Rock Hill, S.C. -- Fresh off a home victory, Winthrop men's basketball looks to keep momentum as it heads to Farmville, Va. to take on Longwood Saturday afternoon.
Â
WINTHROP (15-10, 6-4 Big South)
| WINTHROP PROBABLE STARTERS |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
Noteworthy |
| G |
10 |
Nick Johnson |
6-4 |
Sr. |
11.1 |
3.5 |
1.7 |
1.4 |
Has two 20-point games during league play / Double-figures 9 out of the last 11 games / Dished out career-high 5 assists at Little Rock / Ranks 6th in the Big South in steals per game (1.4) / 2nd on team in free throw attempts |
| G |
11 |
Kasen Harrison |
6-2 |
Sr.. |
11.0 |
3.1 |
3.9 |
1.5 |
19 points at UNC Asheville, tying-season-high / Dished out 5 or more assistd in 13 games / Scored 11 points at USC Upstate to reach 1,000 career points / Missed game vs. Toccoa Falls / 23-24 Big South Preseason All-Conference / Reached 350 career assists (355) at Asheville |
| F |
12 |
K.J. Doucet |
6-7 |
Jr. |
12.6 |
4.2 |
1.5 |
0.6 |
Posted season-high 28 points at Charleston Southern (11-of-12 shooting) / Has four 20-point games on the season / Reached 1,000 career points in the game at Coastal, 1,100 vs. Toccoa Falls and surpassed 1,200 on Feb. 7 |
| F |
33 |
Chase Claxton |
6-7 |
Sr. |
3.1 |
3.6 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
Season-high 12 points at PC / Reached 500 career rebounds after six boards at FSU / Program leader in career games played (141) / Recently reached 100 assists and 100 steals in career / Led team with 33 steals and 36 blocks in '22-23 |
| F |
4 |
Kelton Talford |
6-7 |
Sr. |
14.1 |
5.1 |
0.9 |
0.5 |
20 or more points in four of the last seven games / Season-high 27 points in 3OT win over Radford / Named Big South Player of the Week (Jan. 15) / Averaging 18.0 ppg in Big South play / Became 27th Eagle to score 1,000 career points / Reached 600 career rebounds, 11th Eagle to reach the milestone / '23-24 Big South Preseason All-Conference / '22-23 Big South All-Conference First Team |
Â
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS LONGWOOD
- Eagles and Lancer meet for the second time this season and it's the 25th meeting all-time
- Winthrop has won two straight meetings and leads the series 18-6
- The Eagles were 6-3 all-time at Willett Hall, but this year's meeting will take place in the newly built Joan Perry Brock Center
- Eagles won the first meeting this season, 60-68 in overtime
Â
WINTHROP IN THE BIG SOUTH
- Started 4-0 for the second time in three seasons and the 8th time in program history
- Have lost back-to-back games and are sitting alone in fourth place of the Big South standings
- Played three overtime games over the first four conference contests
- Hold an all-time record of 347-235 in league play and the 347 wins are the most all-time in Big South history
- With the win over Charleston Southern, the Eagles captured the program's 200th home victory for Big South regular season games
- Only team ranked in the Top 3 of scoring offense (3rd) and scoring defense (2nd)
Â
WINTHROPÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â
- Eagles ended a two-game skid with a win over Charleston Southern on Feb. 7
- This is the fourth road game out of the last six contests and will be five out of seven after the Eagles head to Radford on Feb. 15
- Have attempted 194 more free throws than opponents and have made (475) more than opponents have attempted (473)
- Winthrop is 3rd in the nation in free throw attempts per game (26.68)
- No Winthrop team has ever averaged more than 24.87 in a single-season
- The 475 free throws made are the second-most by any team in the nation (D1)
- The win over PC was the 50th for Mark Prosser as head coach of the Eagles and it was his 200th game coaching overall
- Kelton Talford posted his fourth 20-point game in the last six contests after scoring 22 at UNC Asheville
- Talford leads the team in scoring at 14.1 ppg and 16.8 ppg in league games
- His .615 percent shooting leads the Big South and ranks 20th nationally
- K.J. Doucet posted a season-high 28 points in the win at Charleston Southern and is second on the team in scoring at 12.6 ppg
- Nick Johnson (11.1) and Kasen Harrison (11.0) are also averaging double-figures
- Harrison had 18 points at UNC Asheville and has dished out five or more assists in 13 games this season and is 4th in the league at 3.9 per game
- Johnson had back-to-back games with 20 points vs. Radford and UNC Asheville, one shy of his career-best
- He has been in double-figures in nine of the last 11 games
- Eagles capped off 2023 with a 113-62 victory over Toccoa Falls
- The 113th points are the 8th most the Eagles have scored in a single-game
- Finished December 4-3 making it the first time since the 2018-19 season the Eagles posted winning records in November and December
- In the win over Toccoa Falls the Eagles had 24 assists, which was the first time with 24 or more in a game since an 83-54 win over High Point in 2021 (24 assists)
- In the road win at Coastal Carolina the Eagles grabbed 28 offensive rebounds, the most since having 26 on Jan. 29, 2021 against UNC Asheville
