OFFICIAL BRACKET
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop will take on sixth-seeded Gardner-Webb, Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Big South Conference Men's Basketball Championship.
| Game 30: #3 Winthrop (18-11, 12-6 Big South) vs. #6 Gardner-Webb (14-17, 9-9 Big South) |
| Date |
Thursday, Mar. 1, 2018, 3:00 p.m. (EST) |
| Location |
Asheville, NC (Kimmel Arena / 3,200) |
| Live Stats |
Statbroadcast (click here) |
| Television/Stream |
ESPN3 (click here) / Mike Hogewood (PxP) – Ralph Patterson (Analyst) |
| Radio |
94.3 FM & 104.1 The Bridge (click here) / Dave Friedman (PxP) – Mike Pacheco (Analyst) – Pregame 2 p.m. |
| Notes |
Winthrop | Gardner-Webb |
| Social Media |
@WUGameDay | @Winthrop_MBB | @WUEagles | #ROCKtheHILL |
| Tickets |
Click Here |
PROBABLE STARTERS
Winthrop
G 10
Anders Broman (6-2, Gr., 12.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.9 apg)
G 13
Bjorn Broman (6-0, Jr., 10.6 ppg, 3.1 apg, 2.2 rpg)
G 14
Adam Pickett (6-1, Jr., 9.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.8 apg)
F 12
Xavier Cooks (6-8, Sr., 17.6 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 3.7 apg)
F 25
Josh Ferguson (6-8, So., 10.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.2 bpg)
Gardner-Webb
G 4 Christian Turner (5-10, So., 2.2 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.1 apg)
G 5 Liam O'Reilly (6-2, Sr., 14.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.7 apg)
G 11 David Efianayi (6-2, R-Jr., 17.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.6 apg)
F 24 Patrick Zeck (6-7, So., 5.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 0.8 bpg)
F 25 D.J. Laster (6-6, Jr., 13.9 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 0.5 spg)
THE SERIES
Series Record: Winthrop leads 20-9
Series Streak: W8
Big South Tournament: 2-0
Kelsey vs. Gardner-Webb: 9-4
SERIES HISTORY
- This is the third meeting of the season and the 30th meeting all-time
- The Eagles swept the regular season series with wins of 90-67 at home and 90-71 on the road
- The Eagles have now won eight straight against the Runnin' Bulldogs with two of those wins coming in the Big South Tournament
- Of Winthrop's 20 wins against Gardner-Webb, 13 of them have been by fewer than 10 points and nine have been by five or fewer points
- This is the third straight year the Eagles and Runnin' Bulldogs square off in the Big South Tournament
THE GAME
- The Eagles are the third seed facing the sixth-seeded Runnin' Bulldogs as the winner of the game will go on to face the winner of #2 Radford vs. #10 Longwood on Friday at 6 p.m. in the semifinals
- Winthrop is the #3 seed in the Big South Tournament for the third time and is 3-1 as the #3 seed
- The last time the Eagles were the #3 seed was the 2010 Big South Tournament as the Eagles went on to win the title by knocking off #2 Radford and #1 Coastal Carolina
- In the first ever meeting with Gardner-Webb in the conference tournament, the Eagles won 82-69 at Campbell and last year pulled out an 80-77 overtime win (both games were semifinal matchups)
- One of the glaring differences in the two meetings during the regular season is the 45.0 – 30.5 advantage the Eagles had on the glass
- The Eagles are looking to defend their Big South Conference Championship
WINTHROP
- The Eagles have dropped two straight for the first time since the team opened up 2018 with three straight losses before winning 11-of-12
- Xavier Cooks leads the Eagles offensively and defensively as he turned in another All-Big South First Team type season
- Cooks led the team in scoring (17.6), rebounding (8.9), assists (103/3.7), and blocks (58)
- This season in two games he averaged 26.5 points, 15.0 rebounds, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocks against Gardner-Webb
- In last year's conference tournament he averaged 19.7 points, 13.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.7 blocks
- The Eagles had five players average double-figures in league play, which is the first time that happened in the history of the program
- Along with Cooks averaging 18.3 against league opponents, the other four were Adam Pickett (12.2), Anders Broman (11.9), Josh Ferguson (11.6) and Bjorn Broman (11.5)
