ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop is set to play its second game in three days as it will look to rebound from Wednesday's loss at Auburn as it travels to Hammond, LA to take on Southeastern Louisiana Friday evening at 8 p.m. at the University Center.
Winthrop has lost three of its last four games and is 4-5 on the year as it looks to end a four-game road losing streak. The game is a return game from the final season of the Bracketbuster matchups. Winthrop won the first and only meeting 66-52 in Rock Hill on Feb. 23, 2013.
The game can be heard live on 104.1 The Bridge or fans can pay to watch on the LionVision at
www.lionsports.net/watch/?Live=301.
The quick turnaround could be exactly what the team needs after its worst shooting night of the season in the 80-62 loss at Auburn. Winthrop shot 34 percent from the field, 15 percent behind the arc and was just 10-for-23 at the foul line.
The Eagles leading scorer
Keon Moore, who is averaging 16.7 points per game, had his poorest shooting night as an Eagle as he was 4-for-21 from the floor and 2-for-11 behind the arc. Moore entered the contest shooting 47 percent behind the arc, ranking 24
th nationally. He is still shooting 42 percent from three on the year which ranks first in the Big South and he's second in threes per game at 3.11.
The second leading scorer on the team, sophomore
Keon Johnson, did not play in the Auburn game due to not adhering to the team's academic policies, but is eligible to return to the line-up against the Lions as he is five points shy of 500 in his brief career. Johnson is averaging 11.3 points per game while shooting 36 percent from the floor and 88 percent at the foul line. He's averaged 14.8 points per game in four games on the road this season.
Perhaps the biggest story over the last few games has been the production from the post players. Junior
Tevin Prescott is coming off a career-high 17 points as he was 7-for-10 from the field and is now averaging 7.1 points per game and shooting 63 percent from the floor. Sophomore
Jarad Scott is fourth on the team in scoring at 7.3 ppg and is shooting 59 percent from the field. Prescott leads the team with 6.2 rebounds per game and Scott is fourth on the team at 4.4. Freshmen
Xavier Cooks and
Joseph Lopez have been doing a lot of dirty work for the Eagles. Cooks is coming off six points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Lopez came off the bench for two points and nine rebounds at Auburn. Cooks leads the team in blocks and is second at 5.8 rpg.
In the last four games, Prescott has averaged 10.3 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 74 percent from the floor. Scott has averaged 10.8 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 73 percent from the field.
Winthrop is 1-4 away from the Winthrop Coliseum this season as the team is averaging 67 points while allowing 74.8. Moore is the team's top scorer on the road at 15.6 ppg while Johnson has increased his average in road games at 14.8 per game.
One of the more intriguing storylines of the game is that Winthrop Hall of Famer Tyson Waterman will face his former team as he's currently on the coaching staff at Southeastern Louisiana as an assistant coach. Waterman helped the Eagles to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1998-99. The 1996 Big South Conference Rookie of the Year led the Eagles to back-to-back Big South Titles and NCAA Tournaments in 1998-99/1999-2000. He ranks fourth all-time at Winthrop in career points with 1,461.
The Lions enter the game at 2-8 and have lost three straight, but this will be just their second home game of the season. Southeastern won its home opener over Tennessee Tech just two days after falling to the same opponent on the road. The Lions fell 81-62 at Tech on Nov. 24 only to turn around and win 86-65 in the home opener.
Southeastern has faced an impressive schedule with road games at Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Gonzaga and UTEP.
Junior Zay Jackson leads the Lions in scoring at 16.0 per game as well as assists (37) and steals (14). Jackson is shooting 42 percent from the field and 34 percent from three while he's 23-for-27 at the foul line (85%). He led the Lions with a career-high 26 points at UTEP and has been the team's leading scorer in four games so far.
Second on the team in scoring is sophomore guard Joshua Filmore at 12.4 per game as he's the top three-point threat on the team with 25 made threes. He is second on the team in assists (21) and steals (12). He has a couple of 20-point games under his belt this season with 27 in the home win over Tennessee Tech and the road win at Langston with 25. Two players rank third on the team in scoring at 9.5 points per game. Junior guard Andrew Guillory has started all 10 games and in addition to averaging 9.5 ppg, he's pulling down 3.0 rpg. Senior center DeVonte Upson is averaging 9.5 ppg, 8.1 rpg and 1.6 blocks per game. Upson shoots 60 percent from the floor and has a team-high 45 free throw attempts.
Offensively the Lions have averaged 64.4 points per game while allowing 73.7. They are one of the top 70 free throw shooting teams in the country at 72 percent.
Despite there only being a little over a year separation from when the two teams last met, only one player for Southeastern was on the roster Feb. 23, 2013 and that is senior Onochie Ochie. He posted nine points, three rebounds, three blocks and two steals in 19 minutes off the bench against the Eagles.
