Rock Hill, S.C.— After playing four of its first six Big South games on the road, Winthrop returns home to for four of the next five beginning with USC Upstate, Thursday night at the Winthrop Coliseum.
 

Game 20: Winthrop (12-7, 6-0 Big South) vs. USC Upstate (7-12, 2-4 Big South)
Date	Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020, 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) – Mitch Hill (Analyst) – Pregame 6:30 p.m.
Notes	Winthrop | USC Upstate
Social Media	@Winthrop_MBB | @WUEagles | #ROCKtheHILL | #EverStand
Promotion(s)	Free 300 Students Receive T-Shirt
Tickets	Click Here

 
PROBABLE STARTERS
Winthrop
G         3          Micheal Anumba (6-4, So., 6.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 0.9 apg)
G         13        Hunter Hale (6-3, Gr., 12.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.8 apg)
G         54        Chandler Vaudrin (6-7, R-Jr.., 10.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 6.1 apg)
F          25        Josh Ferguson (6-8, Sr., 12.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.2 apg)
F          33        Chase Claxton (6-7, Fr., 6.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 0.4 apg)
 
THE SERIES
Series Record: 10-8 (Winthrop leads)
Series Streak: W5
Record at Winthrop Coliseum: 2-2
Streak at Winthrop Coliseum: W2
Kelsey vs. USC Upstate: 4-0
 
SERIES HISTORY

• Winthrop and USC Upstate meet for just the second time as members of the Big South Conference and the 19^th time overall
• Eagles have won five straight in the series, including last year's meeting in Spartanburg, 82-72
• The last nine meetings have been decided by 10 or fewer points with three decided by one possession
• First meeting when both teams were a member of the NCAA D1 level came Nov. 21, 2009

 
THE GAME

• Winthrop looks to remain unbeaten in the league and extend its current eight-game winning streak
• USC Upstate has dropped three straight games since opening up league play 2-1
• Spartans feature one of the youngest starting lineups and is the only team in the nation in which 95% of its scoring comes from underclassmen
• Winthrop is 6-2 at home this season while Upstate is 2-9 on the road

 
WINTHROP       

• Head coach Pat Kelsey is in his eighth season with the Eagles (151-90)
• Kelsey ranks 5^th all-time in Big South history in career wins, tied with current Charleston Southern head coach Barclay Radebaugh
• The victory at Radford gave Kelsey 84 league wins all-time as he remains 8^th all-time
• Opened league play 6-0 for the first time since 2006-07 and looking for just the 4^th 7-0 start to league play in program history
• Eagles are winning league games by a margin of +15.1
• Winthrop has four players averaging double-figures with Josh Ferguson leading the way with 12.6 ppg and Hunter Hale next at 12.4 ppg
• D.J. Burns Jr. is third on the team in scoring at 12.2 ppg while Chandler Vaudrin is averaging 10.3 ppg
• Winthrop leads the nation in bench scoring at 35.5 ppg, just slightly above Jacksonville State (35.3 ppg)
• Burns Jr. has come off the bench in 13 games and is averaging 11.4 in those games
• Eagles are tied with two other programs (Seton Hall/New Mexico State) for the 4^th longest current winning streak in the nation

 
USC UPSTATE

• The Spartans are led by Dave Dickerson, in his second season (13-38/81-122)
• Upstate opened the season 1-7, but is 6-5 in its last 11 games
• After opening league play 2-1, the Spartans have dropped three straight with close home losses to Radford and High Point and a road loss at Gardner-Webb
• Despite such a young roster, the Spartans are one of the top teams in the league in assist/turnover ratio (3^rd)
• Everette Hammond leads the Spartans in scoring at 14.5 per game (15.0 ppg in league play)
• Tommy Bruner is second on the team with 12.3 ppg and is up to 16.0 ppg in league action
• Hammond has led the team in scoring in nine times while Bruner has led five times

 
FERGUSON MAKING HIS MARK
Josh Ferguson reached the 500 rebound mark at the end of the 2018-19 season and became the 58th player in Big South Conference history to reach 600 rebounds. Ferguson pulled down eight rebounds in the win over Elon to reach exactly 600 rebounds for his career. He currently ranks 9th all-time in program history and is on pace to finish 3rd all-time. Ferguson is also closing in on 1,000 career points as he currently has 964 and looking to become the 26th player in program history to reach that mark.
 
TRIPLE-DOUBLE FOR VAUDRIN
Chandler Vaudrin had 10 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in the league-opening win over Longwood on Jan. 2. It was the first triple-double by a Winthrop player since Xavier Cooks had 11 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists against Reinhardt. Vaudrin nearly averaged a triple-double over the first two games of Big South action as he posted 16 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists at Campbell. It was the second triple-double of the season in the Big South and 13^th nationally at the NCAA D1 level. For his efforts against Longwood and Campbell he was named the Big South Conference Co-Player of the Week. He is currently the active leader overall NCAA divisions for career triple-doubles (5).
 
HALE REACHES 1,000 CAREER POINTS
Hunter Hale surpassed 1,000 points in his collegiate career after scoring 17 points in the loss at Furman. Hale's career began at Central Michigan and this last spring Hale transferred to the Eagles from Grand Valley State to begin graduate school and arrived with 926 points in his career. This season Hale is averaging 12.4 ppg as he's started 16-of-17 games he's played this season.
 
WINTHROP SPORTS SHOW AT ROCO
Joins us on Mondays 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.
 
TUNE IN TO THE EAGLES ALL SEASON LONG
Fans can listen to the games all season long on OTS Media of Rock Hill (94.3 FM and 104.1 The Bridge), which is the flagship station for Winthrop Athletics. In addition, most games will simulcast on 730 ESPN Charlotte and AM 1450 WGNC Gastonia.
All home games as well as all Big South games home or away are available to watch through the Big South Network on ESPN+ unless otherwise picked up by another ESPN network. To watch live Big South games on ESPN+, you need a subscriber. For more information how to subscribe, click here.

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
To keep up with the latest news on the Winthrop men's basketball program, follow the Eagles on Twitter (@Winthrop_MBB), Instagram (@Winthrop_MBB) and Facebook (/WinthropEagles).