ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop looks for a second straight win Monday afternoon when it hosts UNC Asheville at 2 p.m. inside the Winthrop Coliseum.
 

Game 19: Winthrop (12-6, 4-1 Big South) vs. UNC Asheville (2-17, 0-5 Big South)
Date	Monday, Jan. 21, 2019, 2 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) -  Anders Broman (Analyst) – Pregame 1:30 p.m.
Game Notes	Winthrop | UNC Asheville
Social Media	@Winthrop_MBB | @WUEagles | #ROCKtheHILL | #WinthropMBB #WinthropEverStand
Promotion	MLK Recognition / Faith & Family Day / Kids Under 12 Free Admission (with paying adult)
Tickets	Click Here

 
PROBABLE STARTERS
Winthrop
G         0          Nych Smith (5-10, Sr., 16.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 3.7 apg)
G         3          Micheal Anumba (6-5, Fr., 7.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.8 apg)
G         13        Bjorn Broman (6-0, Sr., 10.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.0 apg)
G         21        Kyle Zunic (6-2, So., 10.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.4 apg)
F          25        Josh Ferguson (6-8, Jr., 11.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.2 apg)

UNC Asheville
G          3          Tajion Jones (6-5, Fr., 9.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.5 apg)
G         4          L.J. Thorpe (6-5, Fr., 8.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.6 apg)
G         20        DeVon Baker (6-2, Fr., 16.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.9 apg)
F          0          Donovan Gilmore (6-8, Sr., 3.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 0.4 apg)
F          22        Coty June (6-9, Fr., 9.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 0.9 apg)

 
THE SERIES
Series Record vs. UNC Asheville: 42-36
Series Streak: W1
Record at Winthrop Coliseum: 26-11
Streak at Winthrop Coliseum: W6
Kelsey vs. UNC Asheville: 9-6
 
SERIES HISTORY

• Winthrop and UNC Asheville meet for the second time this season
• The Eagles and Bulldogs just faced each other on Jan. 5 in the conference opener for both teams
• It's the first time since 2009 the Eagles and Bulldogs have squared off twice in the month of January
• Winthrop leads the all-time series 42-36 and have won six straight meetings at the Winthrop Coliseum
• In 78 meetings all-time, there have been 20 of them decided by five points or less

THE GAME

• Winthrop is looking for a second straight win while the Bulldogs are looking to end a seven-game losing streak
• Both teams are playing their third game in the last six days
• Eagles have won four of the last five games and eight of the last 10
• Winthrop is 6-2 at home this season while the Bulldogs are 0-9 on the road
• Bulldogs feature the youngest team in the country (8 freshmen, 5 sophomores)
• Winthrop leads the conference in scoring at 86.5 ppg while the Bulldogs are 11^th at 59.6
• Neither team has swept the regular season conference series since the 2011-12 season when Asheville took both games
• The last time the Eagles swept a regular season conference series with the Bulldogs was the 2008-09 season

WINTHROP       

• Head coach Pat Kelsey is in his seventh season with the Eagles (133-77)
• Kelsey is now seven wins behind former VMI head coach Duggar Baucom for 8^th on the all-time in Big South wins
• Trailed by eight points at the half and as much as nine in the second half in the comeback win at USC Upstate
• It was the fourth time the Eagles rallied from 7 or more points on the road this season to earn a win
• Winthrop hit 11 threes in the win over the Spartans and now have 13 games with 10 or more
• Nych Smith scored 23 points off the bench at Upstate and is now averaging 20.8 ppg in four conference games played (missed opener at UNCA)
• Only two players in program history have averaged 20 or more points per game in league play
• Smith leads the team in scoring at 17.2 ppg and is 1-of-5 players averaging double-figures
• Adam Pickett is second at 12.6 followed by Josh Ferguson (11.2), Kyle Zunic (10.3) and Bjorn Broman (10.0)
• Six players have made 23 or more threes on the season and Charles Falden is just two away from hitting 20 on the year

UNC ASHEVILLE

• Mike Morrell is in his first season as head coach of the Bulldogs
• DeVon Baker leads the Bulldogs and is the top scoring freshmen in the league at 16.6 ppg
• His average is up to 18.2 ppg in conference play
• Baker is the only Bulldog averaging double-figures but Coty Jude is right below at 9.9 ppg followed by Tajion Jones at 9.1
• Jude leads the team with 43 threes on the year (43%)
• Baker led the team with 26 points in the loss to Radford on Saturday
• Baker has led the team in scoring 11 times, including the last five games
• Lead the Big South in free throw percentage at .767 and in five league games have shot 86 percent at the line  

RECORD BOOK WATCH

• Bjorn Broman now has 196 career threes and is tied for 8^th all-time in program history as he became the 8^th player in program history with 180 made threes
• He is now four threes away from becoming the 7^th player in program history to hit 200 threes
• The Eagles are now through 18 games on the season and are currently averaging 12.3 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 (86.4 ppg), defensive rebounds (30.5), assists per game (15.7), and three-point field goals per game (12.3). Winthrop has led the Big South in scoring, scoring margin and three-point field goals per game the last two seasons. Nych Smith's 17.2 ppg ranks 5^th in the league while Josh Ferguson ranks third in rebounds per game (7.7). Smith is also 5^th in field goal percentage and 4^th in free throw percentage. Austin Awad ranks 5^th in the league in threes per game at 2.3 and Bjorn Broman is 11^th at 2.1.

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.