Winthrop basketball dominates Furman, perhaps the best team it’ll face until March
Let’s not make Winthrop’s 87-71 win over South Carolina mid-major peer Furman more than what it is.
Sure, Furman came into Rock Hill on Saturday afternoon a formidable opponent — with a resume that boasted a close loss to Cincinnati; a should-be-win over Alabama (team led by double digits at one point); and dominant wins over every other opponent.
And sure, Winthrop went unchallenged all game: The Eagles hit the 50-point mark and built a 20-point lead before the end of the first half’s last media timeout and didn’t look back — seeing a slew of unsurprising but nevertheless noteworthy offensive performances from Charles Falden (18 points); Russell Jones Jr. (12); Jamal King (11); Adonis Arms (11); and Chandler Vaudrin (seven points, eight rebounds, seven assists).
And yes, Winthrop won while shifting between dynamic on-court lineups like the team was driving a stick-shift car — sometimes throwing out lineups with no forwards and sometimes sending out lineups with three inside scorers and its 6-7 starting point guard, Vaudrin, bringing the ball up.
But here’s why there’s no denying that this win is special: Barring any scheduling surprises and mid-season Big South developments, Winthrop won’t play anybody notably better than the Paladins all regular season.
When asked about if his team felt any sort of attainment after its win, Winthrop head coach Pat Kelsey carefully explained the confidence he has in his team.
“We know what we have, and we know how good we can be,” Kelsey said. “What I think (happened) was, a lot of the basketball country recognized that as well. But you’re only as good as your next one.”
Saturday night’s numbers told the game’s story: Winthrop went on a 19-5 run late in the first half, not allowing a Furman field goal from the 10:34 mark to the 6:43 mark. On the way, Falden proved (again) that he’s perhaps the best scorer on his team; Vaudrin proved that he’ll be better than any point guard he’ll face this season; and Winthrop, as a team, proved that it can win without relying much on its 3-point shooting — the Eagles only shot 20 threes and nailed eight of them. (Furman, conversely, went 6-for-28 from 3-point land).
Reporting from the rafters
Timeouts in the Winthrop Coliseum on Saturday were eerily quiet.
No fans are allowed to attend Winthrop basketball games until at least January 2021. The decision — made due to COVID-19 concerns — meant that there were no fans in the Coliseum’s burgundy seats on Saturday, besides a few people who appeared to be within or closely associated with the Winthrop athletics department.
That meant Winthrop and Furman had to create their own sources of energy. And they did.
But Kelsey said the experience was noticeably different.
“This was a little weird because I’m just so used to the Coliseum and my children — Johnnie, Caroline and Ruthie — being right behind the bench. And Johnnie (being) on the bench,” Kelsey said and laughed.
Winthrop’s home success, despite the fact it didn’t play in front of a home crowd, is encouraging for its fans: Winthrop is set to play one more pair of games before the new year — a back-to-back slate against Campbell on Dec. 30 and Dec. 31.
A decision on Winthrop basketball fan attendance in 2021 hasn’t yet been announced.
This story was originally published December 19, 2020 at 6:24 PM.
.jpeg)