ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop basketball will host Gardner-Webb on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Winthrop Coliseum in a battle to remain near or at the top of the Big South Conference standings.
The game is part of the "Hoops For Troops" promotion as a way of saying thank you to all the brave men and women of Rock Hill and the surrounding areas who proudly serve our country. Admission is free for all military, police, firefighter and EMT along with immediate family members. Donations will also be taken at the door for the Folds of Honor Foundation.
Fans will be able to watch the game on the Big South Network or tune in to 104.1 The Bridge to listen to Dave Friedman with the play-by-play.
The race for a top seed and first round bye in the 2015 VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Conference Championship is heating up and there is a stockpile of teams within reach of a Top 5 seed. Winthrop is 13-11 overall and 8-5 in the Big South in a three-way tie for third while it is a half-game behind UNC Asheville in second and a game out of a three-way tie for first. Gardner-Webb is part of the three-way tie for third at 8-5 with the Eagles and Coastal Carolina and has an overall record of 16-10.
This will mark the second time the Eagles and Runnin' Bulldogs square off this season as Winthrop looks to avenge a one-point loss in Boiling Springs, NC on Jan. 10. Winthrop has won three straight at home and is 8-3 at the Winthrop Coliseum this season and 4-2 in league play.
Winthrop and Gardner-Webb meet for the 22
nd time as the Eagles hold a 12-9 lead in the all-time series but have lost four straight in the series (three of the games away).
During
Pat Kelsey's tenure at Winthrop, his teams have shown the ability to brush off losses and move on to the next game. That is even more evident when the Eagles return home immediately following a road loss as they are 16-4 under Kelsey.
On Wednesday the Eagles suffered a last second loss to High Point after John Brown hit two free throws with 3.5 seconds remaining for a 73-72 win.
Senior
Keon Moore led Winthrop with 25 points as he reached the 20-point plateau for the 10
th time this season. Moore leads Winthrop with an 18.5 average and has a chance to set the school's Division I scoring mark of 17.6 set by Ted Houpt in 1986-87.
Moore is one of three Eagles averaging double-figures as senior
Andre Smith is second on the team at 11.5 per game and sophomore
Keon Johnson is averaging 10.9. Smith is coming off an 11-point performance in which he was even questionable to play the game after hurting himself in practice on Tuesday but didn't seem bothered as he played 33 minutes and also dished out six assists. Johnson finished with eight points and four assists against the Panthers.
In the first meeting with Gardner-Webb, Moore and Johnson each had 15 points while Smith added 11 as the only players in double-figures. Winthrop shot 52 percent to build its halftime lead in that contest but Gardner-Webb got hot from three (seven in the second half) in the final 20 minutes and pulled off the win.
Freshman
Xavier Cooks nearly posted a double-double in the loss to High Point with 10 points and nine rebounds. Over the last five games he's averaging 8.0 points (3
rd best in that stretch), 7.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocks while shooting 64 percent.
Gardner-Webb has won three of its last four games but is coming off a 92-89 loss at home to UNC Asheville on Monday, Feb. 9. This year the Runnin' Bulldogs are 5-6 in road games and 3-3 in the league and captured an 87-78 victory in its last road game at Longwood on Feb. 3.
In six road games Gardner-Webb is averaging 74 points on the road and has hit the 80-mark four times. On the year they are averaging 75.7 ppg, which ranks 23
rd nationally. Jerome Hill averages a double-double at 19.1 points and 10.0 rebounds and is also averaging a double-double in league games with 19.4 points and 10.8 rebounds. He shoots 50 percent from the floor and has been to the line 251 times (more than half of the Eagles season total of 483 attempts). In the first meeting Hill had just 12 points and six rebounds but also had four assists and two blocks. He was the lowest of four players in double-figures as Tyler Strange led all scorers with 17.
Strange is averaging 8.3 points overall and 7.8 points in league games but tops the league in assists per game at 7.85, which is up to 8.62 in league games. His assists per game average ranks first in the country.
Tyrell Nelson, who scored 14 points and had 14 rebounds in the first meeting, is second on the team in scoring at 13.2 ppg as he also averages 6.5 rebounds and has a team-high 20 blocks.
