Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop men's basketball ends the regular season with two home games beginning with USC Upstate Thursday night as part of the Big South ESPNU Wild Card.
WINTHROP (19-8, 12-2 Big South)
| WINTHROP PROBABLE STARTERS |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
Noteworthy |
| G |
11 |
Drew Buggs |
6-3 |
Gr. |
5.6 |
2.8 |
4.3 |
0.7 |
Averaging 6.8 ppg, 4.5 apg in league play / Dished out season-high 8 assists in win over N.C. A&T / Hit game-winning jumper with 4 seconds left in win over Campbell / Surpassed 600 career assists (602) / Career assist leader at Hawaii |
| G |
5 |
Patrick Good |
6-0 |
Gr. |
11.4 |
3.3 |
0.7 |
1.1 |
Coming off 3rd 30-point game of the season with 30 in the win at UNC Asheville / Hit game-tying three to force OT in win at Upstate / Season-high 33 points at Washington State / Tied for 2nd in Big South in 3pt field goals per game / 268 career threes |
| G/F |
3 |
Micheal Anumba |
6-4 |
Sr. |
7.6 |
3.9 |
1.4 |
0.4 |
Averaging 8.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg in Big South games / Made 100th career start vs. Asheville and scored a team-high 18 points / Recently reached 400 career rebounds / 115 career appearances, 112 starts |
| F |
12 |
Cory Hightower |
6-7 |
R-Jr. |
11.1 |
5.6 |
1.8 |
1.1 |
Leads team with 5.6 rpg, ranks T-8th in Big South / Became 178th player to score 1,000 points in the Big South (has 1271 career points) / Surpassed 600 career rebounds (660) / Hit game-winning three vs. Mercer with 4.2 seconds left in OT |
| F |
30 |
D.J. Burns Jr. |
6-9 |
R-Jr. |
15.4 |
4.4 |
1.1 |
0.6 |
Became 27th 1,000 point scorer in program history in the win at Hampton, 5th to do so before senior season / Leads Big South in field goal percentage (.624), 7th in NCAA D1 / 21 games in double-figures / 4th in Big South in scoring / Preseason Big South Player of the Year |
THE SERIES
Series Record: 16-8
Series Streak: W11
Record at Winthrop Coliseum: 5-4
Streak at Winthrop Coliseum: W3
Prosser vs. USC Upstate: 1-0
SERIES HISTORY
- Winthrop has won 11 straight meetings and leads the all-time series 16-8
- This is the first meeting at the Winthrop Coliseum since Jan. 23, 2020 in a 79-53 win
- The last four regular season meetings have been in Spartanburg
- Winthrop won the first meeting this season, 95-91 in overtime
OVER THE LAST THREE GAMES
- Eagles averaging 76.7 ppg while allowing 70.0 ppg
- Winthrop is shooting 50 percent from the floor, 37 percent from three (9.0 per game) and 73 percent at the free throw line
- Opponents are shooting 45 percent from the floor, 30 percent from three and 68 percent at the foul line
- Holding a 32.0 – 27.3 advantage on the glass
- Patrick Good leads the team in scoring at 15.7 ppg and is also averaging 4.0 rpg
- D.J. Burns Jr. and Cory Hightower are averaging 12.3 ppg while Micheal Anumba is scoring 10.0 per game
AT A GLANCE
- There are two games remaining in the regular season as the Eagles are one win away from clinching the South Division and still have a chance to finish with the best league record
- A Longwood loss at Radford would keep the top seed alive for the Eagles but a Longwood victory clinches the top seed
- Eagles have already clinched a Top 2 seed and with a win over USC Upstate will claim the South Division title outright
- Winthrop enters the game having won six straight games overall and the last 14 games at home
- USC Upstate has won back-to-back games and is 6-1 on the road in league play
WINTHROP
- Reached 12 conference victories for the 3rd year in a row and 7th of the last 8th
- In the 14 conference games the Eagles and opponents have combined for 81 ties and 76 lead changes
- In the first meeting that went to overtime, the Eagles and Spartans had nine ties and nine lead changes
- Have an 11-0 mark at home this season (6-0 in conference) and looking to go undefeated at home for the first time since 2006-07
- Burns Jr. leads the team in scoring at 15.4 ppg (4th in the Big South) and is first in field goal percentage (.619) which ranks 7th nationally
- In the win over Hampton he surpassed 1,000 career points, the 27th Eagle to reach 1,000 career points,
- He was also the 5th player to do so before their senior season
- Burns Jr. is among 10 players in program history to score 1,000 career points in three seasons or less
- Patrick Good broke out of his scoring slump and posted 15 points to help the Eagles earn the win at Gardner-Webb and followed that up with 30 points in the win at UNC Asheville
- It was the third 30-point game of the season for Good, who has posted all three of them in road games
- Good is second on the team in scoring at 11.4 ppg and Cory Hightower is third at 11.1 ppg
- Good is 2nd in the conference in threes per game (2.6)
- 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 29.6 ppg from the bench, which ranks 10th in the country (Cornell leads at 36.2 ppg through 23 games)
- Earned the program's first ever win over a PAC-12 opponent with the win at Washington (Nov. 27)
- The win against Campbell gave the Winthrop program 750 wins all-time and was the 450th all-time home victory
- 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 (205) 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 / Feb. 7)
- 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
- Earned his second Player of the Week honors after helping the Eagles in wins over N.C. A&T and Hampton
- Averaged 19.0 ppg and 6.5 rpg while shooting 58 percent from the floor
- 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 406-156 (.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
Winthrop will end the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 26 at home against Charleston Southern at 4 p.m. Winthrop's seniors will be recognized in a pregame ceremony.
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).
