Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop men's basketball looks to end a two-game skid as it welcomes USC Upstate to the Winthrop Coliseum Saturday evening.
WINTHROP (11-15, 6-7 Big South)
| WINTHROP PROBABLE STARTERS |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
Noteworthy |
| G |
0 |
Sin'Cere McMahon |
6-1 |
Jr. |
13.4 |
1.8 |
2.5 |
0.6 |
Coming off career-high 35 points at UNC Asheville (Feb. 8) / Leads Big South in free throw percentage (.888) / Returned to the starting lineup at Campbell and scored 23 points / 117 career threes |
| G |
11 |
Kasen Harrison |
6-2 |
Jr.. |
10.4 |
2.4 |
3.6 |
1.4 |
Game-winning bucket with 1.3 seconds left vs. Longwood / game-winner with 7.3 seconds left vs. UNCA / Double-figures in 11 of last 15 games / Just surpassed 200 career assists (233) |
| G/F |
12 |
Cory Hightower |
6-7 |
R-Sr. |
12.7 |
5.3 |
2.7 |
0.8 |
Posted 22 points at Radford / Scored season-high 25 points at LSU / Knocked down career-high 7 triples at LSU / Preseason All-Big South 1st Team / 1,649 career points, 812 career rebounds / reached 150 career threes in the game at High Point |
| F |
33 |
Chase Claxton |
6-7 |
Sr. |
5.2 |
4.1 |
1.1 |
1.3 |
Played 100th career game vs. PC / Leads team with 31 steals and 30 blocks / 4th in Big South with 1.4 blocks per game |
| F |
4 |
Kelton Talford |
6-7 |
Jr. |
15.6 |
8.1 |
0.7 |
0.7* |
Has recorded a double-double in back-to-back games / 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: 17-9
Series Streak: L1
Record at Winthrop Coliseum: 6-4
Streak at Winthrop Coliseum: W4
Prosser vs. USC Upstate: 2-1
THE MATCHUP
- Winthrop and USC Upstate meet for the second time this season and the 27th meeting all-time
- Eagles fell to Upstate in the conference opener on Dec. 29, 70-62
- Despite the loss, the Eagles have won 12 of the last 13 meetings
- Eagles and Spartans are tied with Campbell for 5th place in the Big South standings and all three are in a fight to get a Top 6 seeding for the conference tournament as the season enters the final weeks
WINTHROP
- Have lost two straight games, but looking for a 3rd straight win at home
- Just finished a three-game stretch of playing the top three teams in the conference standings with two of the games on the road
- Currently 5th in the league standings and have five USC Upstate (T5th), at Gardner-Webb (T3rd), at Charleston Southern (8th), Campbell (T5th) and High Point (9th)
- Lead the Big South in free throw percentage (.740) and lead the league in three-point field goals per game (8.8)
- Kelton Talford leads the team in scoring (15.6) and is 1-of-5 Eagles scoring double-figures
- The other four are Sin'Cere McMahon (13.4), Cory Hightower (12.7), Toneari Lane (10.6) and Kasen Harrison (10.2)
- Talford is 4th in the league in scoring, McMahon is 10th, Hightower is 12th, Lane is 22nd and Harrison is 25th
- McMahon is coming off a career-high 35 points in the loss at UNC Asheville, the most points by an Eagle in a conference road game since Nych Smith had 35 at Presbyterian on Jan. 26, 2019
- Winthrop and High Point are the only Big South schools with three players in the Top 12 in scoring
- Talford leads the Big South in field goal percentage and 6th in the nation (.671)
- 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 (.888) and 4th in threes per game (2.3)
- Lane is third in the league in threes per game (2.4)
- Harrison ranks 3rd in the league in assists per game and 7th 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 81-34 (.716)
- Winthrop has more wins than any other Big South school (220) 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 (1,649) and 800 rebounds (811)
- In 118 career Big South games he has scored 1,366 points and has 694 rebounds
- As of Feb. 9 he's 58th on the active list for points and 39th in rebounds
- His 1,366 points are tied for 72nd 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
- Became the 26th player in program history with 100 career threes and ranks 24th with 103 (has 160 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 (234) and surpassed 700 career points (733)
- Kelton Talford
- Pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds to surpass 400 career rebounds and approaching 800 career points (797)
- Sin'Cere McMahon
- Surpassed 100 career three-point baskets (117) and 95 of those have come as an Eagle
- Needs five more threes to become 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
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 is back on the road as it will head to Boiling Springs, N.C. on Wednesday, Feb. 15 to take on Gardner-Webb at 7 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)
