Rock Hill, S.C. - Looking for a fourth straight win as it hits the road to take on Little Rock on Sunday, Dec. 10 at 1 p.m.
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WINTHROP (7-3, 0-0 Big South)
| WINTHROP PROBABLE STARTERS (stats from 2022-23) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
Noteworthy |
| G |
10 |
Nick Johnson |
6-4 |
Sr. |
10.6 |
4.0 |
1.5 |
1.6 |
In double-figures in 7-of-10 games / Leads team with 16 steals, 53 free throw attempts |
| G |
11 |
Kasen Harrison |
6-2 |
Sr.. |
11.5 |
3.6 |
4.0 |
1.5 |
23-24 Big South Preseason All-Conference / Double-figures in 20 of last 26 games / Passed 300 career assists (302) / 5 or more assists in six of the last seven games / Scored a career-high 26 points in final game of '22-23 |
| F |
12 |
K.J. Doucet |
6-7 |
Jr. |
14.0 |
3.7 |
1.7 |
0.6 |
Season-high 22 points in the win at Coastal followed by 21 points vs. Queens / In double-figures 7-8of-20 games / Reached 1,000 career points in the game at Coastal |
| F |
33 |
Chase Claxton |
6-7 |
Sr. |
2.2 |
2.4 |
0.3 |
0.6 |
Played 100th career game last season and has played in 125 over career / Led team with 33 steals and 36 blocks in '22-23 / Averaging 1.6 offensive boards per game in career |
| F |
4 |
Kelton Talford |
6-7 |
Sr. |
12.4 |
4.2 |
0.4 |
0.5 |
Posted 11th career 20-point game with 21 against Brevard on 8-of-10 shooting / Became 27th Eagle to score 1,000 career points / '23-24 Big South Preseason All-Conference / '22-23 Big South All-Conference First Team / led team in scoring and rebounding in '22-23 |
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SERIES HISTORY VERSUS LITTLE ROCK/OVC
- Winthrop and Little Rock meet for just the second time
- The only meeting came on Dec. 3, 2020 in Louisville, Ky. at the Wade Houston Tipoff
- The Eagles won the meeting 80-75 to start the season 2-0
- Winthrop is 7-5 all-time against opponents from the Ohio Valley Conference
WINTHROPÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â
- Eagles have won six of their last seven games
- Sitting at 7-3 for the 6th time in program history
- This is the first of four straight road games that will also take the Eagles to Xavier, South Carolina and Florida State
- Coming off an 88-82 win over Queens in which the Eagles overcame a 10-point second half deficit
- Earned a 90-87 over Coastal Carolina on Dec. 2
- In the game the Eagles grabbed 28 offensive rebounds, the most since having 26 on Jan. 29, 2021 against UNC Asheville
- Rank 2nd in the Big South Conference in defensive scoring at 67.4 ppg
- Have attempted 100 more free throws than opponents and have made (200) more than opponents have attempted (177)
- In the win over Bob Jones the Eagles dished out 22 assists, the most in a single-game since they had 24 in an 83-54 win over High Point in 2021
- Doucet surpassed 1,000 career points in his collegiate career in the game at Coastal
- K.J. Doucet scored 21 points in the win over Queens and now has back-to-back games with 21 or more points (scored season-high 22 at Coastal Carolina)
- Kelton Talford is second on the team at 14.0 ppg followed by Kasen Harrison at 11.5 ppg and Nick Johnson at 10.6 ppg
- Talford reached 1,000 career points on Nov. 28 vs. Bob Jones
- Talford is now the 67th player in Big South history to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds
- Harrison has dished out five or more assists in six of the last seven games
- Entering the 2023-24 season the Eagles had the 31st best home winning percentage among Division I programs over the last 10 seasons
- Winthrop returns four starters, a core of reserves and transfers to round out this year's roster
- Highlighting the returners are Talford, Sin'Cere McMahon and Harrison who were all three Big South All-Conference preseason selections
- The Eagles have a veteran lineup with a large amount of experience, starting with the return of Micheal Anumba from injury (missed 2022-23 season) and over four years he played in 120 games with 117 starts
- Voted to finish third in the Big South Conference preseason poll, two votes behind Radford
- This marks the 1,388th game in program history and hold an all-time record of 787-600
- Winthrop has more wins than any other Big South school (231) since the 2012-13 season and the closest is Gardner-Webb at 196
- Mark Prosser starts his third season as head coach of the Eagles (7th head coach in program history) and holds a 45-29 recover over the first two years
- Prosser is coaching in his 193rd career game and 165th at the NCAA D1 level
- 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
LOOKING BACK AT 2022-23
- Talford led the team in scoring and rebounding in 2022-23 as he earned First Team All-Conference honors
- McMahon was third on the team in scoring at 13.4 ppg and was second in three-point field goals made (73)
- Harrison became the team's starting point guard after six games and finished the season averaging 11.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg and 3.8 apg while shooting 48 percent from the floor
- Chase Claxton, who started all 29 games he played last year, also returns after setting career-highs in assists, blocks and steals
SEASON HONORS/AWARDS
- Noah Van Bibber (Big South Conference Freshman of the Week – Nov. 20)
- Came off the bench vs. Holy Cross and scored a career-high 22 points on 6-of-9 shooting
- Was 6-for-8 behind the arc and 4-for-4 at the foul line
- Finished the Rock Hill Classic averaging 12.7 ppg, 9-of-16 from three and a perfect 7-for-7 at the foul line
CAREER MILESTONES
- Chase Claxton
- Played in his 100th of his career last season and has 126 total
- Is 26 rebounds away from 500 in career
- Is two blocks away from 100 and nine steals away from 100 in career
- Kasen Harrison
- Against Queens he reached 300 career assists (302) and moved past 900 points (947)
- In the final game of the 2022-23 season Harrison hit his 200th career free throw
- Kelton Talford
- Surpassed 500 career rebounds (533) vs. Drexel
- He is the 104th player in Big South Conference history to reach 500 career rebounds
- Reached 1,000 career points vs. Bob Jones and is now the 67th player in league history to join the 1,000/500 club
- Has 11 career double-doubles after his 20 points, 12 rebounds in the final game of 2022-23
- Sin'Cere McMahon
- Knocked down his 150th career three vs. Queens and 128 of those have come as an Eagle
- His 128 threes rank 17th on Winthrop's all-time list
- Became the 27th player in program history with 100 or more threes in a single-season
- Scored career-high 35 points at UNC Asheville, the 4th most by an Eagle in a conference road game
- Nick Johnson
- Sitting at 818 career points and is 32 rebounds away from 400
- Dished out his 100th career assist vs. Queens and 12 steals away from 100
- Alex Timmerman
- Moved past the 400 career rebound mark after hauling in five vs. Drexel
- Is seven assists away from 100 and is four games away from 100
- K.J. Doucet
- Surpassed 1,000 career points after 22 points at Coastal Carolina
SINGLE-GAME TICKETS ARE ON SALE
Fans can purchase single-game tickets for all home contests for the 2023-24 season by visiting
www.winthropeagles.com/basketballtickets or call the ticket office at (803) 323-2345.
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
Eagles will be off during the middle of the coming week and back in action on Saturday, Dec. 16 when they head to Cincinnati, Ohio to take on Xavier as part of the Skip Prosser Classic. Tip-off is 7:30 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 (/WinthropMBB).
