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
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).
