ROCK HILL, SC—The Winthrop men's basketball team heads to Coastal Carolina Saturday for a 7 p.m. matchup as it looks to bounce back from a loss to Gardner-Webb and improve to 3-1 in the Big South Conference.
Winthrop is 8-7 on the year and 2-1 in the Big South as it takes on a Coastal Carolina team that is 9-8 overall and off to a 2-1 start in the league. The winner will definitely have a leg up in the standings as all four teams at 2-1 in the division are facing each other on Saturday. A victory for the Eagles would give them their first 3-1 start since 2007-08.
The Eagles followed their best three-point shooting performance of the season with their worst in a 56-51 loss to Gardner-Webb on Wednesday. The Eagles connected on 15 threes to defeat Charleston Southern, but then were just 4-for-20 behind the arc in Wednesday's loss. Winthrop couldn't get shots to fall as team's first four shots were all around the rim and it finished with a season-low in shooting percentage at .278.
Redshirt junior
Keon Moore scored 20 points in the loss as he has now scored 20 or more points in back-to-back games. He's the first player to do so since Andre Jones scored 24 points at Presbyterian College and 25 points at Gardner-Webb. Moore has averaged 17.6 points over the last five games. He is now second on the team in scoring at 11.6 points per game and is averaging 19.7 points per game in league play.
Freshman
Keon Johnson continues to lead the team in scoring at 11.8 ppg but he's only combined to score nine total points in the first three league contests as he hopes to break out of the slump at the HTC Center. Johnson is shooting 40 percent from the floor and 42 percent from three and has made 23 consecutive free throws as he's at 88 percent from the line on the year (43-for-49).
The Eagles have been without the services of senior
Joab Jerome for two straight games and he's questionable to return against the Chanticleers. Jerome had solid numbers against the Chanticleers in 2012-13 as he averaged 12.5 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 44 percent. He's increased those numbers to 17.7 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 53 percent in his three games played at the HTC Center.
Despite a tough shooting night in the loss to Gardner-Webb where he had five points after going 2-for-10, junior
Andre Smith is averaging 11.2 points and 2.1 assists over the last five games while shooting 41 percent from three. He's also a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line. He averaged 8.5 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting just 38 percent in the two games vs. Coastal last year.
Winthrop travels to take on one of its oldest and biggest rivals as it looks to turn things around quickly. It must do so in an arena it didn't have much success in last year shooting the ball. The Eagles are 1-2 at the HTC Center and averaged 53.7 points on 37 percent shooting.
Coastal Carolina leads the all-time series 39-36 as the two teams meet for the 76
th time. Winthrop has not won in Conway during the regular season since Feb. 24, 2007 in an 83-69 victory. However, Winthrop has won two of the last three games in the series and four of the last seven.
The Chanticleers started off the season 2-5, but are since 7-3 and have won two straight after losing the league-opener at Charleston Southern on Jan. 8. Coastal has scored 81 points in its last two games with wins at Gardner-Webb and at home over UNC Asheville.
Junior Josh Cameron is coming off a 29-point performance to lead Coastal over Asheville and is second on the team in scoring at 13.9 points per game as he's led the team in scoring eight times. He is the top scoring threat for Coastal behind the arc, statistically speaking, as he leads the team with 34 on the year and is shooting 42 percent from three. Freshman Elijah Wilson leads the team in scoring at 15.6 ppg as he also has three-point range with 28 makes on the year and shooting 34 percent. He's shooting 45 percent from the floor and has led the team in scoring eight times but just twice in the last nine games.
Junior guard Warren Gillis and sophomore Michel Enanga are the top two returning scorers in the matchup against the Eagles last season. Gillis averaged 13 points in the two games while shooting 48 percent and also pulling down 5.5 rebounds. Enanga averaged 4.5 points while shooting 50 percent and also had two blocks and three steals. Gillis is third on the team in scoring at 12.1 per game and Enanga is fourth at 7.1. Enanga is also second on the team in rebounding at 6.5.
