ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop returns home looking to end a two-game skid as it welcomes Charleston Southern to the Winthrop Coliseum on Saturday, Feb. 23 for a key contest for both teams. It is "Senior Day" for the Eagles as they'll honor their senior class with a pregame ceremony. 
 

Game 28: Winthrop (17-10, 9-5 Big South) vs. Charleston Southern (13-13, 7-6 Big South)
Date	Saturday, Feb. 23, 2 p.m. (EST)
Location	Rock Hill, SC (Winthrop Coliseum / 6,100)
Live Stats	Statbroadcast (click here)
Television/Stream	ESPN3 (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) / Jack Benjamin (PxP) – Anders Broman (Analyst) Pregame 1:30 p.m.
Game Notes	Winthrop | Charleston Southern
Social Media	@Winthrop_MBB | @WUEagles | #ROCKtheHILL | #WinthropMBB #WinthropEverStand | #BigSouthMBB
Tickets	Click Here

 
PROBABLE STARTERS
Winthrop
G         0          Nych Smith (5-10, Sr., 17.4 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.7 apg)
G         13        Bjorn Broman (6-0, Sr., 10.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.4 apg)
G         14        Adam Pickett (6-1, Sr., 12.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.7 apg)
F          15        Jermaine Ukaegbu (6-6, Sr., 2.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.5 apg)
F          22        Austin Awad (6-6, Sr., 6.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 0.2 apg)

Charleston Southern
G         02        Nate Louis (5-11, Jr., 5.8 ppg, 0.9, rpg, 1.2 apg)
G         04        Deontaye Buskey (6-1, So, 7.1 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.9 apg)
G         11        Christian Keeling (6-4, Jr., 18.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 3.0 apg)
F          01        Travis McConico (6-6, Sr., 8.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.5 apg)
F          14        Duncan LeXander (6-8, Fr., 6.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 0.8 spg)
 
THE SERIES
Series Record vs. Charleston Southern: 45-26
Series Streak: W1
Record at Winthrop Coliseum: 24-10
Streak at Winthrop Coliseum: L1
Kelsey vs. Charleston Southern: 10-4
 
SERIES HISTORY

• This is the second meeting between Winthrop and Charleston Southern this season and the 72^nd all-time
• Eagles captured a 76-72 victory on the road in the first meeting and now lead the all-time series 45-26 overall and 38-25 in regular season meetings
• Bucs spoiled the Eagles senior day in 2018 with a 78-75 victory, which ended a losing streak of 16 straight at the Winthrop Coliseum
• The team that has led at the half has won 18 of the last 19 meetings

THE GAME

• This contest has conference tournament seeding implications as the Eagles look to keep their hopes alive for a possible tie for first place for the regular season
• Charleston Southern is still in the hunt for a first round bye in the conference tournament, currently tied with High Point in 6^th place
• The Bucs have won two straight and three of the last four while the Eagles have dropped two straight and four of the last seven
• Winthrop and Charleston Southern are two of the top three-point teams in the league as the Eagles lead in threes per game at 12.5 and the Bucs average 10.2
• Eagles continue to lead the country in three-pointers made (338) and threes per game (12.5)
• A victory for the Eagles would give them at least 11 home wins for the 7^th straight year and at least 10 league wins for a sixth straight year
• Winthrop is 10-3 at home and has scored 93 or more points in three of the last four at home
• This season the Bucs are 3-9 on the road with all three wins coming in league play (at Longwood/USC Upstate/UNC Asheville)

WINTHROP       

• Head coach Pat Kelsey is in his seventh season with the Eagles (138-81)
• Kelsey is now two wins behind former VMI head coach Duggar Baucom for 8^th on the all-time in Big South wins
• Hit 14 threes in the loss at Radford and now have 338 (program record) on the year which ranks as the 4^th most in a single-season in Big South history
• It is also just 29 made threes away from cracking the Top 20 all-time in NCAA D1 history
• Have hit 10 or more threes in 12-of-14 league contests
• Already broke the program's single-season record for threes per game as the Eagles could go the rest of the season without making a single three and finish with an average of 11.3 per game
• This year's average break's the record set by the 2017-18 team of 9.55
• Nych Smith lead the team in scoring at 17.4 ppg while Adam Pickett is second at 12.3 ppg
• Smith also leads in scoring in conference play at 18.6 ppg
• Josh Ferguson scored 24 points in the loss at Radford and is now averaging 10.9 ppg as he leads the team in rebounding at 7.4
• Eagles have dropped two straight for the second time since Jan. 26 and look to avoid three straight loss for the first time this season
• Need to win the next two games to have a chance at the 4^th 20-win season under Kelsey

CHARLESTON SOUTHERN

• Led by head coach Barclay Radebaugh (158-243) in his 15^th season with the Bucs
• Started league play 1-4 but have since gone 6-2
• Averaging 85.0 ppg on the road in league play while allowing 82.3 ppg
• In six conference road games the Bucs are hitting 11.3 threes per game
• Christian Keeling paces three Bucs in double figure scoring on the year at 18.3 while Phlandrous Fleming is averaging 11.9 and Dontrell Shuler 10.5
• Keeling had nine points on 2-of-12 shooting and pulled down 14 rebounds in the first meeting with the Eagles
• Over the last five games Keeling is averaging 10.4 rebounds while scoring 18.0 ppg
• Fleming came off the bench in the win over USC Upstate as he had 15 points, six rebounds and four assists (Had 14 points, six assists in the first meeting with the Eagles this season)
• Have won six of the last eight games and looking for second three-game win streak of the season  

RECORD BOOK WATCH

• Bjorn Broman became the 8^th player in program history to hit 200 or more threes in a career as he reached 200 when he knocked down four in the win over Asheville on Jan. 21 and now has 213 in his career
• The Eagles are now through 27 games on the season and are currently averaging 12.5 threes per game, which no other team in program history have averaged 10 or more for a full season
• The team is currently averaging 12.52 per game and there have only been three seasons better than that number in NCAA D1 history
• 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 (84.5 ppg) and three-point field goals per game (12.5). Winthrop has led the Big South in scoring, scoring margin and three-point field goals per game the last two seasons. Nych Smith's 17.4 ppg ranks 6^th in the league while Josh Ferguson ranks third in rebounds per game (7.4). Smith is also 5^th in field goal percentage, 6^th in assists per game and 8^th in free throw percentage. Bjorn Broman ranks 3^rd in the league in free throw percentage (.839).

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.