‘A great challenge’ ahead for Winthrop in Big South basketball tournament opener

The Big South Tournament is here and the Winthrop Eagles are hoping to create some magical March moments.

The Eagles finished tied for second in the conference with a 21-10 overall record and an 11-5 record in conference play. Due to the conference’s tiebreaker scenario, they received the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament with UNC Asheville receiving the No. 2 seed. Coach Mark Prosser spoke before the season about expectations for the season, and he feels a lot of the goals have been met — with one exception.

“The goal at Winthrop every year is to hang a banner,” Prosser said. “We understand that challenge and those expectations. We appreciate that we carry those expectations. Our league is as good as it has ever been. For us to have finished tied for second, it is something that may be a bit below our expectations. But, I think at one point we were third or fourth and our kids stayed hungry, they stayed focused and didn’t hang their heads.”

This is the ninth 20-win season at the Division I level for Winthrop and the 15th overall. The Eagles’ quarterfinal matchup is against Longwood. This game is a rematch from last season’s Big South quarterfinal where the Eagles fell 69-56. However, this season, Winthrop defeated Longwood in both regular-season meetings.

Prosser recognized that when the calendar turns to March, records are thrown out the window and anyone can beat anyone.

“Longwood was terrific,” Prosser said. “It’s petrifying. They’re really good. They have a phenomenal coach. They get better and better as the year goes on. They’re ... best in the tournament and late in the year. And so we understand that it’s going to be a great challenge for us… The last two games don’t matter. They are not going to matter. When that ball goes up in the air, it’s going to be 0-0, so nothing that mattered to that point will matter from that point on.”

Getting over High Point

Every coach says that you focus on the game in front of you. That is what Prosser and his staff are doing. However, if Winthrop is to achieve their goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament and hanging a Big South tournament banner, it will likely have to face the conference’s top seed, High Point.

“It’s hard for me to think about any other team than the team that’s right in front,” Prosser said. “I literally tried to do it last week, and I told our team, like, I can’t really think about Asheville on Saturday. It’s such a quick turnaround from Thursday night. But I can’t do it. You know, that’s the take, take nothing away from High Point. They’ve had a great year. They have all-league players coming off their bench, all-league players that have been all-league players in other Division I leagues. They’re deep and they’re talented. They’ve invested in facilities. They’ve invested heavily in student athletes and staff, and they’re seeing the fruits of that investment.”

Prosser said he feels his team is playing its best basketball, and what it comes down to now is channeling the pressure that comes along with postseason play and not letting the moment get too large.

“I think we’re playing maybe our best basketball of the year right now,” Prosser said, “and we’ll rely on that. The momentum that we’ve had to get to this point, we’ll rely on that and and still have some fun. It’s supposed to be fun. ... I think our kids have had fun all year, and have really gotten to the point where they’re celebrating one another’s successes. And that’s what I want to do, carrying into the weekend.”

The Big South Tournament opens on March 5 in Johnson City, Tennessee, and the Eagles start their tournament run at 8:30 p.m. on March 7.

Winthrop’s players to watch

Paul Jones III, 6-4 guard: The Virginaia native true freshman had an efficient regular season coming off the bench for the Eagles. He averaged 7.7 points and 2.8 rebounds but had one of his best games against Longwood — the Eagles’ quarterfinal matchup — when he scored a team high 24 points against the Lancers on Jan. 11.

Kelton Talford, 6-7 forward: Talford was a preseason All-Big South first team selection, and has lived up to the preseason hype. He led the Eagles in scoring and rebounding averaging 15.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Talford was also sixth in the nation in field goal percentage, shooting 64.4% from the floor.

Kasen Harrison, 6-2 guard: Harison led the Eagles in assists per game with 3.9 and averaged 5.5 assists in the team’s two matchups against Longwood. The Beaumont, Texas native also averaged 13.4 points per game during the season and nabbed 1.2 steals per game.

Big South Tournament schedule

All games on ESPN+ unless otherwise noted.

First round: Wednesday, March 5

Game 1: (8) Gardner-Webb vs. (9) USC Upstate, 7:30 p.m.

Quarterfinals: Friday, March 7

Game 2: (1) High Point vs. 8/9 winner, 12 p.m.

Game 3: (4) Radford vs. (5) Presbyterian, 2:30 p.m.

Game 4: (2) UNC Asheville vs (7) Charleston Southern, 6 p.m.

Game 5: (3) Winthrop vs. (6) Longwood, 8:30 p.m.

Semifinals: Saturday, March 8

Game 6: Semifinals / Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 12 p.m.

Game 7: Semifinals / Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 2:30 p.m.

Championship: Sunday, March 9 (ESPN2)

Game 8: Championship / Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 12 p.m.