Big South first place on the line, again, for Winthrop
For the second time in three days, Winthrop men's basketball will square off in a battle for first place as it hits the road for a 7 p.m. contest Saturday night at Liberty.
Winthrop has won five straight games and is coming off a 76-73 win over UNC Asheville on Thursday to remain tied for first place with the Flames, who held on for a 65-62 win over Gardner-Webb the same night. The Eagles continued their best start under head coach Pat Kelsey at 14-4 overall and 6-1 in the Big South.
A strong second half defensive effort helped the Eagles continue their winning streak as they overcame an 11-point first half deficit and held Asheville to just 27 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes. The Bulldogs went just over 11 minutes without a field goal in one stretch.
For the first time in seven games, Winthrop’s leading scorer Keon Johnson did not lead the team in points, as Xavier Cooks took over the role for the evening. Johnson was just 1-for-11 from the floor after scoring 20 or more points in six straight games and 10 of the last 11. He still leads the team and is second in the Big South at 20.5 points per game. Johnson will look to bounce back on the road Saturday, where he's averaging 25.4 points on the season and has scored 20 or more in six of the seven road games he's played.
Cooks hit a second three midway through the second half of the win over the Bulldogs to reach 1,000 career points. He becomes the 24th Winthrop player to join the 1,000-point club.
This will mark the 55th meeting all-time between Winthrop and Liberty; the Eagles lead the series 38-16 in all games and 33-15 in league games. Liberty won the last meeting on Feb. 2, 2016 in Lynchburg, Va., with an 88-77 victory. Winthrop had won the previous nine meetings, including four straight wins at the Vines Center, and has won 12 of the last 14 meetings.
Big South men’s basketball standings (as of Jan. 20)
Team | Conference record | Overall record | Thursday opponent | Streak |
Winthrop | 6-1 | 14-4 | at Liberty | W5 |
Liberty | 6-1 | 11-9 | Winthrop | W4 |
UNC Asheville | 5-2 | 13-7 | Campbell | L1 |
Radford | 4-3 | 9-10 | High Point | W1 |
Campbell | 3-4 | 10-9 | at UNC Asheville | L2 |
Gardner-Webb | 3-4 | 10-10 | Presbyterian | L1 |
High Point | 3-4 | 9-10 | at Radford | W1 |
Longwood | 3-4 | 6-12 | at Charleston Southern | L4 |
Charleston Southern | 2-5 | 6-12 | Longwood | W1 |
Presbyterian | 0-7 | 4-14 | at Gardner-Webb | L8 |
This story was originally published January 20, 2017 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Big South first place on the line, again, for Winthrop."