Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop and Radford square off in a battle for first place when the two teams take the court for a Big South Conference series Feb. 11-12 in the Dedmon Center.
WINTHROP (16-1, 13-1 Big South)
| WINTHROP PROBABLE STARTERS |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
Noteworthy |
| G |
22 |
Kyle Zunic |
6-2 |
Sr. |
4.6 |
2.8 |
1.6 |
0.9 |
Has 119 career threes, has seven assists in the last three games |
| G |
52 |
Chandler Vaudrin |
6-7 |
R-Sr. |
12.6 |
6.9 |
7.6 |
1.5 |
Leads the Big South in assists per game, leads team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals |
| G |
11 |
Charles Falden |
6-3 |
Sr. |
11.1 |
3.1 |
0.7 |
0.9 |
Moved into 15th all-time with 123 threes, team is 25-4 when he scores double-figures |
| G/F |
3 |
Micheal Anumba |
6-4 |
So. |
7.0 |
4.3 |
1.1 |
0.3 |
Started 76-of-78 career games, is 29-of-32 at the line in league play |
| F |
30 |
D.J. Burns Jr. |
6-9 |
R-So. |
9.4 |
2.8 |
0.5 |
0.7 |
Has five steals in last three games, at least one steal in seven of the last eight games |
THE SERIES
Series Record: 37-41
Series Streak: L1
Record at Dedmon Center: 13-21
Streak at Dedmon Center: W1
Kelsey vs. Radford: 7-10
SERIES HISTORY
- Radford leads the all-time series 41-37 and has won four of the last five meetings
- The last time these two teams met was Feb. 10, 2020 as the Eagles fell 81-77 at home
- Winthrop has won three of its last five trips to the Dedmon Center
THE GAME
- Winthrop is coming off its first loss of the season and is off to one of its best starts in conference play at 13-1
- Winthrop is ranked 6th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll
- Eagles received votes in the latest USA Today Coaches Top 25 Poll
- First place in the league standings is on the line as the Eagles hold a one game advantage over the Highlanders
- Winthrop is the league's top scoring offense at 81.3 ppg while Radford leads the league in scoring defense at 64.2 ppg
- Winthrop and Radford are also first and second respectively in scoring margin
- It's a battle of the top two rebounding teams in the conference, including the top two offensive rebounding teams (Winthrop 13.2 per game / Radford 11.9 per game)
WINTHROP HEAD COACH PAT KELSEY
- In his ninth season at the helm of the Winthrop program and holds a career record of 179-94
- The 179 victories rank second all-time in program history and tied for 4th in Big South history Cliff Ellis from Coastal Carolina
- Moved into 3rd all-time in Big South history with 106 conference wins and passing former head coach Gregg Marshall (104)
- 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
- In 2019-20 the team won 24 games, which ranks 3rd most for a single-season in program history
- Eagles have three wins over teams ranked in the Top 12 of the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25
- Featuring one of the top scoring benches in the country, the Eagles average 38.5 points from its non-starters (2nd behind Samford at 44.0)
- Eagles have 11 players averaging 11.9 minutes per game or more and only three averaging 20 or more
- Chandler Vaudrin continues to lead the team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals
- Vaudrin is averaging 12.6 ppg and is tied for second in the league at 6.6 rpg
- His 7.1 apg average ranks 7th nationally and leads the Big South (as of Feb. 9)
- Adonis Arms continues to lead the bench as he's second on the team at 11.3 ppg and has come off the bench in all 17 games
- Charles Falden is the third Winthrop player averaging double-figures at 10.9 ppg
- Winthrop is outscoring opponents in league play by 11.6 ppg and has a +11.5 advantage on the boards
- Eagles have held opponents to 66 points or less in five of the last six games (an average of 62.0 ppg in that stretch)
RADFORD
- Led by 10th year head coach Mike Jones, who is 172-145 overall and 99-71 in Big South action
- The Highlanders, picked sixth in the preseason poll are sitting second at 12-2 (three games ahead of UNC Asheville in 3rd
- Radford lost all five starters and eight total letterwinners heading into 2020-21
- The Highlanders have won three straight and nine of the last 10 games
- This season Radford holds a perfect mark at home at 7-0
- Offensively the Highlanders are balanced with no player averaging double-figures but eight players scoring 6.1 ppg or more and six with 7.5 ppg or more
- Radford has been to the line 160 more times than its opponents and has a +10.8 rebound margin
- The Highlanders haven't allowed a team to score over 67 points in regulation since falling 77-62 in its season-opener at Virginia Tech
- The only two games that were higher came in an overtime loss at UNC Asheville (76) and a triple-overtime win over Campbell (91)
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.
