ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop is set to return to action after a seven-day break for final exams for the fall semester as it heads to Auburn, AL Wednesday evening to face Auburn at 9 p.m. The game will air on the SEC Network.
The game begins the final week of non-conference action for the Eagles as they enter the game with a 4-4 record. It will also be the beginning of three games in a five-day span as the Eagles look to finish non-conference play with a winning record for the third straight season. Following the Auburn game the Eagles will head further west to Hammond, LA to take on Southeast Louisiana Friday evening at 8 p.m. and then quickly turn around on Sunday and host Reinhardt University at 2 p.m.
Winthrop returns to the site of head coach
Pat Kelsey's first victory against an opponent from one of the Power Five conferences when it defeated Auburn 74-67 on Dec. 22, 2012. It was the 10
th game of Kelsey's head coaching career. The all-time series favors the Tigers 3-1 while the Eagles are 3-22 all-time against members of the Southeastern Conference.
Redshirt senior
Keon Moore led the Eagles with 17 points and sophomore
Keon Johnson added 14 points to help Winthrop end a two-game skid with a 96-51 victory over Mars Hill prior to exams. It was the largest margin of victory during Kelsey's tenure and the largest for Winthrop since an 85-41 victory over VMI on Jan. 23, 2008.
Moore continues to lead the team in scoring at 17.3 points per game, which ranks fourth in the Big South Conference. His 3.25 three-point field goals per game ranks 28
th nationally and he's 24
th in the nation shooting 47 percent behind the arc. Johnson has four straight games in double-figures and has pushed his scoring average to 11.3, which ranks second on the team. In the last three games he's 21-for-23 at the foul line and he ranks second in the Big South shooting 88 percent at the foul line. Johnson has averaged 14.8 points in four road games.
So far the Eagles are 1-3 on the road this season averaging 68.2 points per game with the lone victory coming at Clemson on Nov. 17. Two of the team's road losses have come by three points or less.
Senior
Andre Smith continues to add to his assist total as he had four against Mars Hill and now has 43 on the year, which is more than half of his career-best 81 in 2013-14. He's averaging 9.5 points per game and is ranked third in the Big South at 5.4 apg.
Sophomore
Jarad Scott and junior
Tevin Prescott have provided the inside scoring for the Eagles. Scott is averaging 7.4 points and 4.1 rebounds while Prescott is averaging 5.9 points and 6.1 rebounds.
Auburn, under the direction of first-year head coach Bruce Pearl, enters the game on a three-game losing streak and coming off a 72-61 loss at Clemson on Sunday as it fell to 3-5 on the year. The losing streak began at Texas Tech on Dec. 3 as the team will play its fourth game over the last 15 days. The Tigers are 2-1 at home on the year, averaging 80.7 ppg. The only loss came to Coastal Carolina on Dec. 5, 58-54.
Senior guard KT Harrell leads the Tigers in scoring at 18.0 per game as he's a 46 percent shooter and leads the team with 21 threes. Junior forward Cinmeon Bowers is averaging a double-double with 12.3 points and 11.5 rebounds. He had his fifth double-double of the season against Clemson with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Senior Antoine Mason scored 19 points in the season-opener, but missed the next six games before returning to score 14 off the bench at Clemson.
Harrell, an All-SEC second team preseason selection, has scored in double-figures in 7-of-8 games played with five 20-point games.
In the three wins for Auburn it has shot 46 percent or better from the field while it has failed to reach 40 percent in the five losses. In the three wins the Tigers have done a good job getting the foul line as it is 72-for-100 in those games while opponents are 38-for-61. In the losses Auburn is 42-for-75 while its opponents are 81-for-122.
