Winthrop looking to stretch winning streak to four
Winthrop men’s basketball can match its longest winning streak of the season Wednesday night when the Eagles take on Gardner-Webb in Boiling Springs, N.C.
Tim Craft’s Runnin’ Bulldogs (10-8, 5-2 Big South) sit one spot in front of Winthrop (12-6, 4-3) in the Big South standings; the game is one of several this week that could see the league standings begin to stratify a bit. Table-toppers Asheville and High Point also play Wednesday night, as do Charleston Southern and Presbyterian and Longwood and Liberty, teams stacked on top of each other.
Some notes ahead of Winthrop’s first road game in two weeks:
▪ Winthrop hasn't won at Gardner-Webb since 2011, and has lost all three trips to Paul Porter Arena under Pat Kelsey.
▪ The Eagles aren’t the only Big South team to cough up a big lead before losing to Asheville. Gardner-Webb joined the club Saturday, frittering away a 13-point lead in a 75-69 Asheville win for its first loss in 11 games when leading at halftime. Winthrop surrendered a 23-point lead in a loss to the Bulldogs two weeks ago.
▪ Gardner-Webb's 6-foot-1 freshman guard Laquincy Rideau is seventh in the country in steals per game (2.68). Rideau has had at least three steals in 11 of his 19 games this season.
▪ Harold McBride has emerged as Gardner-Webb’s point guard following the graduation of Tyler Strange. McBride averaged eight points and 2.3 assists per game last season, but has raised those numbers to 12.5 and 3.7 this year. Winthrop fans may not have the highest estimation of the Bronx native; he was scoreless in two games against the Eagles last season.
▪ Winthrop fans probably do remember Gardner-Webb post player Tyrell Nelson, who had scoring and rebounding double-doubles in both contests against the Eagles last season. He’s got eight double-doubles in 2015-16, including one in each of the last three games.
▪ Jimmy Gavin was named the conference’s player of the week after averaging 22.3 points per game in the Eagles’ three victories last week. It was Gavin’s second time winning the award this season. He’s averaging 17.4 points per game - fifth best in the Big South - while fellow guard Keon Johnson is second at 19.6.
▪ Winthrop is averaging 75 possessions per game, according to KenPom.com, the 12th fastest tempo in the country. This year’s team is at least nine possessions faster than any team Kelsey has coached, thanks in part probably to a shorter 30-second shot clock in college basketball. The NCAA average is 69.6 possessions per game.
▪ No coincidence that Winthrop’s three wins last week saw the team’s three best defensive performances of the season. The Eagles capped off a successful six days by holding Liberty to 0.88 points per possession, well under the NCAA average of 1.03. Winthrop is still allowing 1.08 points per possession on the season.
Big South men’s basketball standings
Team | Conference record | Overall record | Next game |
UNC Asheville | 6-1 | 13-6 | At High Point (Wed.) |
High Point | 5-2 | 12-6 | UNC Asheville (Wed.) |
Gardner-Webb | 5-2 | 10-9 | Winthrop (Wed.) |
Winthrop | 4-3 | 12-6 | At Gardner-Webb (Wed.) |
Coastal Carolina | 4-4 | 10-8 | At Charleston Southern (Sat.) |
Radford | 3-4 | 10-9 | Campbell (Wed.) |
Charleston Southern | 3-4 | 7-11 | At Presbyterian (Wed.) |
Presbyterian | 3-4 | 8-10 | Charleston Southern (Wed.) |
Longwood | 2-4 | 6-13 | At Liberty (Tues.); Winthrop (Sat.) |
Liberty | 2-5 | 5-15 | Longwood (Tues.); High Point (Sat.) |
Campbell | 2-6 | 8-10 | At Radford (Wed.) |
Standings exclude Longwood-Liberty result from Tuesday night; top-5 teams get first round byes in the Big South Conference tournament
This story was originally published January 19, 2016 at 2:33 PM with the headline "Winthrop looking to stretch winning streak to four."