Winthrop escapes Upstate with fourth straight win
Keon Johnson’s career-high 32 points helped Winthrop overcome a sluggish offensive outing to beat USC Upstate 79-78.
The Eagles improved to 4-0 for the first time in 10 years, but were made to sweat against a winless Upstate (0-5) squad eagerly hunting its first win. Duby Okeke’s late blocked shot and two Jimmy Gavin foul shots helped preserve Winthrop’s lead, and the win.
Winthrop, in Pat Kelsey’s 100th game as the program’s coach, only hit one of its 13 attempts from 3-point range in the first half, and also battled foul trouble early. Still, Winthrop built a 25-18 lead thanks in part to offense from Roderick Perkins off the bench. He had six in the first 20 minutes.
Three Eagles big men picked up two fouls and Upstate took advantage late in the first half, Marvin Smith’s jumper making it 28-27 to the host Spartans. Smith’s jumper was part of a 15-2 run in the final 7 minutes of the first period. Johnson’s layup with about 15 seconds left stopped the bleeding and got the Eagles to the intermission down just four points, 33-29.
“I think we were just sloppy and careless,” Kelsey told Winthrop radio man Dave Friedman after the win.
About 7 minutes into the second half, the light switched on for Winthrop. The Eagles got defensive stops and missed shots from Upstate, allowing them to push the pace and not only reel in the Spartans, but eventually pull away for the win in a game that went down to the wire.
“It’s simple to say but I felt we played with more urgency,” said Kelsey.
Turning point
Winthrop was 1-for-17 from 3-point range, missing 14 straight before Gavin canned a triple with about 13 minutes left in the second half to cut Upstate’s lead to 44-38. Gavin then scored seven consecutive points, his 3 getting Winthrop within one at 49-48, with 11 minutes, 20 seconds to play. Johnson’s free throws then gave the Eagles the lead with less than 10 to play. A Josh Davenport jumper and a 3 from Johnson grew the lead to 57-51 as part of a 9-0 spurt. The visitors pushed on and held off a late Upstate rally for a road win and a 4-0 start.
Critical
It was crucial for Winthrop to play through a bad-shooting game. Winthrop entered the game shooting 41 percent from beyond the arc, but had to find other ways to claw back into the contest against winless Upstate.
One way the Eagles did that was at the free throw line; Kelsey’s club hit 25-of-31, and has shot 31 more free throws than its four opponents this season. Johnson had attempted 14 free throws prior to Tuesday night, but he made 14-of-16 against the Spartans to provide scoring during the long distance shooting drought.
Star contribution
Johnson was solid in the first three games of the season, scoring 38 total points, but he carried Winthrop against Upstate.
“Second half I tried to be more aggressive,” Johnson told Friedman after the game.
Gavin finished with 22 and was integral in sparking the Eagles’ second half revival. Upstate freshman Deion Holmes overcame a slow first half to finish with a team-high 20 points.
On deck
Winthrop next travels to Raleigh to play N.C. State Friday. The Wolfpack dropped LSU 83-72 in overtime Tuesday night to improve to 3-2 this season.
This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 9:16 PM with the headline "Winthrop escapes Upstate with fourth straight win."