Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop men's basketball looks for a 2-0 start for the first time since 2016-17 when it takes on Little Rock Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
WINTHROP (1-0, 0-0 Big South)
| WINTHROP PROBABLE STARTERS (19-20 stats) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
Noteworthy |
| G |
22 |
Kyle Zunic |
6-2 |
Sr. |
4.0 |
3.0 |
1.0 |
0.0 |
Has 102 career three-pointers |
| G |
52 |
Chandler Vaudrin |
6-7 |
R-Sr. |
14.0 |
8.0 |
7.0 |
3.0 |
Preseason All-Big South First Team |
| G |
11 |
Charles Falden |
6-3 |
Sr. |
9.0 |
2.0 |
1.0 |
3.0 |
9 points off bench in opener vs. UNCG |
| G/F |
3 |
Micheal Anumba |
6-4 |
So. |
5.0 |
6.0 |
1.0 |
0.0 |
Started 61-of-64 career games |
| F |
30 |
D.J. Burns Jr. |
6-9 |
R-So. |
6.0 |
2.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
2020 Big South Freshman of the Year |
THE SERIES
Series Record: First Meeting
Series Streak: n/a
Record at KFC Yum! Center: n/a
Streak at KFC Yum! Center: n/a
Kelsey vs. Little Rock: 0-0
SERIES HISTORY
- This is the first meeting between the two schools and just the third opponent the Eagles have faced from the state of Arkansas
- Winthrop is 2-2 against Sun Belt Conference opponents and 2-1 under Pat Kelsey
THE GAME
- Little Rock enters the contest ranked 8th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 while the Eagles are 14th
- The Eagles have two remaining games at the multi-team event while Little Rock is playing its final game in Louisville
WINTHROP HEAD COACH PAT KELSEY
- In his ninth season at the helm of the Winthrop program and holds a career record of 164-93
- The 164 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 opened the season with a win and now have a six-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
- It was also the 12th 20-win season since joining the Big South in 1985-86 (11th in the last 22 seasons and 4th under Kelsey)
- Entered the 2020-21 season ranked 9th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 preseason poll
- Two of the team's top three scorers in the season opener were playing in their first game for Winthrop
- Redshirt senior Adonis Arms tied for a team-high 14 points while freshman Kelton Talford added 12 points
- Redshirt senior Chandler Vaudrin tied Arms with a team-high 14 points as he also led the team with eight rebounds and seven assists
- The Eagles received 37 points from their bench in the opener with Arms and Talford leading the way
- Charles Falden added nine points off the bench and Jamal King had eight points
LITTLE ROCK
- The Trojans are coached by Darrell Walker, who is 33-32 in two seasons and 79-50 in his career (5 seasons)
- Enter the contest 2-1 with wins over Prairie View A&M and Duquesne
- Voted as the preseason favorite to win the Sun Belt Conference after going 21-10 overall and 15-5 in the league in 2019-20
- Through three games the Trojans are led by Nikola Maric averaging 18.0 ppg and is second on the team in rebounding (6.3)
- Markquis Nowell is second on the team at 13.3 ppg while Marko Lukic is averaging 11.0 ppg and Ruot Monyyong is scoring 10.0 ppg
- Monyyong leads the team in rebounding at 8.7
- All-time the Trojans are 7-1 against opponents from the Big South
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.
