Rock Hill, S.C. – The regular season comes to an end Saturday afternoon when Winthrop men's basketball hosts Charleston Southern at 4 p.m. in the Big South Ingles Game of the Week.
WINTHROP (20-8, 13-2 Big South)
| WINTHROP PROBABLE STARTERS |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
Noteworthy |
| G |
2 |
Sin'Cere McMahon |
6-1 |
So. |
5.4 |
1.0 |
1.1 |
0.8 |
Averaging 11.0 ppg over the last three games / 3rd on the team with 31 made threes / has hit 3 triples in each of the last three games / In double-figures in five of the last eight games |
| G |
3 |
Micheal Anumba |
6-4 |
Sr. |
7.4 |
3.9 |
1.5 |
0.4 |
Averaging 815 ppg, 3.5 rpg in Big South games / Made 100th career start vs. Asheville and scored a team-high 18 points / Recently reached 400 career rebounds / 116 career appearances, 113 starts (4th all-time at Winthrop in starts) |
| G/F |
12 |
Cory Hightower |
6-7 |
R-Jr. |
11.6 |
5.6 |
1.8 |
1.1 |
Coming off 22 points in the win over Upstate / In double-figures seven of the last nine games / Became 178th player in Big South history to score 1,000 career points (has 1,293 career points) / Surpassed 600 rebounds (668) / Hit game-winning three vs. Mercer with 4.2 seconds left in OT |
| F |
30 |
D.J. Burns Jr. |
6-9 |
R-Jr. |
15.0 |
4.3 |
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 (.627), 5th in NCAA D1 / 21 games in double-figures / 6th in Big South in scoring / Preseason Big South Player of the Year |
| F |
33 |
Chase Claxton |
6-7 |
Jr. |
3.7 |
3.8 |
0.7 |
0.7 |
Has started the last seven games / One of the team's top defensive players / 1 steal away from tying career-high for a single-season (18 as a freshman) / Has 83 offensive rebounds in 50 career Big South games |
THE SERIES
Series Record: 50-27
Series Streak: W4
Record at Winthrop Coliseum: 25-10
Streak at Winthrop Coliseum: W1
Prosser vs. Charleston Southern: 1-0
SERIES HISTORY
- This marks the 78th meeting all-time as the Eagles have won four straight in the series
- Winthrop leads the all-time series 50-27
- The Eagles won the first meeting on Jan. 15, 70-65 on the road
- The last two meetings have been decided by five points or less
- Winthrop last hosted the Buccaneers on Feb. 23, 2019 and held on for an 80-78 double overtime win
OVER THE LAST THREE GAMES
- Averaging 84.7 ppg while shooting 51 percent from the floor and 47 percent from three
- Holding opponents to 69.3 ppg as they are shooting 44 percent from the field and 27 percent behind the arc
- Eagles have more than double the three-point field goals (40-19)
- Holding a 35.3 – 27.3 advantage on the boards
- Winthrop has four players in double-figure led by Patrick Good's 19.3 ppg
- Good is also averaging 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals while shooting 50 percent from the field and 52 percent from three
- The other three in double-figures are Cory Hightower (14.0), Sin'Cere McMahon (11.0) and Kelton Talford (10.3)
- Talford is leading the team in rebounding in that stretch at 6.7 per game
AT A GLANCE
- Winthrop can claim a share of the Big South Conference regular season title with a win and a Longwood loss as the team's would both finish 14-2
- Winthrop won the South Division outright with the 89-59 win over USC Upstate on Thursday
- The win moved the Eagles to a 10-0 at home in Big South Wild Card matchups (13-4 all-time)
- Eagles have won seven straight games and 15 straight at home
- Winthrop looking for its first undefeated record at home for the first time since 2006-07
- A win would give the Eagles 21 wins for the 11th time in a single-season
- Charleston Southern enters the game having lost five straight as this will be the fourth game on the road in the last six
- This matchup features the top two shooters behind the arc in the conference in Tahlik Chavez of Charleston and Winthrop's Good
- Good is 4th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage
WINTHROP
- Reached 13 conference victories for the 3rd year in a row and the 8th time in program history
- In the 15 conference games the Eagles and opponents have combined for 83 ties and 79 lead changes
- In the first meeting the score was tied seven times and there were 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
- In the win over USC Upstate, Cory Hightower led with 22 points while Kelton Talford scored 20 points off the bench and pulled down 10 rebounds for his 3rd double-double
- It was the first time this season the Eagles had two players reach 20 or more points in a game
- The team's top scorer is D.J. Burns Jr. leads the team in scoring at 15.0 ppg (5th in the Big South) and is first in field goal percentage (.627) 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
- Hightower is second on the team in scoring at 11.6 ppg following his 22-point performance in the win over Upstate
- Hightower was a perfect 6-for-6 from three, his 7th game this season with three or more triples in a game
- In games he hits 3 or more triples, he is 29-for-42 (69%)
- Good, who is averaging 19.3 ppg in the last three, is third on the team in scoring at 11.5 ppg
- Good leads the Big South in three-point field goal percentage (.446) and is second in threes per game (2.7)
- 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 29.7 ppg from the bench, which ranks T-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 (206) 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
The regular season has come to an end. Winthrop will be back in action on Friday, Mar. 4 at 6 p.m. in the Big South Conference quarterfinals at Bojangles Arena in Charlotte, N.C. The 2
nd-seeded Eagles will play the winner of the #7/#10 contest.
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).
