Rock Hill, S.C. – Eyeing a third straight win, Winthrop men's basketball welcomes defending Big South Champion Longwood to the Winthrop Coliseum Wednesday night.
WINTHROP (10-13, 5-5 Big South)
| WINTHROP PROBABLE STARTERS |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
Noteworthy |
| G |
0 |
Sin'Cere McMahon |
6-1 |
Jr. |
12.4 |
1.8 |
2.5 |
0.6 |
Leads Big South in free throw percentage (.886) / Returned to the starting lineup at Campbell and scored 23 points / recently surpassed 100 career threes |
| G |
11 |
Kasen Harrison |
6-2 |
Jr.. |
10.6 |
2.3 |
3.6 |
1.4 |
Game-winning bucket with 7.3 seconds left vs. UNCA / Double-figures in 10 of last 12 games / Scored season-high 17 points at Furman / Just surpassed 200 career assists (222) / Averaging 12.0 ppg in league play |
| G/F |
12 |
Cory Hightower |
6-7 |
R-Sr. |
13.0 |
5.0 |
2.9 |
0.8 |
Scored season-high 25 points at LSU / Knocked down career-high 7 triples at LSU / Preseason All-Big South 1st Team / 1,618 career points, 789 career rebounds / reached 150 career threes in the game at High Point |
| F |
33 |
Chase Claxton |
6-7 |
Sr. |
5.5 |
4.4 |
1.1 |
1.4 |
Played 100th career game vs. PC / Leads team with 28 steals and 27 blocks / 4th in Big South with 1.4 blocks per game |
| F |
4 |
Kelton Talford |
6-7 |
Jr. |
15.6 |
8.0 |
0.7 |
0.7* |
4th 20-point game on the season vs. PC / Pulled down career-high 16 rebounds vs. Gardner-Webb / Career-high 28 points vs. S.C. State / Named to Cancun Challenge Mayan Division All-Tournament Team / Big South Player of the Week (Dec. 12) |
* (blocks per game)
SERIES HISTORY
Series Record: 16-6
Series Streak: L3
Record at Winthrop Coliseum: 9-2
Streak at Winthrop Coliseum: W4
Prosser vs. Longwood: 0-3
THE MATCHUP
- Eagles and Lancers meet for the second time this season and it marks the 23rd meeting all-time
- Longwood has won the last three meetings, but the Eagles lead the all-time series 16-6
- Winthrop has won the last four meetings at the Winthrop Coliseum
- Winthrop enters the game on a two-game win streak while Longwood has dropped back-to-back games
- Since these two teams last met on Jan. 7, both teams are 3-3
WINTHROP
- Have won back-to-back games over Charleston Southern and Presbyterian College, both by double-digits
- Currently 5th in the league standings, one game behind Gardner-Webb
- Eagles face the top three teams in the league over the next three games starting with third place Longwood, then second place Radford (Feb. 4) and first place UNC Asheville (Feb. 8) on the road
- Lead the Big South in free throw percentage (.739) and tied for 1st in three-point field goals per game (8.7)
- Kelton Talford leads the team in scoring (15.6) and is 1-of-5 Eagles scoring double-figures
- The other four are Cory Hightower is at 13.0 ppg, Sin'Cere McMahon at 12.4 ppg, Kasen Harrison is averaging 10.6 ppg and Toneari Lane is scoring 10.1 ppg
- Talford is 4th in the league in scoring, Hightower is 10th, McMahon is 14th, Harrison is 19th and Lane is 26th
- Winthrop and High Point are the only Big South schools with three players in the Top 14 in scoring
- Talford leads the Big South in field goal percentage and 6th in the nation (.675)
- He also ranks among the top rebounders in the league, ranking 2nd with 8.0 per game
- McMahon is leads the Big South in free throw percentage (.886) and 6th in threes per game (2.2)
- Lane moved up to third in the league in threes per game (2.4) and is 8-of-13 behind the arc in the last two games
- Harrison ranks 3rd in the league in assists per game and 8th in steals per game (Is 1-of-4 players in the league ranked in the Top 8 in both categories)
- 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 four seasons the Eagles are a combined 80-32 (.711)
- Winthrop has more wins than any other Big South school (219) 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
CAREER MILESTONES
- Cory Hightower
- Moved past 1,600 career points (1,618) and now closing in on 800 rebounds (789)
- In 115 career Big South games he has scored 1,355 points and has 672 rebounds
- As of Jan. 27 he's 55th on the active list for points and 39th in rebounds
- His 1,355 points rank 73rd on the Big South All-Time scoring list
- He's 1-of-45 players in league history with 1,000 points and 600 rebounds
- If he reaches 700 career rebounds in the Big South he'll become the 34th player to do so in league history
- He is four three-point baskets away from becoming the 26th player in program history with 100 career threes (has 153 in his entire career)
- Just the second player in league history to score 500 or more points for two different league schools
- Chase Claxton
- Played in his 100th of his career with his start against PC
- Reached 400 career rebounds in the game at High Point
- Set single-season career-highs in assists, blocks and steals
- Kasen Harrison
- Reached 200 career assists (222) and surpassed 700 career points (710)
- Kelton Talford
- Pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds to surpass 400 career rebounds and moved past 700 career points (749)
- Sin'Cere McMahon
- Surpassed 100 career three-point baskets (107) and 85 of those have come as an Eagle
BIG SOUTH WEEKLY HONORS
- Kelton Talford – Big South Player of the Week (Dec. 12)
- Averaged 23.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.0 apg and 1.0 spg in two games
- He posted a career-high 28 points in the win over S.C. State and then scored a team-high 19 points at Furman
- For the two games he shot 77 percent from the floor
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 hits the road to take on Radford on Saturday, Feb. 4 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).
