2020–21 Winthrop Eagles men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Winthrop Eagles men's basketball team represented Winthrop University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by 9th-year head coach Pat Kelsey, played their home games at the Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, South Carolina as members of the Big South Conference. They finished the season 23–2, 17–1 in Big South Play to finish as regular season champions. They defeated High Point, Longwood, and Campbell to be champions of the Big South tournament. They received the Big South’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Villanova.

2020–21 Winthrop Eagles men's basketball
Big South regular season and tournament champions
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Big South Conference
Record	23–2 (17–1 Big South)
Head coach	Pat Kelsey (9th season)
Associate head coach	Dave Davis
Assistant coaches	Brian Kloman Justin Gray
Home arena	Winthrop Coliseum
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 Big South men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Winthrop †	17	–	1		.944			23	–	2		.920
Radford	12	–	6		.667			15	–	12		.556
Campbell	11	–	6		.647			17	–	10		.630
UNC Asheville	9	–	5		.643			10	–	10		.500
Longwood	10	–	10		.500			12	–	17		.414
Gardner–Webb	10	–	10		.500			11	–	15		.423
Hampton	9	–	9		.500			11	–	14		.440
High Point	6	–	11		.353			9	–	15		.375
USC Upstate	5	–	11		.313			5	–	18		.217
Presbyterian	5	–	12		.294			7	–	15		.318
Charleston Southern	2	–	15		.118			3	–	18		.143
Charleston Southern suspended their season on February 23, 2021.
† 2021 Big South tournament winner

Previous season

The Eagles finished the 2019–20 season 24–10, 15–3 in Big South play to finish as Big South regular season co-champions, alongside Radford. Due to tiebreakers, they received the #2 seed in the Big South tournament. They defeated the #7 seed USC Upstate in the quarterfinals, 106–70.^[1] In the semifinals, they defeated the #3 seed Gardner–Webb, 78–66, to clinch their spot in the Big South tournament championship game.^[2] There, they matched up against the #5 seed Hampton, winning 76–68, earning the Big South's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.^[3] However, the NCAA Tournament would be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[4]

Roster

2020–21 Winthrop Eagles men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Russell Jones Jr. 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Westwood High School Blythewood, South Carolina G 1 Toneari Lane 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Grayson High School Atlanta, Georgia C 2 Tom Pupavac 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Belmont High School Geelong, Australia G 3 Micheal Anumba 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Loreto College Reggio Emilia, Italy F 4 Kelton Talford 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Great Falls High School Great Falls, South Carolina G 11 Charles Falden 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Massanutten Military Academy Richmond, Virginia G 13 Nate Buss 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS Jr Verona Area High School Verona, Wisconsin G 21 Jamal King 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Wayne Christian School Goldsboro, North Carolina G 22 Kyle Zunic 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Lake Ginninderra College Wollongong, Australia G 25 Adonis Arms 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Sr Northwest Nazarene Milwaukee, Wisconsin F 30 D. J. Burns 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 275 lb (125 kg) RS So Tennessee Rock Hill, South Carolina G 32 Josh Corbin 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Gahanna Lincoln High School Gahanna, Ohio F 33 Chase Claxton 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Legacy Early College Greenville, South Carolina G 35 Keyshawn Hunter 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Hohenfels High School Charleston, South Carolina G 52 Chandler Vaudrin 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Sr Walsh Uniontown, Ohio	Head coach Pat Kelsey (Xavier) Assistant coach(es) Dave Davis (Warren Wilson) Brian Kloman (Tennessee) Justin Gray (Wake Forest) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: December 15, 2020

