Disastrous defeat: Winthrop’s 21-game winning streak ends in loss to UNC Asheville
UNC Asheville defeated Winthrop in the teams’ second matchup in as many days, 57-55 — ending a winning streak that may never be achieved by the Winthrop basketball program again.
Before Friday, Winthrop hadn’t lost in 21 games and was one of five undefeated teams in the country. The Eagles had already achieved their best start in program history and Big South Conference history, but sustaining the streak gave Winthrop a chance to climb in the AP Top 25 and maybe — maybe — a chance to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
The game was ultimately decided in its final seconds: Winthrop forced a shot clock violation trailing 57-54 with just over nine seconds remaining. After two timeouts, UNC Asheville elected to foul Russell Jones Jr. He made the first, missed the second, but a Winthrop offensive rebound kept the team in it.
Jamal King was then sent to the free-throw line and missed the first of two — which all but threw away Winthrop’s chances of salvaging the ugliest game it had played all year.
At the final buzzer, UNC Asheville’s players stormed the court.
“It hurts,” Winthrop point guard Chandler Vaudrin told reporters after the game. “Our heads aren’t down, though. We’re not that kind of team. You could see as they reacted: Every team that we play, this is their Super Bowl. This is the game they have to win. They circle it three times on the schedule. And that’s just not us.
“So, yeah, it’s tough. There’s a little stomach ache, don’t feel too great. Probably won’t eat my food tonight, but I’m excited to get some recovery, some rest, and I just love these guys. We’re going to be OK.”
Vaudrin, who said he deserved blame for the team’s loss, was then asked what he made of the end of such a vaunted streak and the prospects of his team fading from the nation’s eye after Friday’s outcome.
He responded resolutely: “Don’t care. Don’t care at all. Truthfully, we know how good we are. If you know basketball, everyone loses. It is what it is. It’s the regular season. Did we want to lose? Absolutely not. But we don’t care about who likes us this day or who doesn’t like us this day. All that matters is the 25 strong that we have in our locker room.”
What happened?
It wasn’t that the Eagles lost their rhythm in Rock Hill on Friday night — it’s that they never really had any. Winthrop made three of its first four attempts from the field but then went on to shoot 11-for-39 (28%) for the rest of the first half.
And in the second? Winthrop’s only real offense came after its first missed shot. It didn’t matter if it came from a Josh Corbin 35-foot contested heave or a Vaudrin uncontested layup: The first shot wasn’t going in. The team collected 26 offensive rebounds to give it some life, but that wasn’t enough.
The ball stuck on offense: Vaudrin, Winthrop’s 6-7 point guard and America’s triple-double leader, was made uncomfortable by UNC Asheville’s full-court press and often resorted to backing down his smaller defender from the 3-point line. DJ Burns, the biggest guy in the gym, didn’t play well in the first half and only played the first three minutes of the second. (Head coach Pat Kelsey told reporters postgame that Burns didn’t play because of the matchup problems UNC Asheville posed.)
Winthrop’s 55 total points is the least the team has scored this season. The team only notched four assists on 22 field goals.
‘We didn’t lose this game’
UNC Asheville came into the Big South Conference’s series with an edge, one that only blossomed after its close loss to Winthrop on Thursday night.
The Bulldogs were loud on the bench and energetic on the court. They were able to make the Eagles look vulnerable, and, at times, mediocre — a way this incredibly deep and exciting Winthrop team hasn’t looked before.
UNC Asheville didn’t have the remarkable shooting night it did Thursday, but it got clutch performances from guard Trent Stephney (13 points) and Evan Clayborne, who scored nine points but added five blocks and kept Winthrop’s interior scoring at bay.
The Eagles finished shooting 31.9% from the field and were led by Vaudrin, who scored 14 points on 15 attempts; Charles Falden, with eight points; and Adonis Arms with eight points.
“I give Asheville a lot of credit,” Kelsey said. “You know, I told our guys in the locker room, ‘We didn’t lose that game, they won it.’ I told our guys too that it’s a sign of respect when a team celebrates like that, when they beat you. It means you’re a good team.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 8:10 PM.
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