Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop men's basketball heads to Spartanburg, S.C. to open Big South Conference action with a two-game series Dec. 12-13 at USC Upstate. The teams will open the series Saturday at 4 p.m. and then turn around for a 2 p.m. tip on Sunday.
WINTHROP (2-0, 0-0 Big South)
| WINTHROP PROBABLE STARTERS |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
Noteworthy |
| G |
22 |
Kyle Zunic |
6-2 |
Sr. |
2.0 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
0.0 |
Has 102 career three-pointers |
| G |
52 |
Chandler Vaudrin |
6-7 |
R-Sr. |
12.5 |
4.5 |
7.5 |
2.5 |
Named Big South Player of the Week (Dec. 7) |
| G |
11 |
Charles Falden |
6-3 |
Sr. |
10.5 |
3.0 |
0.5 |
2.0 |
1-of-4 Eagles averaging double-figures, has 97 career triples |
| G/F |
3 |
Micheal Anumba |
6-4 |
So. |
6.0 |
5.5 |
0.5 |
0.0 |
Started 62-of-65 career games |
| F |
30 |
D.J. Burns Jr. |
6-9 |
R-So. |
12.5 |
2.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
Was 9-of-10 from the field vs. Little Rock (19 points) |
THE SERIES
Series Record: 13-8
Series Streak: W8
Record at H.B. Hodge Center: 7-4
Streak at H.B. Hodge Center: W4
Kelsey vs. USC Upstate: 6-0
SERIES HISTORY
- This series started when the two teams squared off on Jan. 18, 1979 in Rock Hill as the Eagles held on for a 69-66 win
- This will mark the 22nd and 23rd meeting between the Eagles and Spartans
- Winthrop has won eight straight in the series, including its last four trips to the H.B. Hodge Center
- Prior to the current win streak, Upstate had won seven of the eight previous meetings
- It is also just the 4th and 5th time the teams face each other in regular season conference contests as the Spartans enter their third year in the Big South
THE GAME
- This Big South Conference will have a unique look this season with teams playing back-to-back days against the same opponent
- Winthrop is ranked 6th in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll
- Dating back to last season the Eagles have won seven straight games
- Eagles looking to win their conference opener for an eighth straight season
- Winthrop looking for its first 3-0 start since 2015-16
WINTHROP HEAD COACH PAT KELSEY
- In his ninth season at the helm of the Winthrop program and holds a career record of 165-93
- The 165 victories rank second all-time in program history and 5th in Big South history
- Has led the Eagles to two Big South Conference Titles (2016-17, 2019-20)
- Is the 3rd Winthrop coach to lead the Eagles to multiple conference titles
- First coach in Big South history to reach 100 wins in first five seasons
WINTHROP
- Eagles are 2-0 to start the season for the first time since the 2016-17 season and can move to 3-0 for the first time since 2015-16
- Eagles now have a seven-game winning streak dating back to the 2019-20 season
- It's the first time since the 1987-88 season that the Eagles ended their season with a win
- That year the Eagles won the Big South Conference Championship but the league did not have an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament at that time
- Coming off a season in which it won 24 games, which ranks 3rd most for a single-season in program history
- Eagles have opened up the season with two wins over opponents ranked in the Top 12 of the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25
- Winthrop has four players averaging double-figures led by Chandler Vaudrin and D.J. Burns Jr. at 12.5 per game
- Adonis Arms is averaging 11.5 ppg and Charles Falden is scoring 10.5 ppg
- Through the two games, every player that's seen the court this year is averaging at least 11.0 minutes per game
- The bench is contributing with 34.0 points per game so far as Arms leads the bench scoring (11.5) followed by freshman Kelton Talford (8.0 ppg)
- Vaudrin is five assists away from 500 in his collegiate career
USC UPSTATE
- The Spartans are coached by Dave Dickerson, who is in his 3rd season (19-50) with the team and 8th overall (87-134)
- Started the season 0-4 and coming off a one possession loss to Georgia Southern of the Sun Belt Conference
- Tommy Bruner and Bryson Mozone lead the Spartans in scoring at 12.3 ppg
- Spartans have had five different players lead the team in scoring in each of the first four games
- Mozone led with 17 points in the opener and then Nevin Zink and Cartier Jernigan each had 12 in the second game against Furman
- Bruner had a game-high 19 against Eastern Kentucky and Everette Hammond led the team against Georgia Southern with 14
- In three meetings last season, Bruner had the best scoring average against the Eagles at 13.0 while Mozone averaged 12.0
- Spartans are 1-of-5 teams in the Big South averaging 8.0 or more three-point field goals per game
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+. To watch live Big South games on ESPN+, you need a subscriber. For more information how to subscribe,
click here.
