61.2.
One of the keys to the offensive success for Charleston Southern is its ability to score behind the arc. The Bucs are ranked third nationally in three-point field goals per game (9.5) and are shooting 37 percent on the year.
Leading the offense is the duo of sophomore guards Arlon Harper and Saah Nimley, who are averaging 15.7 points and 15.1 points respectively. Harper is shooting 49 percent from the floor and 43 percent from three (23 made) while also averaging two steals per game. Nimley has knocked down the most threes on the team at 27 and is averaging 5.1 assists per game (2nd in the Big South).
Nimley paced the Buccaneers offense at Radford with 20 points as he was one of five players in double-figures as they connected on 14 threes.
This will be the 58th meeting between Winthrop and Charleston Southern. Winthrop captured 17 straight in this series before falling 57-54 in 2010 and CSU has won the last three meetings at home. Winthrop leads the all-time series 35-22 and is 29-22 against CSU in regular season meetings.