Winthrop men's basketball travels to Upstate in search of 4-0 start
Winthrop men’s basketball heads to Spartanburg to face USC Upstate Tuesday night.
The Eagles will be hunting a fourth straight win to begin the season, which would match the program’s best start since the 2005-06 season. Winthrop and Upstate have each won eight of their 16 all-time meetings; Winthrop won the most recent in 2013 in Rock Hill. Eagles coach Pat Kelsey will be in charge of his 100th game as a head coach Tuesday.
Upstate is winless so far this year and suffered a shock 83-79 loss to Bob Jones University over the weekend. The Spartans - who graduated four of last season’s five starters - shot 6-of-25 from 3-point range and 11-of-22 from the foul line in the loss to BJU, a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association. Upstate also lost to Texas A&M, Presbyterian - by one point - and Navy.
Eddie Payne’s team is led by freshman Deion Holmes - from Chesnee High School - who is averaging 13.3 points per game. The Spartans are shooting 39 percent through four games, and allowing opponents to shoot over 50.
That’s encouraging for a Winthrop team that’s hitting over 10 3-pointers per game.
Sophomore Xavier Cooks has been the star man through three games. The 6-foot-8 Australian is averaging 20 points and 9.3 rebounds per outing, and he also leads the team in assists - 2.3 per game - along with Jimmy Gavin. Gavin has been another bright spot, the fifth-year transfer averaging 16.3 points per game and shooting 53 percent from 3-point range. Guards Bjorn Broman (14.0) and Keon Johnson (12.7) are also averaging double figures.
Winthrop played its first three games at home, but finds itself on the road for the next three. Following Tuesday’s game, the Eagles travel to Raleigh on Friday to play N.C. State, before an early beginning to Big South Conference play Wednesday Dec. 2 at Charleston Southern. Winthrop returns home three days later to host Presbyterian, before stepping back out of conference again for a couple of weeks.
This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 2:15 PM with the headline "Winthrop men's basketball travels to Upstate in search of 4-0 start."