- Entering the 2023-24 season the Eagles had the 31st best home winning percentage among Division I programs over the last 10 seasons
- Voted to finish third in the Big South Conference preseason poll, two votes behind Radford
- This marks the 1,403rd game in program history and hold an all-time record of 795-607
- Winthrop has more wins than any other Big South school (239) since the 2012-13 season and the closest is Radford at 202
- Mark Prosser starts his third season as head coach of the Eagles (7th head coach in program history) and holds a 53-36 record over the first three seasons
- Prosser is coaching in his 208th career game and 179th 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
Â
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
- 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
Â
SEASON HONORS/AWARDS
- Kelton Talford (Big South Conference Player of the Week – Jan. 15)
- Posted a season-high 27 points in the triple overtime win over Radford
- Averaged 20.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg and 3.5 apg to help the Eagles to a 2-0 week and remain undefeated in league play
- Shot 61.9 percent from the floor and was 14-of-20 at the foul line
Â
- 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
Â
CAREER MILESTONES
- Micheal Anumba
- Reached 500 career rebounds in the game at UNC Asheville
- Has 122 career starts, 2nd all-time in program history
- His 131 games played are tied for 2nd most in program history
- Recently surpassed 900 career points (910)
- Chase Claxton
- Played in his 100th of his career last season and has 141 total
- The 141 games are the most played by an Eagle in program history (passing George Valentine and Michael Jenkins)
- His 141 games rank as the 2nd most by any player in Big South history (Tajon Jones with 149 leads the way)
- Became the 20th member of the 500 rebound club, hauling in his 500th in the game at FSU
- Surpassed 100 career blocks at FSU and reached 100 career steals vs. Radford
- His 113 blocks rank 5th all-time
- Reached 100 career steals (104)
- Kasen Harrison
- Reached 1,000 career points in the win at USC Upstate (11 points in the game) and now four points away from 1,100 (1,096)
- Against Queens he reached 300 career assists and reached 350 at UNC Asheville
- In the final game of the 2022-23 season Harrison hit his 200th career free throw
- Kelton Talford
- Surpassed 500 career rebounds vs. Drexel and reached 600 in the win at Charleston Southern
- 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
- He is the 65th player in league history to reach 600 rebounds and the 11th all-time in program history
- Became the 48th player in Big South history with 1,000 points and 600 rebounds
- Ranks 14th all-time in scoring at Winthrop (1,232) and 11th in total rebounds (614)
- Has 12 career double-doubles after his 21 points, 10 rebounds against Asheville on Jan. 18
- Sin'Cere McMahon
- Knocked down his 150th career three vs. Queens
- Now has 182 in his career, with 160 of those have come as an Eagle
- His 160 threes rank 11th on Winthrop's all-time list (5 away from 10th all-time)
- Became the 27th player in program history with 100 or more threes in a single-season
- Just reached 900 career points after posting eight at UNC Asheville
- Scored career-high 35 points at UNC Asheville (2023), the 4th most by an Eagle in a conference road game
- Nick Johnson
- Sitting at 991 career points and reached 400 career rebounds vs. UNC Asheville
- Dished out his 100th career assist vs. Queens and has surpassed 100 steals
- Dished out a career-high five assists at Little Rock
- Alex Timmerman
- Moved past the 400 career rebound mark after hauling in five vs. Drexel and now has 498
- Played in his 100th career game on 12/22/23 at FSU
- Surpassed 100 career assists with three vs. Toccoa Falls
- K.J. Doucet
- Surpassed 1,000 career points after 22 points at Coastal Carolina and reached 1,100 vs. Toccoa Falls and reached 1,200 in the win over Charleston Southern Feb. 7
- 400 career rebounds (407) in the home win over Charleston Southern
Â
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.
Â
25th ANNIVERSARY
This year celebrates the 25
th anniversary of the 1998-99 team that captured the first ever Big South Conference regular season championship and made the program's first ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Under the guidance of first-year head coach Gregg Marshall the Eagles posted an overall record of 21-8 and were 9-1 in the conference. Winthrop defeated second-seeded Radford 86-74 in the Big South title game and faced Auburn in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. This team was inducted into the Winthrop Hall of Fame as a Team of Distinction on Jan. 12, 2024.
Â
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.
Â
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.
Â
UP NEXT
Winthrop will remain on the road as it heads to Radford, Va. on Thursday, Feb. 15 to take on Radford in the Big South ESPNU Wilcard matchup set for 8 p.m.
Â
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).
