RICHMOND, VA—Winthrop men's basketball fell 69-55 at VCU in its final non-conference contest, Tuesday evening at the Stuart C. Siegel Center. The Eagles fall to 6-5 while the Rams are now 7-5.
 
WINTHROP LEADERS

• Xavier Cooks (17 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks)
• Josh Ferguson (9 points, 4 rebounds)
• Jermaine Ukaegbu (5 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block)

 
VCU LEADERS

• Justin Tillman (22 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals)
• Mike'l Simms (16 points, 5 rebounds)
• De'Riante Jenkins (13 points, 5 rebounds)

 
FIRST HALF

• Both teams got off to slow starts as the Eagles jumped out to a quick 4-0 after forcing back-to-back turnovers, but VCU responded with seven straight points
• Trailing 10-5, the Eagles scored five straight as Xavier Cooks hit two jumpers and Josh Ferguson hit 1-of-2 free throws
• The Rams then scored six straight for a 16-10 lead
• Two free throws from Anders Broman at the 7:47 mark cut it to a two-point game at 18-16, but VCU reeled off eight straight points for a double-figure lead at 26-16 with 6:11 left
• The Eagle offense struggled after the midway point of the half going 1-for-9 for nearly five minutes that helped VCU build the 10-point advantage
• The drought ended when Nych Smith scored off a drive
• Both teams combined for 21 first half turnovers as they only took advantage for 11 total points (WU 4/VCU 7)
• Winthrop was just 1-for-12 over the final 10 minutes of the half and finished the first half 6-for-28 from the floor (21 percent) and 0-for-11 from three
• VCU shot 44 percent from the floor and ended the half on an 8-0 run to lead 34-19 at the break

 
SECOND HALF

• VCU opened the second half with a three from Malik Crowfield for its largest lead at 18-points (37-19)
• The Eagles then outscored the Rams 9-3 to trail 40-28
• Trailing 42-30, Winthrop went on an 10-2 run to make it a six-point game with 13:03 to play
• The run started with a dunk by Cooks as he drove the lane and then Anders Broman and Bjorn Broman hit threes followed by a dunk from Jermaine Ukaegbu
• The Eagles were within nine points at 51-42 with 9:34 to play, but VCU's next three field goals came behind the arc as it pushed the lead to 60-44
• Winthrop shot much better in the second half at 45 percent, but was only 3-for-14 behind the arc and just 5-for-13 from the foul line

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Eagles were 0-for-11 behind the arc in the first half, which was the first time since the 2016-17 season opener vs. Ferrum College that they failed to connect on a triple in the first half of a game
• That is also the last game in which the Eagles finished with fewer than five triples in a game as they were just 3-for-26 against VCU
• Anders Broman and Bjorn Broman were a combined 5-for-14 and 3-for-12 from three
• Xavier Cooks recorded a double-double in the game despite sitting the final nine minutes of the first half with two fouls
• Mike'l Simms entered the game averaging 4.9 ppg and just 6-for-26 from three but finished the game with 16 points and was 4-for-7 from three
• VCU averages 8.5 triples per game while shooting 38 percent but connected on 10 threes
• Winthrop and VCU combined for 32 turnovers and 25 points off turnovers (Winthrop 11/VCU 14)
• The Eagles outscored the Rams 32-26 in the paint and had an 11-10 edge in second-chance points
• Winthrop finished the game shooting 34 percent from the floor (3-for-25 behind the arc) and was just 12-for-23 from the foul line (52%)
• VCU shot 40 percent in the game (10-for-28 from three) and 13-for-18 at the foul line (72%)

 
NOTABLES

• The Eagles are a combined 16-for-58 from the field and 3-for-23 from three combined in the first half of the last two games
• Cooks, making his 99^th career starts, posted his second double-double of the season and 24^th of his career
• The Rams have now won 25 of their last 28 home games
• Winthrop's school record streak of games with 80 or more points in a game comes to an end at eight in a row
• Cooks now has 1,424 and is just three points from sixth place on Winthrop's all-time list (Fred McKinnon-1,427)
• Anders Broman's double-figures streak ended at four games as he finished with eight points
• Entering the game the Eagles were getting 35.7 points per game from their bench, but received just nine points against VCU (3-for-16 from the field)

 
ON TAP FOR WINTHROP
The Eagles have completed the non-conference portion of their schedule and will go the next 10 days without a game until they open up Big South play with High Point on Dec. 30 at 2 p.m. in the Winthrop Coliseum.