ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop men's basketball goes for a third straight win Saturday afternoon when it travels to Southern Illinois for a 4 p.m. tip.
 

Game 11: Winthrop (6-4, 0-0 Big South) at Southern Illinois (7-5, 0-0 MVC)
Date	Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, 4 p.m. (EST)
Location	Carbondale, IL (SIU Arena / 8,284)
Live Stats	Sidearm (click here)
Television/Stream	ESPN+ (click here) Darren Kinnard (PxP) – Mike Trude (Analyst)
Radio	94.3 FM/104.1 The Bridge / ESPN 730 | WGNC AM1450/101.1 FM (click here) / Dave Friedman (PxP) – Mike Pacheco (Analyst) – Pregame 3:30 p.m.
Notes	Winthrop | Southern Illinois
Social Media	@Winthrop_MBB | @WUEagles | #ROCKtheHILL | #WinthropMBB #WinthropEverStand
Tickets	Click Here

 
PROBABLE STARTERS
Winthrop
G         0          Nych Smith (5-10, Sr., 16.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 3.9 apg)
G         3          Michael Anumba (6-5, Fr., 8.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.7 apg)
G         13        Bjorn Broman (6-0, Sr., 9.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.5 apg)
G         14        Adam Pickett (6-1, Sr., 12.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.6 apg)
F          25        Josh Ferguson (6-8, Jr., 12.2 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.7 apg)
 
Southern Illinois
G         3          Marcus Bartley (6-5, Sr., 7.0 ppg, 2,9 rpg, 3.5 apg)
G         4          Eric McGill (6-2, Jr., 10.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.2 apg)
G         10        Aaron Cook (6-2, Jr., 12.5 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 3.5 apg)
G         13        Sean Lloyd Jr. (6-5, Jr., 11.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.7 apg)
C          33        Kavion Pippen (6-10, Sr., 10.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.7 apg)
 
THE SERIES
Series Record: 0-1
Series Streak: L1
Record at SIU Arena: 0-0
Streak at SIU Arena: n/a
Kelsey vs. Southern Illinois: 0-1
 
SERIES HISTORY

• This is the second meeting all-time as Southern Illinois won the first on Nov. 10, 2017 at the Winthrop Coliseum (81-66)
• Winthrop is 1-4 all-time against opponents from the Missouri Valley Conference 

THE GAME

• Winthrop is looking for a third straight win while the Salukis are hoping to end a two-game skid
• Southern Illinois has a NET ranking of 89 (highest in the Missouri Valley) while the Eagles rank 180 (3^rd highest in the Big South)
• Winthrop is 2-3 on the road this season while Southern Illinois is 3-2 and looking to avoid back-to-back home losses
• Both teams are ranked among the better shooting teams in the country in field goal percentage as Southern Illinois ranks 70^th (.477) and Winthrop ranks 58^th (.480)
• Both teams are built with veteran experience and there are nine upperclassmen in the probable starting lineups with the exception being Micheal Anumba of Winthrop
• This is the final tune-up for the Salukis before they jump into conference play on Jan. 2 at home against Missouri state but the Eagles have two more non-conference games (Dec. 29 vs. Prairie View A&M) and Jan. 1 at #11 Florida State) 

WINTHROP       

• Head coach Pat Kelsey is in his seventh season with the Eagles (127-75)
• The Eagles are one of the top scoring teams in the country at 93.1 ppg, which ranks 5^th nationally
• Eagles are also ranked in the Top 5 nationally as the second best three-point shooting team at 13.5 per game
• This year's team is one of the best in the history of the program at sharing the basketball with 18.5 assists per game (ranked 11^th nationally)
• The offense is led by four players in double-figures with Nych Smith averaging a team-best 16.4 ppg, Josh Ferguson averaging 12.2 ppg, Adam Pickett averaging 12.1 ppg and Kyle Zunic scoring 10.5 ppg
• Eagles have nine regular players averaging 6.2 ppg or better and seven scoring 7.0 ppg or better
• Bjorn Broman leads the three-point barrage with 25 on the year (2.6 per game) while the team has eight different players with at least 10 threes on the year and five with at least 15
• Winthrop has scored 80 or more points in five straight games, one shy of tying the school record
• Has a chance at another program record as the team has hit 10 or more threes in five consecutive games, which is tied for the best streak in school history 

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

• Southern Illinois is led by 7^th-year head coach Barry Hinson (106-101)
• Hinson is in his 18^th season as a head coach at the D1 level as he started off at Oral Roberts and also spent time leading the Missouri State program
• Hinson was head coach of Missouri State when the Eagles won 77-66 on the road in 2007
• Have lost two straight after winning five in a row
• Have two common opponents as the Eagles having lost to #2 Kentucky 71-59 and defeating SIUE on the road, 82-61
• Like the Eagles, the Salukis are an extremely balanced offensive team with five players scoring in double-figures and six averaging 6.8 or more
• Armon Fletcher leads the team at 13.5 ppg followed by Sean Lloyd (12.1), Aaron Cook (11.9), Eric McGill (10.8) and Kavion Pippen (10.3)
• Pippen had a strong game against the Eagles last year with 15 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and two steals
• Lloyd also scored 15 against Winthrop while Fletcher had 14 and McGill had 12 

RECORD BOOK WATCH

• Bjorn Broman now has 185 career threes and is all alone in 8^th all-time in program history as he became the 8^th player in program history with 180 made threes
• He is now 15 threes away from becoming the 7^th player in program history to hit 200 threes
• Broman is just outside the Top 10 all-time in career three-point field goal percentage at .368 (LaShawn Coulter is 10^th at .373)
• The Eagles are now through 10 games of the season and are currently averaging 13.5 threes per game, which no other team in program history have averaged 10 or more for a full season
• There have been five seasons in Big South Conference history that a team averaged 10 or more per game, which was accomplished by VMI all five times (Single-season record is 13.69 in 2008-09) 

WHERE DO THE EAGLES RANK IN THE BIG SOUTH?
Winthrop currently leads the Big South Conference in scoring (93.1 ppg), free throw percentage (.771), defensive rebounds (31.9), assists per game (18.5) and three-point field goals per game (13.5). Winthrop has led the Big South in scoring the past three seasons and in scoring margin and three-point field goals per game the last two seasons. Nych Smith's 16.4 ppg ranks 8^th in the league while Josh Ferguson ranks second in rebounds per game (8.1). Bjorn Broman is 6^th in the Big South in three-point field goals per game (2.6).

WINTHROP SPORTS SHOW AT ROCO
Every Thursday at The Roasting Company throughout the basketball season will be the Winthrop Sports Show at ROCO hosted by the voices of the Winthrop Eagles Dave Friedman and Mike Pacheco. The two will sit down weekly with head coaches Pat Kelsey and Lynette Woodard as well as other selected guests throughout the season. The show is from 6-6:30 p.m. and airs live on 94.3 FM & 104.1 The Bridge.