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 29, 2020* 8:30 pm, ESPN3		vs. UNC Greensboro Wade Houston Tipoff Classic	Postponed		KFC Yum! Center  Louisville, KY
December 1, 2020* 8:30 pm, ESPN3		vs. UNC Greensboro Wade Houston Tipoff Classic	W 75–67	1–0	KFC Yum! Center  Louisville, KY
December 7, 2020* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		vs. Little Rock Wade Houston Tipoff Classic	W 80–75	2–0	KFC Yum! Center (110) Louisville, KY
December 4, 2020* 11:00 am, ESPN3		vs. Duquesne Wade Houston Tipoff Classic	Canceled		KFC Yum! Center  Louisville, KY
December 12, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at USC Upstate	W 95–77	3–0 (1–0)	G. B. Hodge Center (140) Spartanburg, SC
December 13, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at USC Upstate	W 107–77	4–0 (2–0)	G. B. Hodge Center (140) Spartanburg, SC
December 19, 2020* 4:00 pm, ESPN+		Furman	W 87–71	5–0	Winthrop Coliseum  Rock Hill, SC
December 30, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN+		Campbell	W 84–83	6–0 (3–0)	Winthrop Coliseum  Rock Hill, SC
December 31, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Campbell	W 94–76	7–0 (4–0)	Winthrop Coliseum  Rock Hill, SC
January 4, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at Charleston Southern	W 85–69	8–0 (5–0)	Buccaneer Field House (36) North Charleston, SC
January 5, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN+		at Charleston Southern	W 78–76	9–0 (6–0)	Buccaneer Field House (24) North Charleston, SC
January 9, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Gardner–Webb	W 75–65	10–0 (7–0)	Winthrop Coliseum  Rock Hill, SC
January 10, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Gardner–Webb	W 91–83	11–0 (8–0)	Winthrop Coliseum  Rock Hill, SC
January 14, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPNU		Longwood	W 72–61	12–0 (9–0)	Winthrop Coliseum  Rock Hill, SC
January 15, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Longwood	W 70–50	13–0 (10–0)	Winthrop Coliseum  Rock Hill, SC
January 19, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPNU		at Presbyterian	W 72–58	14–0 (11–0)	Templeton Physical Education Center (20) Clinton, SC
January 20, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Presbyterian	W 78–66	15–0 (12–0)	Templeton Physical Education Center (15) Clinton, SC
January 24, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN+		Hampton	Postponed		Winthrop Coliseum  Rock Hill, SC
January 25, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Hampton	Postponed		Winthrop Coliseum  Rock Hill, SC
January 28, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPNU		UNC Asheville	W 84–80	16–0 (13–0)	Winthrop Coliseum (41) Rock Hill, SC
January 29, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN3		UNC Asheville	L 55–57	16–1 (13–1)	Winthrop Coliseum (43) Rock Hill, SC
February 11, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Radford	W 80–64	17–1 (14–1)	Dedmon Center (250) Radford, VA
February 12, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Radford	W 55–47	18–1 (15–1)	Dedmon Center (250) Radford, VA
February 18, 2021 9:00 pm, ESPNU		at High Point	W 76–70	19–1 (16–1)	Millis Center  High Point, NC
February 19, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at High Point	W 71–63	20–1 (17–1)	Millis Center  High Point, NC
Big South tournament
March 1, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN3	(1)	(8) High Point Quarterfinals	W 83–54	21–1	Winthrop Coliseum  Rock Hill, SC
March 4, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+	(1)	(5) Longwood Semifinals	W 82–61	22–1	Winthrop Coliseum  Rock Hill, SC
March 7, 2021 12:00 pm, ESPN	(1)	(3) Campbell Championship	W 80–53	23–1	Winthrop Coliseum  Rock Hill, SC
NCAA tournament
March 19, 2021* 9:57 pm, TNT	(12 S)	vs. (5 S) No. 18 Villanova First Round	L 63–73	23–2	Indiana Farmers Coliseum  Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Source^[5]

References

1. "Hot Shooting Eagles Cruise Into Semifinals With 106–70 Win Over Upstate". Winthrop University Athletics. March 5, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
2. "No. 2 Winthrop Downs No. 3 Gardner-Webb, Advances to Title Game". Big South Conference. March 6, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
3. "NCAA BOUND! Winthrop wins Big South tournament to earn coveted postseason bid". Rock Hill Herald. March 8, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
4. "2020 NCAA Tournament canceled due to growing threat of coronavirus pandemic". CBS Sports. March 13, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
5. "2020–21 Men's Basketball Schedule". Winthrop University Athletics. Retrieved December 15, 2020.