ROCK HILL, SC—The non-conference slate has come to an end for the Winthrop men's basketball team as it turns its attention to its Big South Conference schedule which begins Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 1 p.m. when it hosts Longwood at the Winthrop Coliseum.
Winthrop enters the game with a 5-6 mark and is coming off a 100-72 victory over Reinhardt just before the Christmas break. All kids 14 and under will be admitted free to the game and adult tickets are buy one, get one free.
The 100 points in the win over Reinhardt was the second time under head coach
Pat Kelsey that the team reached the century mark and the first time it did so in regulation. The Eagles posted 56 points in the second half and were an impressive 67 percent from the floor. It is the first time an Eagle team shot 60 percent or better in a game since Nov. 26, 2011 in a 107-68 victory over Central Penn as the team shot 62 percent in the game. Winthrop dropped in 10 threes against Reinhardt as it was the 14
th time it has reached 10 or more threes in a game since Kelsey took over in 2012-13. The field goal percentage of 67 percent was the seventh best single-game shooting percentage in the program's history.
Winthrop takes on Longwood in a conference opener for the first time and faces the lancers for just the fifth time. The all-time series is even at 2-2 with the Eagles winning last year's matchup in Farmville, VA, 76-59. This will mark the 30
th conference opener for the Eagles as they are 12-17 all-time and 7-7 when opening the conference schedule at home.
Senior
Keon Moore is coming off 18 points in the win over Reinhardt as he was 6-for-11 from the field and 4-for-7 behind the arc and continues to lead the team in scoring at 16.7 points per game. Last season Moore led the team in scoring during conference play at 15.6 per game and scored double-figures in 14-of-16 games. Moore is second in the league shooting the three at 40 percent and second in threes per game as well at 3.09.
Moore is one of three Eagles averaging double-figures as sophomore
Keon Johnson is averaging 10.8 points per game coming off the bench in eight of 10 games played while senior
Andre Smith is third on the team scoring 10.5 per game.
Johnson had 12 points in 22 minutes off the bench against Reinhardt as he was 50 percent from the field (4-for-8) and behind the arc (2-for-4) and has double-figures in five of the last six games. Last season he started 15-of-16 league games and averaged 11.1 ppg while shooting 40 percent from the floor and 41 percent behind the arc. Smith is coming off 18 points as he was 6-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-6 behind the arc. Last year Smith averaged 9.8 ppg in conference and shot 43 percent from the floor and 40 percent behind the arc as he was second on the team with 32 triples against league foes.
Outside of that trio the Eagles have received solid contributions from junior
Tevin Prescott, sophomore
Jarad Scott and freshman
Xavier Cooks both offensively and defensively. Prescott is averaging a career-high 7.6 points and 6.3 rebounds while Scott is averaging 7.1 points and 4.2 rebounds. Prescott is shooting 60 percent from the floor and Scott is shooting 57 percent. Cooks is coming off a career-high 17 points in the win over Reinhardt as he was 7-for-8 from the floor and tied his career-high of three blocks. Cooks leads the team with 19 blocks and leads the team in defensive rebounds.
So far this season the Eagles have averaged 74.2 points through 11 games while Longwood is allowing that exact number through 13 games. Both teams are shooting 44 percent from the floor and Longwood shoots .351 from three while the Eagles are shooting .347. The Lancers are 0-7 on the road this year as they average 56 ppg while allowing 75.3.
The Lancers are coming off a 69-64 road loss to Ball State on Sunday and have lost four of their last five. Longwood has played a handful of solid competition on the road at James Madison, Eastern Michigan, George Washington, Iowa, Miami (OH) and Ball State.
In the offseason the Lancers lost 4-of-5 starters and added eight newcomers to the roster for the 2014-15 season so it will be a different team than the one the Eagles defeated last year in Farmville.
The team is led by redshirt senior Quincy Taylor's 17.2 ppg as he shoots 44 percent from the floor and 49 percent behind the arc. The transfer from the University of Alabama-Birmingham, where he was a two-year starter, is also tied for second on the team in assists and second on the team in steals. He's led the team in scoring four times and is coming off a team-high 20 points in the loss at Ball State. On the year he's played in 10 games and in six road games he's averaging 13.1 ppg.
Junior Shaquille Johnson is also averaging double-figures at 13.7 per game while redshirt junior Lotanna Nwogbo is averaging 12.2 points and 7.7 rebounds. Johnson shoots 47 percent from the floor and has a team-leading 47 assists while also averaging 4.2 rebounds. Nwogbo is a transfer from Tulane that is very efficient from the field shooting 61 percent and is solid at the foul line at 74 percent (39-for-53).
Taylor is fourth in the Big South in scoring and sixth in field goal percentage while Johnson is eighth in scoring and fifth in field goal percentage.
