The Winthrop Eagles (10-6) and the Big South’s first-ranked offense welcome the High Point Panthers (12-4) and the 11th-ranked defense in the conference. Action begins at 7:00 pm ET on Thursday, Jan. 14 and can be seen on ESU and ES3.
The Panthers, meanwhile, are coming off an 82-66 win against Presbyterian on Saturday. John Brown was the team’s top scorer, accounting for 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting.
The prolific offense of the Panthers (25th in the nation with an offensive efficiency of 116.0) will look to pick apart the bottom-tier defense of the Eagles (281st in the nation with a defensive efficiency of 108.0), a matchup that could favor High Point.
High Point takes on Winthrop as a four-point favorite. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is sitting at 159 points. The Eagles come into this game 11-6 Straight Up (SU), but 0-2 Against The Spread (ATS). They haven’t covered any of their last 10 games, going 0-2 ATS. The Eagles are one of the best in Division I in terms of field-goal percentage, shooting an impressive .475 from the field. Turning to the defensive side, opponents have consistently had their shots rejected by the Eagles, ranking 36th in the country in blocks per game with 5.2.
As for their opponent, it’s hard to argue with the ATS success of High Point. The Panthers are clearly doing something right with a 1-0 record ATS to go along with a 12-4 record SU. The Panthers convert their shots at a high percentage, ranking 10th in the country at .498. The Panthers are an unselfish team with an average of 17.2 assists per game, ranking 24th in Division I. Moving on to the High Point defense, teams with weak ball handling have not fared well against the Panthers, who rank 40th in the nation with 8.1 steals per game. Taking care of the basketball is something the Panthers do very well, averaging just 10.8 turnovers per game.
These conference foes will be squaring off for the first time this season. In their most recent meeting a season ago, High Point came out on top, bumping its SU record over their most recent meetings to 8-2. The teams are even ATS, with a 0-0-1 record. Winthrop held the advantage in field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers two times in the last five matchups. On the other side of the court, High Point never accomplished this feat in that span.
Predictions: SU Winner – HighPt, ATS Winner – HighPt, O/U – Over
Notes
Winthrop won its last game by an 18-point margin. In games decided by a margin of 18 points or more, High Point is 5-0. Winthrop is 3-1 in blowouts this season.
Ranked 25th, the High Point Panthers have an offensive rating of 116.0. The Winthrop Eagles rank 281st with a defensive rating of just 108.0.
The High Point Panthers have one of the best field goal percentages this season, ranking 10th in the nation with a FG% of 49.8%. When their opponents record a similar or higher FG%, the Winthrop Eagles are winless with a 0-3 record.
The Winthrop Eagles rank lower for their field goal percentage (44th) than they do for their effective field goal percentage (37th), but the High Point Panthers have a better FG% ranking (10th) than eFG% ranking (33rd).
The 15th-ranked team in the category, High Point has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.60 this season. Winthrop ranks lower at 280th with an A/TO of .88.
On average, Winthrop makes 5.8 steals per game. High Point has a solid 8-3 record when it gives up at least 5 steals.
