Buggs Had 12 Points Including The Game-Winning Jumper vs. Campbell
Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop looks for a 2-0 start in league play as it hosts UNC Asheville Thursday night in the Big South Conference ESPNU Wild Card game.
WINTHROP (8-6, 1-0 Big South)
| WINTHROP PROBABLE STARTERS |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
Noteworthy |
| G |
11 |
Drew Buggs |
6-3 |
Gr. |
4.9 |
2.3 |
4.1 |
0.8 |
Hit game-winning jumper with 4 seconds left in win over Campbell / Surpassed 500 career assists at Vandy (543) / 10 steals in last 4 games / Season-high 17 points vs. Hartford / Career assist leader at Hawaii |
| G |
5 |
Patrick Good |
6-0 |
Gr. |
11.4 |
3.1 |
0.9 |
1.3 |
Season-high 33 points at Washington State / Leads Big South in 3pt field goals per game (2.8), 3pt field goal percentage (.438) / 241 career threes |
| G/F |
3 |
Micheal Anumba |
6-4 |
Sr. |
6.9 |
4.3 |
1.5 |
0.1 |
Started 99-of-102 career games / Had 10 points in league opening-win over Campbell / Team-high 18 points in win over Furman / Reached 400 career rebounds |
| F |
12 |
Cory Hightower |
6-7 |
R-Jr. |
11.2 |
5.9 |
2.2 |
1.1 |
Had 17 points, 8 rebounds in win over Campbell / Surpassed 600 career rebounds (602) / Tied career-high with five threes vs. Campbell / Hit game-winning three vs. Mercer with 4.2 seconds left in OT |
| F |
30 |
D.J. Burns Jr. |
6-9 |
R-Jr. |
16.4 |
4.8 |
1.0 |
0.7 |
Leads Big South in field goal percentage (.635), 10th in NCAA D1 / 12 games in double-figures / 4th in Big South in scoring / Preseason Big South Player of the Year |
THE SERIES
Series Record: 45-37
Series Streak: L1
Record at Winthrop Coliseum: 45-37
Streak at Winthrop Coliseum: L1
Prosser vs. UNC Asheville: 3-1
SERIES HISTORY
- Eagles and Bulldogs meet for the 83rd time
- Winthrop dropped the last meeting 57-55 but leads the all-time series 45-37 and has won 10 of the last 11 meetings at the Winthrop Coliseum
- In 82 meetings all-time there have been seven games decided by one point and 22 decided by five or fewer points
- Asheville and Winthrop face off in the Big South ESPNU Wild Card game for the 6th time
OVER THE LAST THREE GAMES
- D.J. Burns Jr. has the top scoring average over the last three games at 15.7 ppg and is shooting 75 percent from the floor
- Cory Hightower is second in scoring at 10.7 ppg and averaging a team-high 7.0 rpg while shooting 53 percent from the floor
- Eagles are averaging 71.7 ppg and shooting 47 percent from the floor
- Outrebounding opponents 35-3 – 29.0 with 10 offensive rebounds per game
AT A GLANCE
- Eagles enter the game having won two straight while the Bulldogs are riding a four-game win streak
- Winthrop has won nine straight home games with its last home loss coming to UNC Asheville on Jan. 29, 2021 (57-55)
- Bulldogs are tied with Gardner-Webb atop the South Division in the league standings at 2-0
- Winthrop and Asheville are second and third in the league respectively in scoring
- Bulldogs lead the league in threes per game at 9.7 per game and the Eagles are second at 9.6 per game
WINTHROP
- Winthrop is 19-1 in the month of January over the last three seasons and 45-10 over the last seven seasons
- Have won 20 of the last 21 games at home
- Looking for three straight wins for the first time this season
- The win against Campbell gave the Winthrop program 750 wins all-time and was the 450th all-time home victory
- D.J. Burns Jr. leads the team in scoring and is 4th in the conference at 16.4 ppg
- Burns Jr. has been in double-figures in 12-of-14 games and has posted 20 or more points in three of the last four games
- Burns Jr. leads the Big South in field goal percentage (.635) and 10th nationally
- Patrick Good is scoring 11.4 ppg and Cory Hightower is averaging 11.2 ppg
- Hightower is the team leader with 5.9 rpg and sits 8th in the Big South
- Good leads the conference in threes per game (2.8) and three-point field goal percentage (.438)
- He ranks 24th in three-point field goal percentage nationally and tied for 57th in threes per game
- The last two seasons the Eagles have finish second in the country in bench scoring and have averaged 42.0 bench points per game this season
- This year the team is averaging 32.0 ppg from the bench, which ranks 11th in the country (Cornell leads at 41.0 ppg through 14 games)
- Earned the program's first ever win over a PAC-12 opponent with the win at Washington (Nov. 27)
- Coming off back-to-back Big South Conference Championships
- Last season the Eagles posted the best winning percentage (.920) in the history of the program after opening the season 16-0
- Finished the season receiving votes in the Top 25 poll of the AP and USA Today Coaches Poll
- Winthrop has more wins than any other Big South school (194) since the 2012-13 season
- Mark Prosser starts his first season as head coach of the Eagles, the 7th head coach in program history
- D.J. Burns Jr., the 2021-22 Big South Conference Preseason Player of the Year, is the team's top returning scorer at 10.1 ppg
BIG SOUTH AWARDS
- D.J. Burns Jr. –Player of the Week (Dec. 27)
- Scored 20 points in the only game the Eagles played (vs. Mississippi State)
- Finished the game 9-of-11 from the field
- Posted back-to-back 20 point games for the first time in career
- It was his 4th game this season with 20 or more points
- Patrick Good – Co-Player of the Week (Nov. 29)
- Averaged 25.5 points, 6.5 rebounds in two games (at Washington State/at Washington)
- Poured in a season-high 33 points in the loss at Washington State
- Against the Cougars he tied his career-high of 11 threes (11-of-19)
- Finished the week 16-of-26 from the floor (62%)
- Scored 18 points (15 in the second half) to help the Eagles earn the win at Washington
400 WINS
On Dec. 1 against Hartford, the Eagles earned an 82-75 victory for the 400
th win all-time inside the Winthrop Coliseum. The Eagles are now 402-156 (.719 winning percentage) in 40 seasons playing in the Winthrop Coliseum. The Winthrop Coliseum opened its doors in 1982 and played the first game on Nov. 17 in a 61-60 loss to Lander. Eagles have won at least 11 or more games in each of the last nine seasons.
20TH ANNIVERSARY
It's been 20 years since the 2001-02 Winthrop men's basketball team overcame a 2-5 start to capture a fourth straight Big South Conference Championship. The Eagles struggled in their season opener with an overtime win against Lander, 60-58. The Eagles went on to lose seven of the next 10 games as they entered conference play with a 4-7 record and fell 69-48 at Radford to open league play. That game seemed to have awakened the Eagles as they went on to win 10 of the next 13 games to earn the top seed for the conference tournament. The entire tournament took place in the Roanoke Civic Center in Roanoke, Va. as the Eagles opened with a 66-59 win over Liberty in the quarterfinals. Winthrop went on a defeat Elon in the semifinals and then left no doubt in the title game with a 70-48 victory over High Point. Greg Lewis was named the Big South Tournament MVP and Pierre Wooten also named to the All-Tournament Team. Eagles went on to the NCAA Tournament to face a loaded Duke squad, which was the number-one seed in the South Regional.
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), 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.
UP NEXT
Eagles head to North Charleston, S.C. for their first conference road test as they'll take on Charleston Southern on Saturday, Jan. 15 at 5:30 p.m.
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).
