Rock Hill, S.C. – Cory Hightower and
Kelton Talford combined for 42 points and Winthrop connected on 16 threes in an 89-59 rout of USC Upstate, Thursday night inside the Winthrop Coliseum.
WINTHROP (20-8, 13-2 Big South)
STAT LEADERS
USC UPSTATE (12-15, 9-6 Big South)
STAT LEADERS
- Bryson Mozone (14 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 2 steals)
- Khydarius Smith (13 points, 4 rebounds)
- Jordan Gainey (8 points, 1 rebound, 1 block 2 steals)
FIRST HALF
- Game was back-and-forth in the early going as Kyhdarius Smith opened up the scoring with a soft hook
- Cory Hightower drilled a three for a 3-2 lead, but Jordan Gainey came right back with a three of his own to push the Spartans back on top
- Kelton Talford worked his way in the post and scored to tie the game at 5-5
- With 14:40 left in the half the Eagles pushed their lead to five points after another three from Hightower, but a quick five points by the Spartans had the game knotted up again at 12-12
- It was a 17-14 Winthrop lead midway through the half when Patrick Good stole the ball and later in the possession Sin'Cere McMahon knocked down a three that started a run
- After getting a defensive stop the Eagles hit another three as Good canned a step back three from the left wing
- Those three ignited an 11-0 run that saw Talford score the final five points, starting with a three-point play as Micheal Anumba hit him cutting to the basket and he finished while being fouled (made the free throw for the three-point play)
- The lead extended to 28-14 but a three-point play off a turnover by Smith briefly halted the run but back-to-back basket by Anumba and D.J. Burns Jr. had the Eagles ahead by 15 with 4:57 left
- Spartans cut the deficit to nine points after free throws from Mysta Goodloe with just over three left in the half
- The Eagles ended the half on a 9-2 run behind two threes from Good and another by Hightower which came with less than 10 seconds remaining to lead 43-25 at the break
- Eagles were 8-of-12 behind the arc and shot 57 percent in the half while holding the Spartans to 38 percent
SECOND HALF
- The intermission didn't' seem to cool the Eagles off as they pushed their lead to 21 points at the 16:22
- The Spartans scored the first four points of the half as Smith and Mozone scored at the rim
- Four straight points by Talford which included a highlight reel follow dunk had the Eagles leading 47-29
- Gainey hit a three only to be matched by another Hightower three and a few possession later Russell Jones Jr. drilled a three for a 53-32 advantage
- Winthrop worked the lead to 27 points after Burns Jr. completed a three-point play follow by a McMahon three
- Spartans got the deficit to 19 points with 8:57 to play after Floyd Rideau Jr. completed a three-point play
- However the Eagles outscored the Spartans 20-9 the rest of the way for the 30-point win
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Eagles finished with a season-high 16 threes as they were 16-of-27 behind the arc (59 percent)
- Winthrop's defense had the Spartans to 4-for-26 behind the arc and 38 percent shooting overall in the game
- Winthrop finished at 54 percent in the game and 15-for-21 at the foul line (71 percent)
- Eagles had a +8 advantage on the boards (37-29) and turned eight offensive boards into 12 second chance points
- Turnovers were pretty even as USC Upstate had 16 while Winthrop had 15 but the Eagles had a 23-13 advantage in points off turnovers
- Hightower led all scorers with 22 points and was an impressive 6-for-6 behind the arc
- Good finished the game 4-for-7 from three and McMahon was 3-of-6
NOTABLES
- Eagles have 20 wins in a season for the 15th time in program history and the third straight season
- Winthrop is now 13-2 in the league as Mark Prosser now has the second-most Big South wins by a first year head coach
- Winthrop is now 12-0 at home this season and will have a chance for its first undefeated record at home in a single-season since the 2006-07 squad
- Winthrop has now won 12 straight meetings with USC Upstate and have hit 11 or more threes in five straight meetings
- Drew Buggs reached the 1,000 career plateau when he drilled a corner three with 8:06 to play in the game
- Buggs is the third Eagle to reach 1,000 career points this season and is 1-of-4 current Eagles with at least 1,000 career points
- Talford hauled in a game-high 10 boards to go along with his 20 points for his 3rd career double-double
- With the win, the Eagles clinched the South Division outright
UP NEXT
Winthrop wraps-up the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 4 p.m. when it hosts Charleston Southern. The team will hold a senior recognition during pregame. .
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).