- Despite the back-to-back losses, the Eagles have won 11-of-14 games
- Under Pat Kelsey the Eagles are 11-4 all-time in the Big South Tournament
GARDNER-WEBB
- Gardner-Webb has won two straight games, including a win over first-place UNC Asheville in the season finale at home
- The Runnin' Bulldogs won both games by double-digits
- David Efianayi leads a trio of players in double-figures with 17.5 ppg as he was named to the All-Conference Second Team
- Liam O'Reilly was named All-Big South Honorable Mention as he averaged 14.7 ppg
- D.J. Laster is the third player averaging double-figures at 13.9
- During the two meetings with Winthrop, Efianayi averaged 20.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting 43 percent
- O'Reilly averaged 18.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting 42 percent against the Eagles
BIG SOUTH HONORS
- Xavier Cooks was named the Big South Player of the Year, which is the second straight season an Eagle has garnered the award
- Cooks earned his second straight All-Big South First Team honor after a career-high in scoring, assists, blocks and steals
- Bjorn Broman also had a career year as he set new single-season hits in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and three-point field goals made as he was named Honorable Mention All-Conference
- Anders Broman was named to the Big South All-Academic Team for a second straight year, just about a week following his being named CoSIDA Academic All-District
LIVING IN THE 80'S
- The Eagles scored 80 or more points in eight straight games which is a school record (came to an end at VCU)
- The Eagles are 12-2 this year when scoring 80 or more in a game and since the arrival of head coach Pat Kelsey the Eagles are 63-11 when hitting the 80-mark
- Of the 11 losses when scoring 80 or more, seven of them have come against Big South opponents (3 in OT) and three against Power 5 opponents
- Streak of 80 or more points on the road came to an end at four straight as the Eagles have now hit that mark in nine of the last 15 dating back to last season
- After scoring 80 or more in eight of the first 10 games, Eagles went six straight games without reaching 80 before they posted 90 in the win over Gardner-Webb on Jan. 15
BIG SOUTH WEEKLY PLAYER HONORS
- Xavier Cooks has been tabbed the Big South Player of the Week four times this season (Dec. 4/Dec. 11/Jan. 22/Jan. 29)
- He earned his fourth honor on Jan. 29 for helping the Eagles to two wins and moving into a three-way tie for first in the league standings
- During that week he averaged 23.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.0 blocks in wins over Longwood and Campbell
- He's now earned back-to-back weekly honors twice this season and has a career total of six
- Cooks scored a career-high 31 points at Georgia that included five rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal to earn his second league honor of the year
- Cooks grabbed his first weekly honor of the season by averaging 17.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals in a week he recorded his first ever triple-double (11 points, 15 rebounds, 11 assists vs. Reinhardt)
- Kyle Zunic was named the Big South Freshman of the Week on Nov. 20 after he averaged 14.0 points, 3.0 assists and 2.5 rebounds against Colorado State and Central Penn
CLIMBING THE RECORD BOOKS
- Xavier Cooks is establishing his name in many categories of the Winthrop record book
- Against Radford Cooks became the program's all-time leader in rebounds, pass Charles Brunson's mark of 913 (a record that stood for 36 years)
- Cooks became the 4th Eagle all-time to reach 1,600 career points and now the third player to reach 1,700 career points (1,754)
- Cooks also ranks first all-time in blocked shots (215), 1st in rebounds (968), 2nd in field goals made (650), 5th in free throws made (355), 6th in free throws attempted (514), and 7th in career scoring average (14.0)
- Bjorn Broman now has 159 career threes (11th all-time) as he's one away from cracking the Top 10
- Broman is also 10th all-time in career three-point percentage (.371) while his brother Anders is 6th at .398
