NC A&T can’t break Winthrop’s 9-game home winning streak on ESPNU. What we learned
Winthrop has been invulnerable at home all year — staying undefeated through eight games and summoning unthinkable comebacks to do it when necessary.
And it appears they still are invulnerable.
North Carolina A&T, a team new to the Big South this year, took a mighty slug at the team that has run the conference the past two years in front of an ESPNU audience on Thursday night — taking a six-point lead heading into halftime and goading a Winthrop team without its two best shooters (Pat Good and Cory Hightower) to shoot 19 3s.
But the Eagles prevailed nonetheless, 64-54, to win its ninth straight home game, and they did so thanks to a few unheralded scorers unafraid of Thursday’s moment. Among those guys: Sin’Cere McMahon, who made his second start of the season, played 31 minutes and hit three 3s en route to scoring 13 points.
That, plus a few contested buckets from big man and leading scorer DJ Burns (who finished with a team-high 15 points) and adequate free-throw shooting down the stretch made for another exciting game in the Winthrop Coliseum.
Here’s what we learned.
Another classic second half in Rock Hill
Up until this point, Winthrop hasn’t been a second-half team at home. It’s been a last-second team. That was the case against Mercer, against UNC Asheville, against Campbell — and really, to a lesser but still very true extent, against pretty much every other Division I opponent the Eagles have played this season.
And Winthrop fans saw another entertaining second half on Friday night.
In a lot of ways, the second half was dead even: The Eagles notched only three turnovers in the second half; the Aggies had only four. Both teams — Winthrop 75%, A&T 70% — each shot well from the free-throw line.
But where it counted, it wasn’t close: The Eagles shot 52% from the floor and 40% from three (4-for-8) in the second half. The Aggies went 7-of-25 from the field and 2-of-11 from deep.
Thursday marked Winthrop’s first win by 10 or more points over a Division I opponent.
McMahon said the fans were the ultimate explanation for his team’s undefeated record at home: “When you have a good sixth man, it’s going to make it harder on the other team.”
Said Winthrop head coach Mark Prosser: “I thought it was a very together group out there tonight. I thought that having some guys who weren’t here, certainly other guys were given more opportunities to play some more minutes and to step up. And I think almost across the board (that happened).”
Winthrop prevails despite not having 3 key outside scorers
The Eagles were missing three key players on Thursday night: starting guard and leading 3-point shooter Pat Good; starting forward and third-leading scorer Cory Hightower; and adept 3-point shooter Josh Corbin.
In one swoop, the normally deep Eagles looked a bit fragile.
Good and Hightower were reportedly out for medical reasons. (Good appeared on the bench in street clothes; Hightower wasn’t on the bench.) And Josh Corbin was deemed out for “personal reasons,” per Winthrop athletics spokesman Brett Redden.
Prosser spoke on Corbin’s absence postgame.
“For everybody, there are a lot of things that are going on in the world,” Prosser said. “There are a lot of things on a day to day basis. Some guys were in uniform tonight, some guys weren’t. They’re all wonderful kids. We support all of them, whether they’re here or not, but we look forward to having them in their locker room.”
That said, the Eagles played one of their most collected and complete games to date — with McMahon making the biggest mark in his teammates’ stead.
“I was just trying to have the same approach as if I was coming off the bench, just being ready as soon as I get my chance,” he said. “This is a deep team: Some games your minutes might be low. Sometimes they might be high if it’s your night. So I was just trying to come in and be ready, and I think I did that pretty well.”
Defensively, the Eagles were no slouch either. They relied in certain stretches on a 1-3-1 zone to subdue the A&T inside attack in the second half. And it seemed to work: Leading scorers Marcus Watson finished with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting; Demetric Horton finished with 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting. And yet they only combined for nine points total in the second half.
Playing without their stars risked the Eagles dropping their third game in four tries. Instead, Winthrop notched a win it could build off of.
Other notes
▪ McMahon said Drew Buggs was “the best leader I’ve every played with” postgame. And his play was deserving of that praise. The graduate transfer only finished with five points but added eight assists — kickstarting his star forward Burns when he started slow and creating for all eight of Winthrop’s scorers on Thursday. His most important play of the night? After a McMahon floater to push the game to 60-52 with less than a minute left, Buggs stole the inbounds pass that deflated the Aggie sideline and sent the Coliseum into a surprised and celebratory uproar.
▪ Chase Claxton finished with two points and four rebounds in 29 minutes. His defensive prowess kept him on the court. His relentlessness did, too: In the first half, he got knocked to the floor and lost a tooth — but he came back in the second half nonetheless.
▪ Thursday marked Winthrop’s ninth win on ESPNU at home. This was the Eagles’ second appearance on the network (not ESPN3/ESPN+) this year.
This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 9:02 PM.
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