ROCK HILL, SC—Looking for its second straight win, the Winthrop men's basketball team hits the road to take on a strong North Carolina Central squad Wednesday Night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
Winthrop enters the game with a 6-2 mark and as of games through Monday, Dec. 16 is tied for the most wins in the Big South Conference with Radford, Virginia Military Institute and Gardner-Webb. It is the program's first 6-2 start to a season since 2006-07.
The Eagles are fresh off a hard fought victory over Appalachian State on Sunday in which their aggressive play paid off by shooting 40 free throws and connecting on 27. Both teams looked a little rusty early but the Eagles went outscored the Mountaineers 19-6 over a three and a half minute span to open up the big lead and held on in the end to remain unbeaten at home on the year at 5-0.
So far this season the Eagles are 1-2 on the road with the two losses coming at Virginia Commonwealth and Virginia Tech. The one victory was at East Tennessee State on Nov. 19.
Senior
Joab Jerome is coming off a 20-point performance against Appalachian State, which earned him the Big South Player of the Week honors. Jerome was been the team's top scorer on the road this season at 13.3 points per game and shooting an impressive 62 percent from the floor and 7-for-10 from three.
He is one of four players on the team averaging in double-figures on the road for an Eagle team scoring 70 points per game in those three away contests. Freshman
Keon Johnson, who has back-to-back 15 point performances, averages 12.3 points on the road while junior's
Andre Smith and
James Bourne average 11.3 and 10.0 respectively.
Johnson and Jerome are both tied for the best scoring average on the team at 13.6 per game while Smith is averaging 12.8.
This will be just the second time the two teams have ever met as NCCU won last year's meeting 64-57 at the Winthrop Coliseum.
NCCU, who's mascot is also the Eagles, is also off to a 6-2 start and is coming off a road loss at IUPUI on Dec. 7. That loss ended a six-game winning streak that included wins at Campbell, North Carolina State, and Old Dominion.
The top three scorers for NCCU are guards led by senior Jeremy Ingram, who is tied for 7th nationally with a 23.1 average. Ingram has the ability to shoot the three (15 made) but is an aggressive player that has been to the line 91 times in eight games (11.4 average per game). He shoots 77 percent from the line and 42 percent from the field. He had 22 against Winthrop in last year's meeting and was a perfect 8-for-8 at the foul line.
Senior guard Alfonzo Houston has started 7-of-8 games he's played and is averaging 13.6 points. Junior Jordan Parks is third on the team at 9.4 points and leads the team at 7.0 rebounds.
NCCU is averaging 77.6 points per game and allowing just 61.5 points as opponents shoot just 37 percent from the floor and 25 percent behind the arc.
