Indianapolis, Ind. – Winthrop men's basketball saw its historic season come to an end when they fell to the Villanova Wildcats, 73-63, in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament Friday night inside Farmer's Coliseum.
WINTHROP (23-2)
TOP CONTRIBUTORS
VILLANOVA (17-6)
TOP CONTRIBUTORS
- Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (22 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks)
- Justin Moore (15 points, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists)
- Jermaine Samuels (11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks)
- Caleb Daniels (10 points, 3 rebounds)
FIRST HALF
- Justin Moore got things underway with a layup 30 seconds into play
- Micheal Anumba responded with a layup of his own to tie things up
- The Eagles and Wildcats would exchange baskets before a 9-0 run put Villanova ahead, 13-4
- D.J. Burns Jr. found the rim to snap Winthrop's scoreless streak, making it a 13-6 contest with 14:!2 remaining in the half
- An 8-3 run, topped off by a Russell Jones Jr. 3-pointer from the corner kept things close, with Villanova still leading 21-17 at the under-eight timeout
- The Eagles went on a tear with a 10-0 run to take its first lead of the night, 22-21 with six minutes to go in the half
- The last five minutes were back-and-forth, seeing three ties and two lead changes
- With 14 seconds remaining in the half, Cole Swider drained a 3-pointer to take a 34-33 lead
- A shot from deep as time expired was no good and Villanova took a 34-33 lead into the locker room at halftime
- The Eagles started the night 5-for-17 from the floor, which included five straight misses, before shooting 8-of-12 over the final 8:39 of the half
SECOND HALF
- Winthrop opened the second half 0-for-7 from the floor before Adonis Arms stepped up and buried a three from the wing, cutting Villanova's lead to six, 43-37
- Arms' shot from deep kick started an 8-2 run that brought the Eagles within one possession of tying things up, 45-42
- Midway through the half the Wildcats put together a 9-0 run in the span of around two and a half minutes to push their lead to 60-47 with just under seven minutes to play
- Kyle Zunic ended the run with a 3-pointer from the wing as Chandler Vaudrin kicked the ball out from inside the lane, making it a 60-50 game
- The Eagles kept clawing back with Micheal Anumba draining a big three cutting Villanova's lead to single digits with 2:21 remaining in the game
- Despite the strong effort down the stretch, but the Wilcats held off the Eagles for the 10-point win
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop won the battle of the board, 37-35 (11 offensive rebounds)
- 18 points came from Winthrop's bench, led by Adonis Arms who finished with 10 and was 1-of-2 Eagles to finish in double-digits
- The Eagles finished the contest shooting 36 percent overall and just 28 percent in the second half
- Villanova shot 44 percent from the floor and had a 15-3 advantage in points off turnovers
- Jeremiah Robinson-Earl flirted with a triple-double leading the Wildcats with 22 points, 11 rebounds and six assists
- Burns Jr. finished in double-figures for the 12th time this season, leading the team tonight with 12
- Vaudrin matched Robinson-Earl with a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with nine points and seven assists
NOTABLES
- Winthrop reached 22 wins for the 10th time in program history and 4th time under Pat Kelsey
- Winthrop is 43-5 in its last 48 games
- At 23-2, the Eagles finish the season with the best winning percentage in the history of the program (.920) for a single-season
- Vaudrin finished with 173 assists on the year (25 games), which is the 5th most in a single-season by a Winthrop player
- Vaudrin became the 4th different Winthrop player to grab 10 or more rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game and his 11 tied for the 3rd most
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