ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop men's basketball takes on 6^th-seeded Charleston Southern Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Big South Conference Championship.    
 

Game 30: #3 Winthrop (18-11, 10-6 Big South) vs. #6 Charleston Southern (16-14, 9-7 Big South)
Date	Thursday, Mar. 7, 2 p.m. (EST)
Location	Buies Creek, NC (Pope Convocation Center-Gore Arena / 3,095)
Live Stats	Statbroadcast (click here)
Television/Stream	ESPN3 (click here) Mike Gleason (PxP) – Ralph Patterson (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 1:30 p.m.
Game Notes	Winthrop | Charleston Southern
Social Media	@Winthrop_MBB | @WUEagles | #ROCKtheHILL | #WinthropMBB #WinthropEverStand | #BigSouthMBB
Tickets	Click Here

 
Winthrop
G         0          Nych Smith (5-10, Sr., 16.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 3.7 apg)
G         3          Micheal Anumba (6-4, Fr., 6.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.6 apg)
G         13        Bjorn Broman (6-0, Sr., 10.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.3 apg)
G         14        Adam Pickett (6-1, Sr., 12.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.6 apg)
F          25        Josh Ferguson (6-8, Jr., 11.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.3 apg)
           

Charleston Southern
G         02        Nate Louis (5-11, Jr., 5.8 ppg, 0.9, rpg, 1.0 apg)
G         04        Deontaye Buskey (6-1, So, 6.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.8 apg)
G         11        Christian Keeling (6-4, Jr., 18.7 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 2.8 apg)
F          01        Travis McConico (6-6, Sr., 8.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.4 apg)
F          14        Duncan LeXander (6-8, Fr., 5.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.7 spg)
 
THE SERIES
Series Record vs. Charleston Southern: 46-26
Series Streak: W2
Record at Gore Arena: 0-0
Streak at Gore Arena: n/a
Kelsey vs. Charleston Southern: 11-4
 
SERIES HISTORY

• This is the third meeting of the season and the 73^rd all-time
• Winthrop won both meetings this season and now leads the all-time series 46-26
• Eagles and Bucs square off in the Big South Tournament for the 9^th time as Winthrop has won 7-of-8 meetings
• In the last 20 meetings, the team that leads at halftime has gone on to win the game 19 times

EAGLES IN THE BIG SOUTH TOURNEY

• This is the second straight season the Eagles are seeded third for the conference tournament
• Have won their opening game of the tournament seven straight years
• Hold a record of 21-12 all-time in first round/quarterfinals of the conference tourney
• During Pat Kelsey's tenure the Eagles are 12-5 and have four conference championship game appearances
• Winthrop last won the Big South Tournament in 2016-17  

THE GAME

• The first two meetings between the two teams were decided by a total of six points
• Eagles had a first round bye while Charleston Southern entertained USC Upstate on Tuesday, earning a 71-52 victory
• Eagles fell at Hampton in their last contest and have dropped 3-of-4 while the Bucs enter the game riding a three-game winning streak
• Winthrop leads the Big South in scoring at 84.0 ppg while Charleston Southern is 5^th at 76.9 ppg
• Eagles also lead the league and the nation in three-point field goals per game (12.5) and total threes (363)

WINTHROP       

• Head coach Pat Kelsey is in his seventh season with the Eagles (139-82)
• Kelsey is now one victory behind former VMI head coach Duggar Baucom for 8^th on the all-time in Big South wins
• Eagles have hit 10 or more threes in a school record seven straight games and did so in 14-of-16 league contests
• The 363 threes on the year are third in conference history for a single-season and four away from cracking the Top 20 all-time in NCAA D1 history in a season
• The 12.52 threes per game ranks as the 4^th best in a single-season in NCAA D1 history
• Led by Big South All-Conference selection Nych Smith at 16.9 ppg and also leads the team with 3.7 apg
• Smith was in double figures in 12 of the 15 league contests he appeared averaging 17.6 ppg
• Led the team in scoring in games away from home with 19.9 ppg
• Senior Adam Pickett averaged 12.6 ppg in the regular season and was second on the team in rebounding at 5.6 per game
• In the last eight games he's averaging 7.9 rebounds and has two double-doubles in league play
• In two meetings with Charleston Southern this year, Pickett averaged 17.0 points, 7.0 rebounds
• Also averaging double figures during the regular season were Josh Ferguson at 11.3 and Bjorn Broman at 10.6
• Ferguson has been on a tear the last three games averaging 18.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg and shooting 57 percent from the floor

CHARLESTON SOUTHERN

• Charleston Southern is coached by Barclay Radebaugh, in his 14^th season with the Bucs (181-244 overall / 140-236 at CSU)
• Led by Christian Keeling with a team-high 17.9 ppg and 7.0 rpg
• Keeling was named to the Big South First Team and is a two-time all-league selection
• In two games against the Eagles this year Keeling has averaged 15.5 ppg and 13.0 rpg and is 11-for-29 shooting
• There are two other Bucs averaging double-figures as Phlandrous Fleming is scoring 12.0 ppg and Dontrell Shuller is averaging 10.4 per game
• Fleming has averaged 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds while shooting 42 percent from the floor and 46 percent from three against the Eagles this season
• Shuler has averaged 12.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals but shooting 31 percent from the floor (9-for-14 at the foul line) against Winthrop this season
• As a team the Bucs are 18-for-66 behind the arc in the two meetings with the Eagles
• Riding a three-game winning streak and have won five of the last six games
• In the last 12 games the Bucs are 9-3 with two of the losses coming to the Eagles

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 219 in his career
• The Eagles are now through 29 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) 

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.