GAME INFO
Saturday, Feb. 29 -- at Winthrop (Rock Hill, S.C.) 1 p.m.
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The High Point University men's basketball team (9-21, 6-11 Big South) heads to Winthrop (20-10, 14-3 Big South) on Saturday (Feb. 29) for its final regular season game of the season. 
  
Last Time Out
The Panthers are coming off of a 80-76 loss to UNC Asheville at Millis Center on Thursday evening. HPU was led by freshman John-Michael Wright who scored 22 points, his sixth 20-point effort of the season. The freshman also grabbed 11 boards to finish the game with a double-double. Junior Denny Slay II also added 14 points off the bench for the Panthers. 
 
Matchup History
High Point is 14-31 in the series history against Winthrop, having lost the first game between these two teams earlier this season, 57-79. Cliff Thomas Jr. led the Panthers with 14 points in that game, while John-Michael Wright also added 12. 
 
Across the Bench
The Eagles are coming off of a 90-82 victory over USC Upstate in Spartanburg on Thursday. Despite dropping three of their last five games, Winthrop currently sits at second place in the Big South Conference and holds a 10-4 home record this season. 
 
Winthrop is led by veteran Hunter Hale (13.0) and redshirt freshman DJ Burns Jr. (12.5), who sit at 15th and 18th in the conference in points per game, respectively. Senior Josh Fergusan sits at fourth in the conference in rebounding, grabbing 6.5 boards per game while also chipping in 11.2 points per game.
 
The Eagles are coached by Pat Kelsey, who is in his eighth season at Winthrop. Kelsey led the Eagles to the Big South Conference championship in 2017, giving Winthrop their 10th NCAA tournament appearance.
 
Tourney Time
Next up for the Panthers will be the start of the Big South Conference Tournament. Going into Saturday's games, the Panthers hold the eighth seed in the tournament, meaning they would host a tournament game. Depending on how Big South games go on Saturday, the Panthers could drop to the ninth or 10th seed and head on the road for the start of the conference tournament on Tuesday (March 3). 
 
Coleman's Cooking
Eric Coleman Jr. was named Big South Freshman of the Week after scoring a career-high 30 points in High Point's 82-70 win over Presbyterian last Thursday, in which he posted personal bests of 7-of-9 from the field (77.8%) and 4-of-5 from beyond the perimeter (80%), in addition to making 12-of-14 from the charity stripe. Coleman scored five points in the loss to UNC Asheville in HPU's most recent contest.
 
But He's Only a Freshman
John-Michael Wright is second in Big South scoring averaging for a freshman with 13.8 per game, which also ranks him ninth in scoring in the conference overall. He is also the top freshman in rebounding with 5.4 boards per game, good enough for 12th overall in the conference. The freshman has scored at least 10 points in 22 games this season. He is also seventh in the Big South with a .771 free throw percentage.
 
RP3
Sophomore Rob Peterson III has started the last 14 games in the absence of Curtis Holland III. Peterson has averaged six points per game and 7.5 rebounds a game over that span and is averaging 5.3 rebounds a game on the season, good for 15th in the Big South.
 
Chairman of the Offensive boards
Redshirt sophomore Caden Sanchez ranks second in the Big South with 2.4 offensive rebounds a game.
 
Glass Cleaners
High Point has been terrific on the offensive and defensive boards. They rank third in the Big South in rebounding margin at +1.4.
 
JUST BLOCKin' it
Sanchez ranks fifth in the Big South with 1.0 block per game. His five-block game against Longwood (Jan. 25) was the first in program history since John Brown in 2016.
 
Up Next: High Point will be competing in the Big South Conference Tournament starting on Tuesday (Mar. 3). The Panthers will be hosting or on the road, depending on their seeding, which will be finalized after the action concludes on Saturday.
 
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