ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop men's basketball is set to take on Radford on Friday, Mar. 6 at 2 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the 2015 VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Conference Basketball Championship held at the HTC Center on the campus of Coastal Carolina.
Winthrop finished the regular season with a 17-12 overall record and one game out of first place in the Big South standings with a 12-6 mark. It was the highest finish by an Eagle team since the 2007-08 squad tied for first with UNC Asheville.
The game will air live on 104.1 The Bridge with the pregame show starting at 1:30 p.m. with Dave Friedman and Mike Pacheco calling the action. The game will also be carried on ESPN3.
Winthrop, which came within a single-game from reaching the NCAA Tournament in 2014, finished the season winning four of five games and nine of 12 as it hopes to keep that momentum heading into Friday's clash with Radford.
This will be the 10
th time Winthrop and Radford are meeting in the Big South Tourney. The all-time series is led by Radford with a 35-31 advantage as the Eagles are 7-2 all-time against Radford in the tournament. The regular season series was swept by the Highlanders, but the last two times they've done that the Eagles have captured the third meeting in the conference tournament.
There have been a number of team and individual highlights over the course of the season. As a team the Eagles have enjoyed one of its finest seasons in the program's history. They have turned in one of the best offensive and most efficient seasons both in and out of conference.
Offensively the Eagles rank 34
th nationally scoring 74.1 points, which are the most since 2006-07. The Eagles are ranked 35
th in three-point field goals per game and total three-point field goals made. The team's 230 total threes made on the year are the fifth most all-time, eight back of fourth (238 set by 2005-06 squad). Last year the Eagles were the first team since the 1989-90 team to shoot 70 percent or better at the free throw line and this year's team is shooting .723 which is currently the fourth best percentage in the program's history.
Redshirt season
Keon Moore has hit numerous milestones this season, but none greater than breaking the school's NCAA Div. I record for points in a single-season and scoring average. Moore scored 19.9 ppg in 18 conference games, which is also a school record, breaking Melvin Branham's 18.7 ppg average set in 1993-94. Moore has 542 points on the year as he passed the old mark of 517 set by Eddie Gay in 1992-93 and his scoring average bested Ted Houpt's 17.6 ppg average set in 1986-87 (the first year the program moved to the NCAA Div. I level). Moore was rewarded for his season this week being named to the All-Big South First Team.
As a team the Eagles have enjoyed quite a bit of success in their last six games at The HTC Center. Winthrop is 5-1 in the last six games and is shooting 46 percent from the floor, 41 percent from three and 73 percent from the foul line. The team has scored an average of 71.4 points during that stretch behind 8.0 threes per game.
The Eagles big three of Moore, senior
Andre Smith and sophomore
Keon Johnson have shot the ball well in those six games. Moore has six career games at the HTC Center and averages 20.7 ppg while shooting 51 percent from the floor and 51 percent from three. Smith is averaging 8.8 ppg while shooting 51 percent from the field and 52 percent from three in his last six trips to Conway and Johnson is averaging 12.3 points while shooting 42 percent from three.
Xavier Cooks and
Tevin Prescott have been provided offensive support in the post over the last few weeks. Over the last five games Prescott has been third in scoring and Cooks has been fourth. Prescott has averaged 10.6 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 61 percent and Cooks has averaged 9.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks while shooting 57 percent in that span. Cooks set the program's freshman record in blocks as he reached 46 on the year, passing the old mark of 44. Cooks and fellow freshman teammate
Duby Okeke have provided some shot blocking presence in the post as they are 2
nd and 3
rd in the league in blocks per game. Okeke has 44 on the season in an average of 13.7 minutes per game.
In two meetings this season against the Highlanders, Moore averaged a team-best 18.0 ppg as he shot 54 percent from the field. Johnson averaged 13.5 points while Smith averaged 12 points and 5.0 assists.
Radford is one of three teams in the Big South that reached the 20-win mark in the regular season as it enters the contest at 21-10 and finished tied with the Eagles in league play at 12-6.
The Highlanders are led by All-Big South Conference First Team selection and Defensive Player of the Year Javonte Green. The senior is averaging 15.0 points and 8.7 rebounds while totaling 26 blocks and 56 steals on the year. Green averaged 17 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals against the Eagles this season as he shot 65 percent from the floor.
Senior guard R.J. Price was named All-Big South Honorable Mention after averaging 13.0 points and 2.5 rebounds as he knocked down 77 threes on the year and had 40 steals. Price shot 44 percent from the field and 50 percent from three against the Eagles this season, averaging 16.5 points.
Radford averaged 72.9 points per game on the season, but averaged 79.0 in two games against the Eagles as they shot 49 percent from the field and 47 percent from three. In the two meetings the Highlanders had four players average double-figures. Green and Price were the top two scorers against the Eagles followed by Jalen Carethers at 11.5 points and Cameron Jones at 10.5 while Ya Ya Anderson averaged 9.0 (5-for-11 behind the arc).
After winning eight straight games in league play, the Highlanders finished the season 4-3 in the final seven games but are coming off a 72-62 victory over Gardner-Webb in the final game of the regular season.
This will be the fifth game at The HTC Center for the Highlanders, who are 1-3 all-time there and 1-2 in Big South Tournament games.
The winner of this matchup will take on the winner of top-seeded Charleston Southern and #9 Longwood on Saturday, Mar. 7 in the semifinals at noon.
First Round – Wednesday, March 4 – Big South NetworkGame 1: #8 Presbyterian vs. #9 Longwood, 12:00pm
Game 2: #7 Gardner-Webb vs. #10 Campbell, 2:00pm
Game 3: #6 UNC Asheville vs. #11 Liberty, 6:00pm
Quarterfinals – Friday, March 6 – ESPN3Game 4: #1 Charleston Southern vs. #8/9 winner, 12:00pm
Game 5: #4 Radford vs. #5 Winthrop, 2:00pm
Game 6: #2 High Point vs. #7/10 winner, 6:00pm
Game 7: #3 Coastal Carolina vs. #6/11 winner, 8:00pm
Semifinals - Saturday, March 7 – ESPN3Game 8: Semifinals – Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 12:00pm
Game 9: Semifinals – Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 2:00pm
Championship - Sunday, March 8 – ESPN2Game 10: Championship – Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 12:30pm
