ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop looks for a second straight road win as it travels to Lynchburg, VA to take on Big South Conference foe Liberty on Thursday night at 7 p.m. in the Vines Center.
The Eagles are coming off an 85-77 home loss to Radford on Jan. 17 as they enter the game with the Flames at 8-9 overall and 3-3 in the league. The Flames are 6-13 overall and 0-6 in the league as they've dropped six in a row. The game will air on ESPN3 and the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) or fans can listen to Dave Friedman call the action on 104.1 The Bridge.
This will mark the 51
st meeting in this series as the Eagles lead 35-15 all-time and have won six straight and nine of the last 10. These two teams last met on Mar. 5, 2014 at The HTC Center in the opening round of the Big South Conference Tournament with the Eagles prevailing 77-65 behind a record setting free throw performance. The Eagles set a Big South Tournament and school record by going 21-for-21 from the charity stripe.
In the loss to Radford the Eagles turned in their second best shooting performance of the season, finishing the game at 54 percent from the field. Sophomore
Keon Johnson led the Eagles with 21 points as he was 9-for-13 from the floor and 3-for-5 from three. It was his second straight game hitting the 20-point mark as he had 22 points in the win at UNC Asheville. In his last two games Johnson is 15-for-28 from the field and 7-for-13 from three. Johnson is second on the team in scoring at 11.8 and has scored in double-figures in three straight games.
Senior
Keon Moore is averaging a team-best 17.5 points (6
th in Big South) and is second in the Big South in three-point field goal percentage (.432) and third in the league in threes per game at 3.18. Moore has hit double-figures in 11 straight games and has multiple threes in eight of his last nine games. In addition to his offensive production, Moore has stepped up his play defensively with a team-high 1.71 steals per game that ranks fourth in the Big South. Moore has 29 steals through 17 games this season after finishing with 34 in 29 games last season.
Redshirt freshman
Duby Okeke continues to be a force for the Eagles inside on the defensive end and is chipping in offensively as well. Okeke has caught freshman
Xavier Cooks for the team-lead in blocks with 29 as each are third in the Big South at 1.71 per game. Since Big South play began, no other player in the league is averaging more blocks than Okeke with 3.17 per game (the only player averaging 3 or more blocks a game in league games only). In the last five games he has 18 blocks and is averaging 8.0 ppg and 4.0 rpg. His 8.0 scoring average in the last five games is fourth best on the team.
Winthrop has a team is 2-3 in the last five games and averaging 73.8 points while allowing 73.0 points. On the season the Eagles are ranked 42
nd nationally in scoring at 74.5 ppg and tied for 36
th nationally at 8.1 threes per game.
Liberty is coming off an 85-71 road loss at Longwood as it is in search of its first conference win as it returns home after playing two straight on the road and three of the last four.
The Flames come in averaging 62.2 points per game and shooting 43 percent from the floor while making 4.9 threes per game. In their loss to Longwood, the Flames shot 47 percent from the floor and were 24-for-33 at the foul line but committed 20 turnovers that led to a 28-9 advantage in points off turnovers for the Lancers. Liberty is averaging 17.0 turnovers per game and has committed 42 in the last two games.
Injuries have struck the Flames starting lineup as forward Tomasz Gielo played the first seven games of the season before being sidelined with an injury. Gielo had led the team in scoring through the first seven games at 12.0 per game. Three games into league play the Flames lost point guard Joe Retic, who averaged 7.0 points and was second in the league with 5.7 assists per game.
In Big South play the Flames are led in scoring by David Andoh at 11.0 per game as he's also averaging 5.5 rebounds. Andoh is a 6-7 forward that does his damage in the paint as he shoots 41 percent from the floor and 91 percent at the line. Andoh's season averages are 9.3 ppg and 6.2 rpg while shooting 43 percent from the field and 76 percent at the line.
Andrew Smith and Peter Moller are two of four players averaging 7 or more points per game at 7.8 each. Smith leads the team with 27 blocks and 7.3 rpg while Moller is second on the team with 18 threes. Smith dropped 17 points on the Eagles in the Big South Tournament with six rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
