ROCK HILL, SC—Following back-to-back losses the Winthrop men's basketball team heads to Virginia in hopes of ending its losing skid when it takes on Hampton on Sunday, Dec. 29 at 2 p.m.
It is the first time this season the Eagles have lost consecutive games as they are now 6-4 on the year. Winthrop faces a Hampton squad that has also lost two straight games and is 5-7 on the year with a home mark of 3-1.
The Eagles are coming off their first home loss of the season as they fell 62-57 after falling behind by 20 points in the second half. Winthrop scored a season-low 17 points in the first half after shooting just 23 percent from the field before dropping in 40 points in the second half and making the game exciting over the final five minutes.
So far this season the Eagles are 1-3 on the road with the lone victory coming at East Tennessee State, but is 0-2 in the state of Virginia with losses at Virginia Commonwealth and Virginia Tech. Hampton's only loss at home came at the hands of Delaware, 90-79.
This will mark just the fourth time the two teams have met as Winthrop leads the series 2-1 and won last year's meeting in Rock Hill, 50-43. It was the first game following Christmas break as the Eagles are 2-3 in those games over the past five seasons.
Keon Johnson led Winthrop in scoring against Wofford with 18 points as he scored 15 or more points for the third straight game and earned the Big South Conference Freshman of the Week honors on Dec. 22. He currently leads the team with a 13.9 average and is shooting 45 percent from the field and 48 percent behind the arc. He also leads the team in free throws made at 33 and shooting 85 percent at the foul line.
Senior
Joab Jerome is second on the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game, but is coming off his lowest point total since early February of last season when he scored three points at UNC Asheville. Jerome was just 1-for-7 against the Terriers. He's shooting 49 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three and is third on the team with 20 assists.
The 57 points scored in the loss to Wofford was the lowest point total of the season as the Eagles are now averaging 75.2 points per game on the year and 69.0 points in four road games. On the road this season the Eagles have four players averaging double-figures with Jerome leading with 12.8 points while Johnson is averaging 12.3. Junior's
Andre Smith and
James Bourne are averaging 10.8 and 10.0 respectively. Jerome has been an impressive 8-for-15 from three in four road games.
Senior Du'Vaughn Maxwell and sophomore Deron Powers lead the Pirates in scoring and are the only players averaging double-figures. Maxwell leads the team at 14.0 ppg while Powers is averaging 12.3. Maxwell is a 6-7 forward that shoots 53 percent from the floor and also leads the team in rebounding at 6.5 per game. He has 44 blocks in 12 games and is ranked 10
th nationally at 3.67 per game. Powers is shooting 38 percent from the floor, 85 percent from the foul line (40-for-47), is second on the team with 11 threes and leads the team with 56 assists (4.7 per game). Sophomore Briand Darden is the team's top deep threat as he has 24 on the year and is shooting 38 percent behind the arc.
In the Pirates last game Darden and Maxwell scored in double-figures, but lost to James Madison 55-49. Darden had a team-high 14 points as he connected on four triples while Maxwell had 10 points and six rebounds. Powers had a tough night from the floor going 1-for-13 as he finished with four points, four rebounds and six assists.
