ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop has won five straight games and hopes to continue its winning streak when it hosts Charleston Southern Wednesday night.

GAME SNAPSHOT 
Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016
Winthrop (14-6, 6-3 BSC) vs. Charleston Southern (8-12, 4-5 BSC)
Game Time: 7 p.m. EST / Site: Rock Hill, SC
Live Video: Big South Network (Mike Pacheco-PxP/Bobby Stevens-Color) Television: none  Audio: 104.1 The Bridge (pregame 4:30 p.m. with Dave Friedman-PxP/Ron Mikels-Color)
Live Stats / Live Video / Live Audio





Winthrop Probable Starters
G    1      Bjorn Broman (6.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg)
G    5      Keon Johnson (19.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg)
F    12     Xavier Cooks (13.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg)
F    44     Jimmy Gavin (17.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg)
C    25     Zach Price (5.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg)


SERIES HISTORY
This will be the second meeting of the season and the 65^th overall between Winthrop and Charleston Southern. Both teams squared off on Dec. 2 in the Big South opener for each as the Eagles held on for an 83-82 victory. Winthrop now leads the all-time series 39-25 in all games and 33-24 in regular season league games. The Eagles have won the last two meetings in the series and the last 12 against the Bucs at the Winthrop Coliseum.

THE LAST TIME THESE TWO MET
Junior Keon Johnson hit two free throws with 1.6 seconds left and then stole the inbound pass to give Winthrop an 83-82 victory in their Big South opener. Armel Potter had put the Bucs up 82-81 after making a three-pointer with 5.8 seconds left. Winthrop shot 50 percent from the floor in the game, but 12 turnovers helped keep the Bucs in the game as their finished with a 16-0 advantage in points off turnovers. Johnson led all scorers with 27 points while Xavier Cooks added 19 and Duby Okeke had 10 points and five blocks.

THE MATCHUP
Winthrop is riding a five-game winning streak with four straight wins in conference play as they look to stay hot and remain near the top of the league standings. The Eagles are currently tied for second place with High Point, just one game behind first place UNC Asheville. The Eagles are tied for the 4^th best record in the history of the program through the first 20 games of a season. During the five-game winning streak the Eagles have won all five by double-figures and have shot 50 percent or better from the floor in four of them. Home court has been big advantage for the Eagles this season, posting an 8-1 record with the only loss coming on Dec. 31 to Campbell. The offense has been averaging 78.8 ppg during the winning streak while also shooting an impressive 53 percent from the floor, but defense has been the key to the win streak. Opponents are averaging 62.6 ppg while shooting just 35 percent as Winthrop hasn't allowed more than 68 points in the five games and twice held teams under 60. The Eagles remain atop the league in scoring at 82.3 ppg as well as field goal percentage and free throw percentage. Charleston Southern enters the game off a 78-63 loss at home to Coastal Carolina. The Bucs are just 1-4 at home in league play this season, but they are 3-1 on the road, having won their most recent road games at Presbyterian College by a point and Campbell by seven points. CSU has won three of four games and features the league's sixth best offense at 74 ppg and top the league in three-point field goals per game at 10.15 (ranked 2^nd in three-point field goal percentage).

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Keon Johnson scored 27 points in the first meeting with Charleston Southern as he was 8-for-11 from the floor and 3-for-4 behind the arc. Sophomore Xavier Cooks also had a good game going 7-for-13 from the field for 19 points. Johnson has scored 20 or more in nine games this season, but has struggled behind the arc recently going 5-for-21 in the last four games. He's still leading the team in scoring and is third in the league. Cooks is coming off 19 points at Longwood and three games ago posted 22 against Liberty. Jimmy Gavin had a quiet first game against the Bucs as he managed just nine points in his first Big South contest, going 4-for-12 from the floor. Charleston Southern's Patrick Wallace hit seven of the Bucs 14 threes in the first meeting as he was 7-for-14 behind the arc and finished with a team-high 25 points. His 25 points and seven threes are still a season-high for the junior transfer from North Carolina State. Armel Potter added 18 points and four assists. Potter is the team's leading scorer at 12.8 ppg while Wallace is second at 10.4. Wallace is shooting 39 percent behind the arc leads the team in made threes with 57. Raemond Robinson, who is third on the team in scoring at 10.1 ppg, came off the bench for 16 in the first meeting with Winthrop as he was 4-for-6 behind the arc and is second on the Bucs roster with 56 made threes. Potter and Robinson are both in the Top 40 nationally in total threes made.

LAST TIME OUT
Winthrop used a 24-2 run in the first half to pull away from Longwood on its way to a fifth straight win. Xavier Cooks paced four Eagles in double-figures with 19 points as he also pulled down 10 boards for his fourth double-double of the season. For the second straight game the Eagles used a big run to rally from double-figure deficits and turn them into double-figure leads as each time the run was started by junior Joshua Davenport. The Eagles trailed 19-9 when Davenport drilled a three from the wing and then stole the ball on the defensive end as he went the length of the court for a layup and a quick five points. That started the 24-2 run. Winthrop held Longwood to 31 percent shooting in the second half and 33 percent for the game.

THE COACHES
Pat Kelsey is in his fourth season at the helm of the Winthrop men's basketball program. He holds a record of 67-49 in four seasons with appearances in the Big South championship game the past two seasons. The Eagles are 34-25 in Big South games under Kelsey. He's currently tied for 15^th nationally with Richard Pitino of Minnesota for career wins for head coaches 40 years of age and under. During his tenure the team has a couple of the program's notable victories with wins at Clemson and Auburn. Charleston Southern is led by former Winthrop assistant coach Barclay Radebaugh, who is in his 12^th season as a head coach and 11^th at Charleston Southern. In his 11 seasons with the Bucs he's 147-177 and has led to them to regular season Big South championships in 2013 and 2015 while being named Big South Coach of the Year twice as well.

MILESTONES
Junior Keon Johnson continues to climb the all-time scoring list as he surpassed 1,100 career points last week and now has 1,155 (17^th all-time). In his career he's averaging 13.6 ppg and if he were to maintain that average for the remainder of his career (estimation of at least 40 games to play) he would finish with over 1,600 points, which only two players in school history have achieved.  He is the third player to reach 1,000 career points in Pat Kelsey's four years (Keon Moore/A. Smith). Johnson moved into the Top 10 for free throws made and three-pointers made. He's currently made 280 (7th) in his and is among the top free throw shooters in the history of the program as he's currently shooting .841 in his career, which ranks fourth all-time. He's currently 9th all-time in made threes with 163. Duby Okeke is averaging 2.82 blocks per game, which leads the Big South and ranks in the Top 10 in the nation. In 17 games he's blocked 48 shots and the program record for blocks in a season is 66 by Josh Grant in 2002-03. Okeke moved into 8^th all-time with 94 career blocks and Xavier Cooks has 75. Billy Houston is the all-time leader in career blocks with 139.  Okeke is only 10 blocks from the Top 3 all-time and his 48 blocks this year are a career-high and ranks 3^rd best for a single-season.