Winthrop advances in Big South tourney
Winthrop handled Part 1 of its Big South championship assignment Friday night, dropping Presbyterian 67-53 at the Gore Center.
It’ll take three wins to get the second-seeded Eagles (22-8) back to the NCAA tournament, and the first was indicative of the kind of slog that lies ahead the next two days.
“A Gregg Nibert-coached team is no fun to play against. Never has been, never will,” said Winthrop coach Pat Kelsey. “Our guys knew they were in for a dog fight and they sure as heck were.”
Presbyterian (11-20) was playing in its first Big South quarterfinal after edging Radford at the buzzer Thursday for its first ever Big South tournament win. But Winthrop - with its 30-plus all-time Big South tournament wins - slammed the door shut on Presbyterian and advanced to Saturday’s 3 p.m. semifinal game against Gardner-Webb. The Eagles only shot 39 percent for the game, but held Nibert’s crew to even worse shooting (33 percent from the floor, 19 percent from 3).
“We were in the zone (defense) and we were either gonna be the dumbest team in the world against these guys who shoot 40 percent from 3, but I thought we really got out there and defended,” said Nibert. “But their defense was just as good as ours. Probably better.”
Presbyterian blasted out to an 8-0 lead behind inspired early play from All-Big South first teamer DeSean Murray, who had six in that early stretch, didn’t take advantage. Jimmy Gavin’s 3 and Xavier Cooks’ putback after a trio of Winthrop offensive rebounds tied the game at 12.
Presbyterian went back in front briefly, 16-12, before the Eagles scrambled together 12 unanswered points in quick succession to shake off a 5-for-25 shooting start and take the lead late in the half.
A nifty no-look bounce pass from Cooks found Duby Okeke for a backwards slam, before Cooks’ leaner gave the Eagles their first lead of the game with 3 minutes, 28 seconds left in the half. Cooks hooked up with Okeke for another rim-rattler several plays later and Keon Johnson’s end-to-end drive culminated in a delicate floater for a 24-16 lead. Janeil Jenkins’ 3 at the buzzer ended Presbyterian’s 5-minute-plus scoring drought.
Turning point
In the last 5 minutes of the first half and first 4 minutes of the second half, Winthrop out-scored Presbyterian 19-3. The 12-0 run to close the first half wasn’t enough to avoid the Eagles’ lowest scoring first 20 minutes of the season, but it did give them a bit of juice heading into the second, despite Jenkins’ 3.
The halftime talk must have connected with Cooks because he scored Winthrop’s first nine points of the second frame as the Eagles’ lead ballooned out to 14 points (38-24).
“It was mostly the team getting me the ball in good spots,” Cooks said, adding quickly, “and a good talk.”
Presbyterian never got closer than five points, Winthrop’s lead hovering around 10 points the rest of the way.
"We just didn't match their run," said Murray.
Critical
Presbyterian’s zone defense flustered Winthrop in the first half, but the Eagles finally began to knife it when they shirked 25-foot 3-pointers for painted area touches through Cooks. He continually posted up at “the nail,” the literal nail in the middle of the free throw line that’s the best spot from which to attack a zone defense. Cooks fed Okeke twice from the nail for goal-shaking slams that loosened the Blue Hose.
“One thing about the zone, it gives up 3’s but it makes you settle a lot more. They’re not always the best shots you can get,” Cooks said. “We started getting the ball to the nail and started getting better shots.”
Star contributions
Cooks had another all-around effective performance. The Aussie sophomore scored 19 points, grabbed seven rebounds and doled out four assists, part of Winthrop’s 18 total. Gavin also got going in the second half, finishing with 21 points and a momentum-swinging alley-oop slam off a perfectly located Keon Johnson lob pass.
Murray made his first three shots from the floor, but only hit 8-of-24 the rest of the way. Winthrop’s post trio of Duby Okeke, Zach Price and Cooks struggled with foul trouble in the two teams’ first meeting in December, but avoided that difficulty Friday night. Cooks blocked three shots and Price - 6-foot-10 with his arms legally straight up - was a real pest to Murray.
“The length bothered us,” said Murray. “It bothered me. Some shots that we usually would have made didn’t go today.”
Murray finished with a game-high 24 points, but the rest of the Blue Hose made 9-of-37 shots.
On deck
Winthrop faces Gardner-Webb in the second semifinal on Saturday at 3 p.m. GWU upset Coastal Carolina, 69-65. The Eagles are playing in the program’s 18th Big South tournament semifinal.
Box score
WINTHROP 67, PRESBYTERIAN 53
PRESBYTERIAN (11-20): Murray 11-24 2-3 24, Jenkins 1-2 2-2 5, Dillard 1-10 0-0 3, Adams 1-4 0-0 2, Drew 3-8 4-4 10, Withers 0-1 0-0 0, Moore 1-3 0-0 3, Terry 1-2 2-5 4, Arroyo 0-5 0-0 0, Venable 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 20-61 10-14 53.
WINTHROP (22-8): Johnson 3-11 2-3 10, Cooks 6-11 6-6 19, Broman 0-3 0-0 0, Price 3-7 0-1 6, Gavin 6-19 4-6 21, Okeke 2-2 0-0 4, Pickett 1-2 0-0 2, Sadlon 0-0 0-0 0, Davenport 2-4 1-1 5. Totals 23-59 13-17 67.
Halftime—Winthrop 24-19. 3-Point Goals—Presbyterian 3-16 (Jenkins 1-1, Moore 1-2, Dillard 1-6, Drew 0-1, Adams 0-2, Arroyo 0-4), Winthrop 8-28 (Gavin 5-14, Johnson 2-8, Cooks 1-2, Pickett 0-1, Broman 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Presbyterian 40 (Drew 11), Winthrop 42 (Gavin 8). Assists—Presbyterian 10 (Dillard 4), Winthrop 18 (Johnson 6). Total Fouls—Presbyterian 18, Winthrop 12. A—NA.
This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 8:52 PM with the headline "Winthrop advances in Big South tourney."