Behind dazzling performance of DJ Burns, Winthrop defeats High Point on ESPNU
DJ Burns smiled a lot on Thursday night. And who could blame him?
The 6-foot-9 redshirt sophomore forward — who’s shown flashes of greatness in his near-two seasons at Winthrop, but never like this — led the Eagles to a 76-70 win over High Point in the ESPNU spotlight. He finished 10-for-14 from the field with a team-high 22 points in 23 minutes.
The Winthrop men’s basketball team (19-1, 16-1 Big South) had won the outright Big South Conference regular season title before it stepped on the purple and white court Thursday. But whatever complacency the one-loss squad might’ve had in the early-going was replaced by a rare desperation: The Eagles were down as much as 10 in the second half — but a 15-5 run closed the gap and a Russell Jones Jr. explosion for 17 points, including the team’s last six (free throws), finished the job.
Here is how Winthrop’s actual performance stacked up with its “keys to the game,” which were published before tip off.
Evaluating Winthrop’s keys to the game
Pregame key #1: Keep winning, wherever you are. Perhaps this makes sense given the reduced fan capacities and general strangeness of 2021, but Winthrop has been just as good on the road as it’s been at home this season. The team is averaging about as many points per game in each setting (80.5 away; 79.1 at home) and has had about as many two-possession-or-less games in each setting (2 away; 3 at home, including its sole loss).
Postgame evaluation: Winthrop won on the road again, but it didn’t feel all that convincing or satisfying. The Eagles shot 46.3% from the field and only 7-of-21 from three. Outside a wildly impressive offensive performance from redshirt sophomore forward Burns, they didn’t look all that much different than their run-of-the-mill Big South opponent Thursday — and the game’s setting probably didn’t have much to do with that.
Pregame key #2: Enjoy Josh Corbin’s rise. The sophomore guard has been playing more recently, and as of late his performances have helped predict the rest of the team’s offensive production. In the past four games, Corbin has scored 20 points (hitting six 3-pointers); 3 points; 17 points (5 threes); and zero points. In the two games he didn’t shoot well, the team scored 55 points, tied for their season-low. The fact that Adonis Arms — senior redshirt transfer guard and the team’s second-leading scorer — was in street clothes in Winthrop’s last series against Radford only adds to Corbin’s importance.
Postgame evaluation: Corbin played well. He hit two threes and scored eight points. But his off-the-bench contribution was overshadowed by another guard’s in particular: Jones, as aforementioned, went 4-for-7 from the field for 17 points and hit two threes. He scored six straight points in a critical stretch late in the second half to give Winthrop its first lead since 2:48 remaining in the first half. (Arms also returned: He went 2-for-4 from the field with five points.)
Pregame key #3: Avoid a one-man show wreaking havoc. High Point is averaging 23.8 field goals and 68.4 points per game, and about a third of that production comes from John-Michael Wright. Winthrop isn’t invulnerable against one-man shows: The Eagles had to squeak out a two-point win over Charleston Southern earlier this year when Phlandrous Fleming dropped 33 points in the second game of the series.
Postgame evaluation: Wright nearly did this on Thursday. He scored 27 points on 12-of-28 shooting. And he even had some unexpected help: Bryson Childress hit three 3-pointers for nine points — one of which from halfcourt right before the half to give High Point a huge boost and a 40-34 lead heading into the locker room. Without a Burns offensive explosion to cancel Wright’s out, the sophomore guard could’ve catalyzed Winthrop’s second loss on Thursday night. He’ll have another chance to do it on Friday.
Betting information
According to VegasInsider, Winthrop opened as a 10-point favorite for Thursday’s game. Over/under was 144.5.
How to watch
Friday
- When: 7 p.m.
- Stream: ESPN+
- Listen: 94.3 FM/104.1 THE BRIDGE
This story was originally published February 18, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
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