Winthrop can’t overcome big deficit (this time) to Middle Tennessee. What we learned
Winthrop ventured out of Rock Hill for the first time Tuesday night to play Conference USA power Middle Tennessee — and the Eagles saw their flawless record end with a 76-65 loss.
Tuesday marked the first defeat of Mark Prosser’s tenure as Winthrop’s head coach.
Here’s what we learned.
Winthrop has made a habit of falling behind
For a second consecutive game, Winthrop (2-1) was in trouble late in the second half. But unlike in the Eagles’ comeback against Mercer — which featured a nine-point comeback in the game’s final 51 seconds to force overtime and ultimately win — their efforts fell short on Tuesday.
A lot was made about the comeback this past weekend: It marked a stark contrast between the dominant 23-2 Winthrop team of last year and the one of this year.
But Tuesday proved that Winthrop’s habit of falling behind isn’t a formula for sustained victory.
The Eagles fell behind by 10 with 14:47 left in the second half, the end of a 7-0 MTSU run, and then by as many as 13 with 5:27 left in the game.
DJ Burns sat early with foul trouble again
DJ Burns, the big man from Rock Hill and the focal point of Winthrop’s offense, didn’t play much in the first half. He recorded two fouls in the first 1:43 of the game and sat out until the midway break.
Early fouls by Burns hurt Winthrop on Saturday, too, against Mercer.
The Eagles entered the halftime break up three — thanks in large part to Josh Corbin’s 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc and 14 first-half points — but that shooting was unsustainable and cooled off substantially in the second half.
Burns ended with a tied-for-a-team-high 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting. He also notched three rebounds and an assist. Burns displayed great interior passing, but the Eagles couldn’t capitalize: They went 9 of 26 from 3-point range.
Shooting woes don’t exempt free-throw line
The Eagles didn’t shoot well on Tuesday — from anywhere. And that includes the free-throw line.
A game after shooting about 47% from the line and winning, Winthrop shot 10 of 19 (52.6%) from the free-throw line and lost.
That was only compounded by the Eagles’ poor shooting everywhere else: Overall, they shot 44.2% from the field, which, surprisingly, was better than MTSU’s 43.6% shooting from the floor.
The big difference, it appears? Free throw shooting. The Blue Raiders (3-0) shot 22 for 27 from the line.
Other notes
▪ Something Winthrop fans don’t want to hear? Tuesday marked the beginning of a Winthrop four-game road trip — the toughest part of the Eagles’ tough non-conference schedule. And Tuesday was arguably the most-winnable game for the Eagles in that stretch. Who’s next? Vanderbilt of the SEC, then Washington State and Washington of the Pac-12. Emerging 1-3 from this road trip feels like an unlikely possibility now.
▪ Cory Hightower, again, provided a scoring lifeline for the Burns-less and off-shooting Eagles Tuesday. He scored a quiet 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting and also notched three rebounds and three assists. The transfer from Western Carolina — who has the propensity to take over games — has yet to truly break out in a Winthrop uniform.
▪ MTSU did not play a perfect game. The Blue Raiders fouled a ton (21 total times), coughed up 15 turnovers and went 6 for 27 from three. The ultimate difference? Winthrop couldn’t capitalize off those mistakes. The Eagles only scored three points off MTSU turnovers; the Blue Raiders scored 29 off Winthrop ones. (The Eagles lost the rebound battle big, too, 37 to 29.)
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 9:07 PM.
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