ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop men's basketball will host Presbyterian College Saturday afternoon in its Big South Conference home opener after opening league play earlier this week with a win at Charleston Southern.

GAME SNAPSHOT 
Winthrop (5-1, 1-0 BSC) vs. Presbyterian College (3-4, 0-1 BSC)
Game Time: 4 p.m. EST / Site: Rock Hill, SC (Winthrop Coliseum)
Live Video: BSN (Big South Network-Mike Pacheco/Bobby Stevens) / Audio: 104.1 The Bridge (pregame 3:30 p.m. with Dave Friedman/Ron Mikels)
Live Stats / Live Video / Live Audio

STAR WARS DAY/TOY DRIVE
The Athletic Department is running a Star Wars Day promotion on Saturday as well as a toy drive. The promotion is set for both the men's and women's game as the doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. with the women's team taking on Gardner-Webb. There will be three giveaways for adults and kids 12-and-under upon admission to the games. Fans can receive free admission by dressing as a Star Wars character or donating a new toy to Toys For Happiness for either game. For the women's basketball game, the first 25 fans to bring a toy will receive a limited edition Star Wars/Winthrop T-shirt, the second 25 fans to bring a toy will receive a limited edition Star Wars/Winthrop Can Cooler and the first 100 kids will receive their very own light saber. For the men's basketball game, the first 75 fans to bring a new toy will receive a limited edition Star Wars/Winthrop T-shirt, the second 75 fans to bring a new toy will receive a limited edition Star Wars/Winthrop Can Cooler and the first 500 kids will receive their very own light saber.

SERIES HISTORY
Winthrop and PC will meet for the 30^th time as the Eagles hold a slight edge in the all-time series at 17-12. The two teams first squared off on Jan. 25, 1979 in Clinton, SC with the Blue Hose winning 83-74. The Eagles have won four straight over the Blue Hose and five of the last six meetings. The last meeting came on Feb. 28, 2015 in the regular season finale for both teams as the Eagles won 83-53 behind 21 points from Keon Johnson.

GAVIN INKS NAME INTO RECORD BOOK, HONORED BY BIG SOUTH
Graduate senior Jimmy Gavin was named the Big South Conference Men's Basketball Choice Hotels Player of the Week after he averaged 30 points per game last week in two games at USC Upstate and North Carolina. He started his week with 22 points in the win over the Spartans, which included 10 straight second half points to help the Eagles overcome a nine-point second half deficit. His 38 points at North Carolina State were the most by an opposing player since 1979 and were the third highest point total in the history of PNC Arena. He also tied for the sixth most points in a single-game in the program's history.  

BIG SOUTH HOME OPENERS
The Eagles are 16-13 all-time in their home opener of league play. Winthrop won 82-72 in overtime over Longwood in its home/season opener last season and two of the last three home openers have gone to overtime. The Eagles are 2-3 in their last five home openers, but have won six of the last nine. All-time the Eagles have averaged 68.9 ppg in Big South home openers while allowing 68.7 ppg.

THE MATCHUP
The Eagles bounced back from their first loss of the season to start league play 1-0 by holding on for an 83-82 win at Charleston Southern this past Wednesday. Winthrop continues to score at a high mark as they've posted the third highest point total in the program's history through six games. The Eagles lead the Big South with a scoring average of 88.2 ppg and rank ninth defensively allowing 81.5 ppg. So far opponents have been shooting well behind the arc, averaging 9.2 threes per game against the Eagles and three times opponents have hit 10 or more threes. The Eagles hold a +3.8 margin on the boards and lead the Big South in total blocks (37) and blocks per game (6.17). PC enters the game scoring 76.1 ppg and allowing 74.4 as they are doing a majority of their scoring an average of 37.7 points in the paint per game. The Blue Hose only averaged 3.9 made threes per game and on 16.9 attempts per game behind the arc. In six of their seven games, the Blue Hose have either tied or scored more points off turnovers than opponents.  PC ranks first in the Big South in field goal percentage.
 
BACK-TO-BACK 30 POINT GAMES
For the first time since 1980 the Eagles had someone score 30 points in consecutive games as Keon Johnson posted 32 points at USC Upstate and then Gavin scored 38 at North Carolina State. The last time that happened was when Charles Brunson scored 30 points in three straight games in 1980. However, it was the first time it's ever been accomplished by two different players in the program's history.

WINTHROP STREAKS
Winthrop has won nine straight home games overall and six straight against Big South opponents. It is the longest streak of consecutive home wins since the Eagles won 26 straight over the span of the end of the 2005-06 season and the beginning of 2007-08. Winthrop has won 32 of the last 39 games at the Winthrop Coliseum. The Eagles are also holding on to a streak of 106 straight games with a made three-point basket (102 straight under Kelsey) and 24 straight games with at least five made threes.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Keon Johnson is coming off a 27 point performance in the win at Charleston Southern as he scored Winthrop's final 12 points of the game. He's averaging 24.7 ppg in the last three games and has double-figures in 10 straight games and 13-of-14. The last time he played against PC he led the Eagles with 21 points behind five three-pointers. Xavier Cooks had 19 points in the win at CSU, which was a career-high against a Big South opponent. He now has double-figures in three of his last four regular season league games and five of the last eight. Sophomore DeSean Murray leads the Big South in scoring after posting 28 in the league opener, passing Winthrop's Jimmy Gavin and High Point's John Brown to push his average to 20.7. Murray and Johnson were selected to the Big South Conference preseason First Team. The 6-5 forward has led the team in scoring in five of the seven games and in rebounding in three games. He has made 30 more free throws than anyone else on PC's roster and leads the team in steals with 16.

THE COACHES
Pat Kelsey is in his fourth season at the helm of the Winthrop men's basketball program. He holds a record of 58-44 in four seasons with appearances in the Big South championship game the past two seasons. The Eagles are 29-22 in Big South games under Kelsey. Greg Nibert is in his 27^th year at PC and has over 400 wins during his career.   

MILESTONES
Johnson reached 800 career points exactly after scoring 12 against Jacksonville State. He's on pace to surpass 1,000 career points this season and is now 26 points from 900. He has 132 three-pointers made, which ranks 12^th all-time and needs eight more to crack the Top 10. Duby Okeke is on a record pace for blocked shots in a single-season. Okeke had five blocks at CSU on Wednesday and now has 14 in the last three games, which is the best three-game stretch in his career for blocks. In six games Okeke has 22 blocks (3.67 bpg) and the program record for blocks in a season is 66 by Josh rant in 2002-03. Okeke has 68 career blocks and Cooks has 54. They are both on pace to crack the program's career Top 10 list as Eddie Gay and Heson Groves sit at 10^th with 76. Billy Houston is the all-time leader in career blocks with 139. If Okeke maintains his average he'll have over 100 blocks this season. If he even maintains an average of three blocks per game he'll still finish well ahead of Grant's 66.