ROCK HILL, SC—The end of the regular season has arrived as Winthrop men's basketball hosts Presbyterian College, Saturday afternoon in a key Big South Conference contest at 1 p.m.
The Eagles are coming off a road loss at Campbell as they are 16-12 on the year and 11-6 in the league. Winthrop can clinch a first round by for next week's VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Basketball Championships with a win against a Blue Hose.
The game will be available for fans on ESPN3 or you can tune into WRHI.com and listen to Dave Friedman with the play-by-play.
Winthrop and the Blue Hose met earlier this season as the Eagles held on for a 57-56 win in Clinton, SC on Jan. 8. This will be the 29
th meeting between the two schools as the Eagles have won three straight and hold a 16-12 advantage in the series.
Winthrop will honor its seniors
Keon Moore and
Andre Smith prior to the start of the game. Moore has played 57 career games with the Eagles and has 936 career points as he's averaging a team-best 18.9 points, which ranks third in the Big South. Smith became the 21
st player in the program's history to reach 1,000 career points as he's second on the team in scoring this year at 10.9 per game.
Moore enters the game with 91 career threes as he's pursuing the single-season record of 100 set by Michael Jenkins in 2006-07. Moore has scored in double-figures in 21 straight games and led the team in scoring 20 times this year and four of the last five games. Even if Moore fails to score against PC, he'll own the single-season record for scoring average in Big South Conference games only by a Winthrop player. His scoring average of 20.3 in Big South games only is a school record as he can't finish any lower than 19.2 as the record was previously held by Melvin Branham with 18.6 ppg in 1993-94.
Smith is second on the team in scoring followed by sophomore
Keon Johnson at 10.8 as the two combined for just six points in the loss to Campbell on Thursday. However, during league play Smith has averaged 13.3 points and Johnson has averaged 11.0 points against league opponents at home.
Freshman
Xavier Cooks and junior
Tevin Prescott have been solid for the Eagles in the post. Over the last five games Cooks is averaging 10.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 blocks while shooting 61 percent. Prescott is averaging 9.2 points, 6.0 rebounds while shooting 57 percent during that span.
Cooks is just one blocked shot away from tying the program's freshman record for blocks in a single-season as he currently has 43. The record was set in 2008-09 by Chris Malcom. Teammate
Duby Okeke is also chasing that record as he has 41 on the year.
The Blue Hose enter the game at 10-20 overall and 6-11 in the league as they are fresh off an 80-69 win over Coastal Carolina on Thursday. The 80 points were the most in a game by the Blue Hose since falling 95-82 at Radford on Jan. 10.
PC is led by senior Jordan Downing's 16.7 points per game as he's shooting 43 percent from the field and 37 percent from three (65-for-176). He has scored in double-figures three straight games and 12-of-13 games since scoring nine points against the Eagles in the first meeting.
Big South Freshman of the Year candidate DeSean Murray is second on the team at 16.0 ppg and leads the team with 7.6 rpg. Murray missed 12 games due to injury, but returned for the second league game against Liberty and posted 16 points and 11 rebounds. He followed that up with 24 points and 13 rebounds against the Eagles on Jan. 8. He has four double-doubles in league games and five 20-point games.
Senior William Truss is averaging 10.1 points and 7.4 rebounds while shooting 63 percent from the floor. Truss had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the first meeting with Winthrop.
This year PC is 3-10 on the road and 3-5 in league play with the last road win came on Feb. 12 at UNC Asheville, 69-65. In 13 road games PC has averaged 58.3 points while averaging 62.0 in eight league games away from home.
SENIOR KEON MOORETransferred to Winthrop from Catawba College where he scored over 1,000 career points in two seasons…Has 936 career points in 57 games at Winthrop and his 155 ninth all-time at Winthrop…Set the school record for points in a single-season by a Winthrop player at the NCAA Div. I level with 529 points…His .444 three-point field goal percentage this season is just above the single-season record of .442 set by
Joab Jerome in 2013-14…He is shooting .421 in his career, which is the second best percentage all-time…Has 20 career 20-point games, which are the most by an Eagle since LaShawn Coulter had 28 in his career (1990-94)…Currently ranked 8
th in the nation in three-point field goals made and three-point field goal percentage…His 18.9 scoring average is the best of any Eagle since the program moved to the NCAA Div. I level…Scored a career-high 30 points against High Point on Jan. 3...Voted Big South Conference Honorable Mention in 2013-14 and Big South Conference Preseason All-Second Team…Named College Sports Madness Big South Player of the Week on Feb. 23.
SENIOR ANDRE SMITHThis game will mark Smith's 122
nd as an Eagle and his 91
st start…Became the 21
st player in the program's history to score 1,000 points in a career…Is just the second player in school history with 1,000 points, 300 assists and 200 made three-pointers (other is Tyson Waterman)…Is just the fifth player in the program's history to hit 200 or more threes in a career…He is the 28
th player to dish out 100 or more assists in a season…Has hit multiple threes in 63 of his 121 career games (52%)…Averaging a career-high 10.9 points and has set career-highs in assists (124) and steals (38)…Named Big South Player of the Week (Feb.9)…his 71 threes in 2013-14 rank 9
th most in a single-season at Winthrop…scored a career-high 26 points on Dec. 1, 2012 at James Madison and a career-best 23 points in a Big South game on Jan. 24, 2015 against Campbell.
