(1) Winthrop (23-6, 15-3 BSC) vs. (8) Charleston Southern (12-18, 7-11 BSC)
Game Time: 7 p.m. EST / Site: Rock Hill, SC (Winthrop Coliseum)
Live Video: ESPN3 Television: ESPN3 (Evan Lepler-PxP/Nate Ross-Color) / Audio: 104.1 The Bridge, pregame 6:30 p.m (Dave Friedman-PxP/Mike Pacheco-Color)
Live Stats  / Live Video  / Live Audio / BUY TICKETS

ROCK HILL, SC—Top-seeded Winthrop will take on 8^th-seeded Charleston Southern Thursday night at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the 2017 Big South Championship taking place in the Winthrop Coliseum.
 
The Eagles are the top seed of the conference tournament for the first time under head coach Pat Kelsey and for the 8^th time in program history. Winthrop is co-champions of the Big South Conference with UNC Asheville as the two teams finished with 15-3 records in league play. The Eagles earned the top seed in the tournament virtue of a tiebreaker.
 
The Winthrop and Charleston Southern game will be live on ESPN3 or Eagle fans can tune into 104.1 The Bridge as Dave Friedman and Mike Pacheco will have the call.
 
This will be Winthrop's first time as the top seed since the 2007 tournament as it looks for its first conference championship since 2010.
 
On top of its impressive 15-3 league mark, the Eagles finished the regular season 23-6 overall. The 15 league wins ties for the most in program history and the 23 wins tie for the third most in a single-season.
 
There were several accomplishments for the team this season including the program's first win over a Big Ten school with the win at Illinois. The team led the league in scoring at 79.4 ppg as well as three-point field goals per game at 9.3. As of games through Feb. 28 the Eagles are tied with Monmouth for the most wins on the road this season with 12, which ties the program record for road wins. This year's team set a new standard on the road in league play by winning a program record eight league contests away from the Winthrop Coliseum.
 
Winthrop, which has won five straight games, is led by Big South Player of the Year Keon Johnson as he is second in the conference in scoring at 21.8 ppg, which ranks 10^th nationally. Johnson produced some of the top scoring nights in the history of the program, highlighted by his 40-point performance in the double-overtime loss at UNC Asheville on Feb. 9. He has 19 games on the year with 20 or more points.
 
Junior Xavier Cooks joined Johnson as an All-Big South First Team selection as he averaged 15.9 points, 8.8 rebounds during the regular season. Cooks has 10 double-doubles on the season and has averaged a double-double over the last 20 games.
 
The Eagles and Charleston Southern square off for the third time this season and the 67^th time in history. Winthrop won the first meeting 84-68 at Charleston Southern on Dec. 29 and won the second meeting 86-72 just one week ago in the Winthrop Coliseum. These two teams have squared off seven times in Big South Tournament play with the Eagles holding a 6-1 mark in those meetings. However, the last time they met in the conference tournament was Mar. 7, 2013 and the Buccaneers prevailed 54-47 in the quarterfinals.
 
Winthrop holds an all-time mark of 43-21 in Big South Tournament contests and 19-12 in 1^st round/quarterfinal contests.
 
Charleston Southern captured a 79-74 victory over 9^th-seeded Longwood Tuesday night in the opening round of the tournament.
 
The Bucs are led by All-Big South and All-Freshmen Team selection Christian Keeling, who had a big game with 29 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals. Keeling posted 28 points and 13 rebounds in the Eagles win over the Bucs on Feb. 23. Heading into Thursday's night's contest Keeling leads the team in scoring at 17.3 ppg and rebounding at 6.9 per game. He is one of three players scoring in double-figures as Armel Potter is averaging 12.4 ppg and Cortez Mitchell is scoring 10.8 per game.