RALEIGH, NC— Jimmy Gavin scored a career-high 38 points but Winthrop suffered its first loss of the season by falling 87-79 at North Carolina State, Friday night in non-conference men's basketball action.
With their first loss of the season, the Eagles are now 4-1 as they turn their focus to conference action with their Big South opener at Charleston Southern on Wednesday, Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. The Wolfpack capture their second straight win and improve to 4-2.
Gavin, who didn't start the game after missing practice on Thursday with an illness, scored 22 of his game-high 38 points in the second half as he tried to help the Eagles pull off a victory over an ACC foe in back-to-back seasons. His 38 points are tied for the sixth most in a single-game in the program's history and are the most points against North Carolina State since 1979. It was also the third highest point total in PNC Arena history.
Trailing by 12 points with 8:17 to play, the Eagles were not ready to fold as they battled back to within two points with just over five minutes left behind eight points from Gavin. Winthrop had led 55-51 with just over 15 minutes to play in the game, but North Carolina State went on a 19-3 run for a 12-point advantage.
Gavin started a 13-3 run by knocking down two free throws and then completed a three-point play with 6:34 left that cut the deficit to four points. Gavin then made the Wolfpack pay after a turnover on the other end as he drilled a three to make it 73-71. However, Cat Barber responded for NC State by getting to the rim for a score and then after a Bjorn Broman missed three, Maverick Rowan got to the basket and made his layup for a six-point advantage. The Eagles cut the deficit to four points a couple more times, but the Wolfpack made their free throws down the stretch.
Gavin was one of four Eagles in double-figures as Keon Johnson finished with 15 points while Xavier Cooks and Broman chipped in with 10 each. The Eagles finished the game shooting 39 percent from the field, 43 percent from three and 83 percent at the foul line (19-for-23).
Barber led the Wolfpack with 37 points as he was 19-for-22 at the foul line and also dished out eight assists. Rowan added 17 points while Caleb Martin finished with 11.
The Eagles fell behind 8-2 early in the game, but fought back to take a 12-11 lead at the 16:27 mark after Johnson knocked down back-to-back threes. The Wolfpack grabbed the lead right back but Gavin hit the Eagles third consecutive three for a 15-13 lead.
From there the remainder of the half was back-and-forth with the Wolfpack building a five-point advantage on a couple of occasions but another Johnson three with 5:31 left put the Eagles in front 29-28. The Wolfpack then outscored Winthrop 12-4 for a 40-33 lead with 1:12 left. That's when Gavin went to work behind the arc with two threes in the next two possessions by Winthrop to make it a one-point game at the break, 40-39 in favor of the Wolfpack.WINTHROP COACH PAT KELSEY and WINTHROP'S JIMMY GAVIN
Pat Kelsey Opening Statement:
"You want to tip your cap to Coach Gottfried and NC State, they are hard to defend. You come into a venue like this, I know their depth is a little bit depleted right now, but they are like Noah's Ark in a lot of ways. They have two of everything. Two bruisers inside, and two guys who can really stroke the ball from the perimeter with great size and length. And Cat Barber is really good, 22 free throws is a ton. You don't look at a stats sheet very often and see that from a player, and that's what he does. Our mission going into the game was to try to keep him out of the paint. At the end of the day, we were not able to do that to the level we needed to to win the game. Before the game, we said he lives there. They send his mail to the paint because that's where he lives. He is just constantly on the attack, putting foul pressure on you. That's a heck of a performance by him. And obviously to the young man sitting next to me (Gavin) who played courageously tonight, and fought his rear end off to keep us in the game."
Jimmy Gavin on his performance and health:
"I was feeling fine, I probably could have made a couple more plays for my teammates early, I missed a couple kick opportunities early. We always talk about the process and not keeping too high or low, and breaking the game into four minute segments. Each four minutes we are just trying to battle and trying to win each segment by one point. That was really the focus."
Jimmy Gavin on how today's game prepares the team for conference play:
"We really just talked about making sure that this loss, even though it's disappointing, doesn't affect our practice on Sunday. We all could have done things better tonight, we know that. We are going to look at the film, that's a credit to our coaching staff, they work really hard and they will be watching tape tonight and tomorrow to have a presentation for us on Sunday. Then we just have to get back to work with our heads held high. We competed, we came up short tonight, and we need to make sure this doesn't hang over. Then we open up conference play."
Pat Kelsey on positive take aways from tonight's game:
" A big positive was that we competed. That was a disappointed locker room I just left. They are competitors and they don't want a consolation prize. They were very very upset that obviously we were close but not close enough. I think there were several times where, especially at the 8-minute media timeout when it was a 12-point game, when they could have folded up their tents and gone home. But they came out, and we talk about diving the game up into four-minute wars, and during that war out of the media timeout we responded. We have done that several times this season in the face of adversity. Our kids keep competing, fighting and chipping away we cut it to four or five. Then NC State went on their little spurt at the end and it was all she wrote from that point.
