ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop men's basketball looks to improve to 4-0 in the Big South as Longwood comes to town Wednesday evening.
 

Game 17: Winthrop (11-5, 3-0 Big South) vs. Longwood (11-7, 1-2 Big South)
Date	Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019, 7 p.m. (EST)
Location	Rock Hill, SC (Winthrop Coliseum / 6,100)
Live Stats	Statbroadcast (click here)
Television/Stream	ESPN+ (click here) Mike Pacheco (PxP) – Bobby Stevens (Analyst)
Radio	94.3 FM/104.1 The Bridge / ESPN 730 | WGNC AM1450/101.1 FM (click here) / Dave Friedman (PxP) -  Hunter Sadlon (Analyst) – Pregame 6:30 p.m.
Social Media	@Winthrop_MBB | @WUEagles | #ROCKtheHILL | #WinthropMBB #WinthropEverStand
Tickets	Click Here

 
PROBABLE STARTERS
Winthrop
G         0          Nych Smith (5-10, Sr., 17.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 3.9 apg)
G         3          Micheal Anumba (6-5, Fr., 7.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.9 apg)
G         13        Bjorn Broman (6-0, Sr., 10.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.9 apg)
G         21        Kyle Zunic (6-2, So., 10.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 2.4 apg)
F          25        Josh Ferguson (6-8, Jr., 11.3 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.3 apg)

Longwood
G          3          Shabooty Phillips (6-1, Jr., 14.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 3.9 apg)
G          4          Jaylon Wilson (6-1, Jr., 8.7 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 1.4 apg)
F          13         Spencer Franklin (6-8, Sr., 4.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 0.2 apg)
F          21         JaShaun Smith (6-5, Jr., 10.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.6 apg)
F          24         Damarion Geter (6-8, R-Sr., 5.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.3 apg)

 
THE SERIES
Series Record vs. Longwood: 18-21
Series Streak: W9
Record at Winthrop Coliseum: 5-1
Streak at Winthrop Coliseum: W4
Kelsey vs. Longwood: 9-1
 
SERIES HISTORY

• Winthrop and Longwood meet for the 14^th time as the Eagles look for a 10^th straight win in the series
• Eagles have won eight of the last nine meetings by 10 or more points
• Over the nine-game win streak against the Lancers, Winthrop has averaged 82.1 ppg and allowed 67.0 ppg

THE GAME

• Winthrop and Longwood are two of just four teams in the league with 10 or more wins this season
• Winthrop is tied with Radford atop the Big South Conference standings at 3-0
• Longwood is coming off a 101-91 home loss to Charleston Southern and is 3-2 in its last five games
• Eagles have won three straight and seven of the last eight games
• A win for the Eagles would give them six straight at home
• The Eagles boast the top offense in the league at 88.2 ppg while Longwood leads the conference in scoring defense at 66.6 ppg
• Both teams are two of the best in the conference in free throw shooting as the Eagles are 3^rd in the league at .751 and Longwood 4^th at .736
• Winthrop leads the Big South with 12.6 threes per game while Longwood is 3^rd at 10.1 per game 

WINTHROP       

• Head coach Pat Kelsey is in his seventh season with the Eagles (132-76)
• Off to 3-0 start in the league for the first time since 2006-07
• The 11-5 start in the second best record through 16 games during Kelsey's tenure (best 12-4 in 2016-17)
• Nych Smith has led the team in scoring and assists the last two games and currently leads the team at 17.0 ppg
• Eagles continue to have five players averaging double-figures with Pickett averaging 12.8, Ferguson scoring 11.3 per game, Bjorn Broman scoring 10.5 ppg and Kyle Zunic at 10.3 per game
• In two league games played Smith is averaging 23.0 ppg while shooting 55 percent
• Winthrop has held its last two opponents at home to 63 points (High Point) and 62 points (Prairie View A&M)

LONGWOOD

• Longwood is coached by first-year head coach Griff Aldrich
• It is the first head coaching job for Aldrich, who came to the Lancers from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County
• Aldrich was part of the staff for UMBC, which pulled off the biggest upset in NCAA Tournament history as the 16^th-seeded Retrievers knocked off #1 seed Virginia
• Isaiah Walton is leading the Lancers in scoring at 17.7 per game as he's started 4-of-10 games played
• Walton is also averaging 7.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists
• He led the team with 21 points in the loss to the Buccaneers and has led the team in scoring three of the last four games
• Lorenzo Phillips is scoring 14.0 ppg and 5.7 rpg with a team-high 70 assists (3.9)
• JaShaun Smith is the third Longwood player averaging double-figures at 10.4

RECORD BOOK WATCH

• Bjorn Broman now has 194 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 nine 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 .369 (LaShawn Coulter is 10^th at .373)
• The Eagles are now through 16 games on the season and are currently averaging 12.6 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)
• As a team the Eagles averaged 89.4 ppg in non-conference action, which is the most by any team in program history (second best is 86.2 set by the 2017-18 team) 

WHERE DO THE EAGLES RANK IN THE BIG SOUTH?
Winthrop currently leads the Big South Conference in scoring (88.2 ppg), defensive rebounds (30.2), assists per game (16.3), and three-point field goals per game (12.6). Winthrop has led the Big South in scoring, scoring margin and three-point field goals per game the last two seasons. Nych Smith's 17.0 ppg ranks 5^th in the league while Josh Ferguson ranks second in rebounds per game (7.6). Austin Awad ranks 4^th in the league in threes per game at 2.5 and Bjorn Broman is 8^th at 2.3. Smith also ranks 3^rd in field goal percentage, 4^th in free throw percentage, and 5^th in assists per game.

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.

20 YEARS AGO
This season marks the 20^th anniversary of the first ever NCAA Tournament team in Winthrop history. The Eagles posted a 21-8 record on the year and 9-1 mark in league play on their way to the team's 2^nd Big South title and first ever birth to the NCAA Tournament. That year the team was 12 straight contests and defeated Radford in the championship game (86-74) at the Asheville Civic Center. The Eagles were a 16 seed and faced number one seed Auburn in Indianapolis, IN as the Eagles fell 80-41 to the 4^th-ranked Tigers. The Eagles were paced by a balanced offense with four players scoring in double-figures with Heson Groves leading the way with 11.9 ppg while Tyson Waterman averaged 11.5 ppg, Robbie Waldrop scored 11.4 per game and Roger Toxey averaged 11.0.