Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop looks to capture a fifth straight victory as it hits the road for a Big South Conference battle at Presbyterian College, Thursday evening
WINTHROP (10-6, 3-0 Big South)
| WINTHROP PROBABLE STARTERS |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
Noteworthy |
| G |
11 |
Drew Buggs |
6-3 |
Gr. |
5.4 |
2.4 |
4.3 |
0.8 |
Hit game-winning jumper with 4 seconds left in win over Campbell / Surpassed 500 career assists at Vandy (554) / double-figures in 2 of last 3 games / Career assist leader at Hawaii |
| G |
5 |
Patrick Good |
6-0 |
Gr. |
11.3 |
3.3 |
0.8 |
1.2 |
Coming off 16 points in road win at Charleston Southern / Season-high 33 points at Washington State / Leads Big South in 3pt field goals per game, 3pt field goal percentage / 245 career threes |
| G/F |
3 |
Micheal Anumba |
6-4 |
Sr. |
7.6 |
4.1 |
1.4 |
0.1 |
Made 100th career start vs. Asheville and scored a team-high 18 points / Averaging 11.3 ppg in Big South play / Reached 400 career rebounds |
| F |
12 |
Cory Hightower |
6-7 |
R-Jr. |
10.7 |
6.5 |
2.1 |
1.0 |
Posted 2nd double-double this season with 13 points, 11 rebounds vs. Asheville / Surpassed 600 career rebounds (622) / Hit game-winning three vs. Mercer with 4.2 seconds left in OT |
| F |
30 |
D.J. Burns Jr. |
6-9 |
R-Jr. |
16.3 |
4.4 |
0.9 |
0.7 |
Leads Big South in field goal percentage (.635), 9th in NCAA D1 / 14 games in double-figures / 3rd in Big South in scoring / Preseason Big South Player of the Year |
THE SERIES
Series Record: 28-13
Series Streak: W5
Record at Templeton Center: 10-8
Streak at Templeton Center: W3
Prosser vs. Presbyterian College: first meeting
SERIES HISTORY
- Winthrop and Presbyterian College meet for 42nd time
- Eagles have won the last five meetings in the series, including three straight on the road
- The last meeting was exactly a year ago on Jan. 20, 2021 as the Eagles prevailed 78-66
- Winthrop has also won 15 of the last 16 in the series
OVER THE LAST THREE GAMES
- Eagles have five players averaging double-figures led by D.J. Burns Jr. at 12.3 ppg
- Micheal Anumba is next at 11.3 ppg followed by Cory Hightower at 11.0 ppg
- Hightower is almost averaging a double-double with 9.3 rpg
- Drew Buggs is scoring 10.3 ppg and averaging 5.0 apt while Kelton Talford is the 5th player in double-figures at 10.0 ppg
- Eagles are averaging 76.7 ppg while holding opponents to 72.3 ppg
- Shooting .528 from the floor while holding opponents to .420
AT A GLANCE
- Winthrop is riding a four-game winning streak while the Blue Hose have dropped three straight
- Eagles win at Charleston Southern marked the 13th straight conference road win
- The last three seasons the Eagles are 21-1 in the month of January
- Eagles aiming for a 4-0 start to league play for a fourth straight season
- This is the second game of 5-of-6 on the road for the Eagles after the game at High Point was rescheduled for Jan. 24
- Eagles are second in the Big South in scoring at 77.5 ppg while the Blue Hose are 6th (67.8 ppg)
- Two of the top three scorers in the league will square off as Presbyterian's Rayshon Harrison is second at 17.2 ppg and Winthrop's D.J. Burns Jr. is third at 16.3 ppg
- The game also includes the second and third top rebounders in the league with Presbyterian's Winston Hill second at 6.6 rpg and Winthrop's Cory Hightower third at 6.5 rpg
WINTHROP
- After the win at Charleston Southern the Eagles have now won 17 of the last 18 meetings with program's from the state of South Carolina
- The win against Campbell gave the Winthrop program 750 wins all-time and was the 450th all-time home victory
- Burns Jr. leads the team in scoring and is 3rd in the conference at 16.3 ppg
- Burns Jr. has been in double-figures in 14-of-16 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 9th nationally
- Patrick Good is second on the team at 11.0 ppg and is 37 points away from 1,000 in his career
- Good leads the conference in threes per game (2.7) and three-point field goal percentage (.453)
- Cory Hightower is third on the team in scoring at 10.7 ppg and leads in rebounding at 6.5 per game (3rd in league)
- 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 30.9 ppg from the bench, which ranks T-15th in the country (Cornell leads at 40.3 ppg through 15 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 (196) since the 2012-13 season
- Mark Prosser starts his first season as head coach of the Eagles, the 7th head coach in program history
- 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 403-156 (.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 have a quick turnaround as they come home to face Gardner-Webb on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 2 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).
