Men's Basketball | 2/3/2022 11:49:00 AM
When: Thursday, February 3, 7:00 p.m.
Where: Winthrop Coliseum (Rock Hill, S.C.)
TV/Radio: ESPNU / Spencer Turkin (Aggie Sports Network-WWBG 1470 AM)
A&T Team Leaders
Points: Marcus Watson (12.3 PPG)
Rebounds: Marcus Watson (5.7 RPG)
Assists: Kameron Langley (4.8 APG)
Blocks: Harry Morrice (18)
Steals: Kameron Langley (29)
Field Goal Percentage: Tyler Maye (.482)
3-pt Field Goal Percentage: Demetric Horton (.385)
Free Throw Percentage: Demetric Horton (.741)
A&T Big South Leaders (Top-10)
Rebounds: Marcus Watson (5.7) – 9
th
Assists: Kameron Langley (101) – 1
st
Blocks: Harry Morrice (18) – 7
th
Steals: Kameron Langley (29) – 8
th
A&T National Leaders (Top-100)
Assists: Kameron Langley (101) – 33
rd
NORTH CAROLINA A&T AGGIES (9-13, 4-4 BIG SOUTH): After getting off to a 4-1 start in Big South Conference play, A&T has not seemed to recover from their heartbreaking, last-second defeat at the hands of the Campbell Fighting Camels on Jan. 22, their first home loss in almost five years. Since then, they have also dropped a road game to the North Division-leading Longwood and another home contest to USC Upstate.
Lately,
Demetric Horton has taken over as the top scorer, averaging 15.4 points a night in conference games.
The Aggies will need to find their shooting touch again and quickly following a 3-for-25 (.120) 3-point performance on Saturday if they hope to give themselves a chance down the stretch. The Aggies have won seven straight games where they have held their opponents under 70 points.
Head coach
Will Jones is now in his third season overall and second full season after initially taking over on an interim basis on December 24, 2019. In that same year, Jones earned Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) coach of the year honors and sports a 34-28 (.548) overall record.
WINTHROP (13-8, 6-2 BIG SOUTH): The Eagles are coming off a 92-88 loss to Longwood last Saturday on the road. Before that, however, they defeated USC Upstate to take over sole possession for first place in the South Division heading into their matchup with the Aggies.
Winthrop was projected to repeat as champions of the Big South in the league's preseason poll and are led by preseason conference player of the year DJ Burns, Jr. Burns averages a team-best 15.9 points per game, fourth in the Big South.
The Eagles have the second-best scoring offense in the league at 76.3 points per game, but the second-worst defense, allowing 73.1 points per game. They have given up 80-plus points in nine games this season and 90-plus in their last two.
Head coach Mark Prosser is in his first year at Winthrop after a three-season stint at Western Carolina. Prior to leading the Catamounts, he served as an assistant at Winthrop from 2012-2018. WCU went 7-25 in Prosser's inaugural year, but he orchestrated a dramatic turnaround in year two, leading the Catamounts to a 19-12 record. In his fourth year overall as a head coach, Prosser has a 55-84 (.396) record.
THE SERIES: Thursday will be the first all-time matchup between the Aggies and the Eagles.
QUOTABLE: "Winthrop is a good team. We are a good team. There is a great opportunity for us in this game. We must lay it all on the line to come out on top."
Head coach Will Jones ahead of Thursday's nationally-televised matchup
GAME NOTES:
- A&T is 8-3 (.727) in the month of February under head coach Will Jones, but 2-3 (.400) on the road.
- The Aggies were projected to finish third in the North Division in the league's preseason polls, receiving 92 overall points and three first-place votes, while the Eagles were slated to win the South Division with 152 total points and 16 first-place votes.
- A&T is in third in the North and Winthrop holds a head-to-head advantage over USC Upstate for first place in the South.
- After starting out 0-7 on the road this season, the Aggies are 3-2 in their last five away games with wins over East Tennessee State, Radford and UNC Asheville.
- The Eagles are 8-0 at home this season and their average margin of victory over those games is 11.9 points.
- In conference games only, Demetric Horton is averaging 15.4 points per game, eighth in the league.
- The Aggies are tops in the league in combined team rebounds at 37.9 per game in conference play as well.
- Graduate guard Kameron Langley leads the Big South in assists per game (4.8). His 858 career dimes are tied for 18th most in NCAA history.
