ROCK HILL,SC—After suffering its first Big South Conference loss of the season, Winthrop will look to get back on track when it begins a three-game road trip at Presbyterian College Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. at the Ross E. Templeton Center.
Winthrop is coming off a double-overtime loss to High Point as it is now 6-7 on the year and 1-1 in the league. The Eagles opened Big South play with back-to-back overtime games for the first time in school history.
After opening league play at home with a loss, Presbyterian College went on the road to Liberty to pick up a 62-58 win and is now 5-10 overall and 1-1 in the Big South. This will mark the 27
th meeting all-time between the two schools has Winthrop has won two straight in the series and leads 15-11 all-time.
This series has been a competitive one with eight of the last 11 meetings have been decided by seven points or less. In fact the last four matchups in Clinton, SC have been decided by seven points or less and three of those games decided by a single possession. Winthrop has lost four straight on the road this season since its win at Clemson on Nov. 17.
The Eagles suffered their first loss in league play to High Point in a 90-87 double-overtime contest. The Eagles rallied from an 11-point second half deficit to force the extra period. It was the third straight game between Winthrop and High Point that went down to the wire as the last three meetings have been decided by a total of six points.
Senior
Keon Moore poured in a career-high 30 points against the Panthers after tying his career-best of 27 points prior to the game in the win over Longwood. He continues to lead the team in scoring at 18.5 points as he's now ranked third in the Big South. In two league games, he's averaging 28.5 ppg while shooting 49 percent from the field and 55 percent from three. Moore ranks is the only player in the Big South to rank in the Top 5 of scoring, free throw percentage, field goal percentage, three-point field goals per game, three-point field goal percentage and steals. He ranks 24
th nationally in three-point field goal percentage (45%) and 7
th in threes per game (3.46).
Moore is one of three guys averaging double-figures as sophomore
Keon Johnson is averaging 10.7 points while senior
Andre Smith is third on the team with 10.2 ppg.
One of the brightest spots since beginning league play has been the emergence of freshman
Xavier Cooks on the offensive and defensive end of the court. Cooks has averaged 14.5 ppg in his first two Big South Conference games while shooting 67 percent. He's also averaged 9.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. On the season Cooks has improved to 6.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg and 1.8 bpg. He's coming off his first collegiate double-double as he had 16 points and 10 rebounds against High Point.
Winthrop is averaging a league-best 75.8 ppg while shooting 44 percent from the floor and 35 percent from three. This is the first season the Eagles ever opened up Big South play scoring 80 or more points in back-to-back games.
PC is coming off a win at Liberty as three players posted double-figures led by preseason All-Big South Second Team selection Jordan Downing's 14 while DeSean Murray and William Truss each added 10.
Downing leads the team in scoring at 16.9 ppg while Murray averages 14.0 and Truss is averaging 11.1. Downing is the team's top three-point threat at 38 percent (36-for-94) and shoots 43 percent from the floor. He has scored in double-figures in 13-of-15 games this season and had 28 in the league-opening loss to Gardner-Webb. The last time he faced the Eagles he scored 34 points and last season in two meetings he averaged 27 ppg while shooting 52 percent from the floor.
Murray missed 12 games before returning against Liberty, but has double-figures in all three games he's played this season. He's shooting 50 percent in the three games and has 25 free throw attempts (8.3 per game). The freshman forward posted a double-double in his return as he also had 11 rebounds and finished with four blocks.
Truss is another big body in the post that is averaging a team-high 8.1 rebounds while leading the team with 27 blocks as well. He's been in double-figures in six of the last seven games.
