ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop men's basketball is coming off its first loss of the season as it looks to the friendly confines of the Winthrop Coliseum to get back on track when it hosts East Tennessee State, Monday evening at 7 p.m.
Winthrop enters the game with a 2-1 record while ETSU shares the same record and is fresh off a 98-87 victory over UNC Asheville on Saturday.
In four seasons Eagle basketball head coach
Pat Kelsey the team is 24-7 at home, where the Eagles have been traditionally tough to beat and are currently riding a six-game winning streak. The home court has also been kind to the Eagles under Kelsey as they are 11-3 when playing at home following a road loss.
Winthrop will look to regain the form that provided the 2-0 start to the season, which was keyed by taking care of the basketball. In the loss to Savannah State on Thursday, the Eagles committed 19 turnovers. In the first two games Winthrop totaled only 20.
Redshirt senior
Keon Moore has continued to be the top scorer on the team as he's coming off his second 20-point game of the season as he was 7-for-16 from the field and finished with 20 points. His 21.0 ppg is second in the Big South and he's ranked 5
th in the league in field goal percentage (.488).
Moore is one of two players on the team averaging double-figures as senior
Andre Smith is averaging 13.3 ppg and has been in double-figures in every game this year. Smith is also leading the team with 14 assists and six steals.
Sophomore
Keon Johnson struggled from the field in the loss at Savannah State after scoring 19 in the win at Clemson. Johnson was 0-for-8 from the field and 0-for-5 behind the arc, but returns to the Winthrop Coliseum where he led the team in scoring average in 2013-14 and shot 45 percent from the floor and 51 percent from three. He is third on the team in scoring at 6.7 ppg
This will be just the second ever meeting between Winthrop and ETSU. The Eagles captured a 76-66 win in Johnson City, TN behind an 8-for-17 effort behind the arc and four players in double-figures.
The Buccaneers opened the season with a loss at Valparaiso before opening its home slate with a 111-66 victory over Virginia-Wise and then the win on Saturday over Asheville. The Bucs scored 53 points in the first half against the Bulldogs behind 50 percent shooting as they were 9-for-23 from three. ETSU finished the game with 15 threes after going 6-for-10 in the second half.
Senior guard Rashawn Rembert led all scorers with 31 points as he hit eight threes and also had two assists and three steals. Rembert is second on the team in scoring at 17.3 ppg. The top scorer for ETSU is senior guard Jalen Riley at 21.3 ppg, who came off the bench for 16 points in the win over Asheville.
In last year's meeting, Rembert had nine points while Riley came off the bench for 12.
