Rock Hill, S.C. – Fresh off a win in its home opener on Wednesday, the Winthrop men's basketball team is set to host Middle Tennessee for "Homecoming" on Saturday afternoon.
WINTHROP (1-1, 0-0 Big South)
| WINTHROP PROBABLE STARTERS |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
Noteworthy |
| G |
0 |
Sin'Cere McMahon |
6-1 |
Jr. |
8.5 |
1.5 |
2.5 |
0.5 |
Posted 11 points in opener / 61 career threes / matched career-high 4 assists vs. Piedmont |
| G |
1 |
Isaiah Wilson |
6-1 |
Jr.. |
6.5 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
1.0 |
Started first two games / dished out career-high 4 assists vs. PIedmont |
| G/F |
12 |
Cory Hightower |
6-7 |
R-Sr. |
15.0 |
6.5 |
5.5 |
1.5 |
Preseason All-Big South 1st Team / 1,375 career points, 698 career rebounds |
| F |
33 |
Chase Claxton |
6-7 |
Sr. |
2.5 |
3.5 |
2.5 |
1.0 |
Played in 89 career games / Tied career-best 3.8 rpg last season / Career-high 4 assists vs. PIedmont |
| F |
4 |
Kelton Talford |
6-7 |
Jr. |
20.5 |
9.0 |
1.5 |
1.0^ |
Coming off career-high 23 points vs. Piedmont / Posted double-double vs. Piedmont (23 points, 11 rebounds) |
^ - Blocks Per Game
SERIES HISTORY
Series Record: 0-1
Series Streak: L1
Record at Winthrop Coliseum: 0-0
Streak at Winthrop Coliseum: n/a
Prosser vs. Middle Tennessee: 0-1
- This marks just the second meeting all-time between the Eagles and Blue Raiders
- The first meeting came Nov. 16, 2021 in Murfreesboro, Tenn. as Middle Tennessee rallied to win the matchup
THE MATCHUP
- Both Middle Tennessee and Winthrop are coming off Non-D1 victories earlier this week
- The Eagles are 1-1 on the year while the Blue Raiders are 1-0
- Eagles have connected on 11 threes in each of their first two games
- In their season-opening win, MTSU did most of its damage in the paint with a 52-22 advantage over Brescia
- Blue Raiders were voted to finish 4th in the Conference USA Preseason Poll and feature preseason All-Conference selection Teafale Lenard
- Cory Hightower is a preseason All-Conference selection for the Eagles and against the Blue Raiders last year he posted 10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and five steals
WINTHROP
- Currently riding a 17-game home winning streak and have won 27 of the last 28 home contests
- That's tied for the longest current home winning streak in all of NCAA D1
- Coming off a 78-56 win over Piedmont at home on Wednesday
- The Eagles hit 11 threes for a second straight game and dominated the paint 32-18
- Eagles are 458-168 all-time at home and 411-156 at the Winthrop Coliseum
- Junior Kelton Talford has led the Eagles in scoring and rebounding the first two games
- He's coming off a double-double after scoring a career-high 23 points and hauling in 11 boards
- Talford leads the team with 20.5 ppg and 9.0 rpg
- Hightower is second on the team in scoring at 15.0 ppg and leads in assists at 5.5 per game
- For the second straight game, Toneari Lane came off the bench to post double-figures (12) and is 3rd on the team in scoring (14.5 ppg)
- Cory Hightower (15) and Sin'Cere McMahon were also in double-figures
- Coming off a 23-9 campaign that saw the team reach the Big South Title game for a third straight season before falling to Longwood
- Have won 23 or more games in three straight seasons
- Return five players that saw action in 2021-22, two that sat out and welcome eight newcomers
- Voted to finish second in the Big South Conference preseason poll
- Finished the 2021-22 season ranked 14th in bench scoring (28.6 ppg)
- Cory Hightower was voted to the preseason All-Big South First Team
- Hightower is the top returning scorer at 11.8 ppg and led the team with 5.5 rpg last season
- Kelton Talford is the second-leading scorer returning at 8.5 ppg and was second on the team in rebounding at 4.8
- In the last three seasons the Eagles are a combined 70-21 (.769)
- Winthrop has more wins than any other Big South school (207) since the 2012-13 season
- Mark Prosser starts his second season as head coach of the Eagles, the 7th head coach in program history
- Led the team to 23 wins, the most by a first-year head coach in program history
- Prosser tied Towson State's Terry Traux (1992-93) for the most conference wins by a first-year coach with 14
TUNE IN TO THE EAGLES
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
Winthrop will hit the road for its next four contests beginning with a trip to Auburn, Ala. to take on 15
th-ranked Auburn on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 7 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).
