Game Info 

Monday, March 1 –at #1 Winthrop (20-1) (17-1) (Eagle Coliseum) 6:00 PM on ESPN3 

Live Stats | Watch (ESPN3) | Game Notes

The High Point University men's basketball team (9-14) (6-11) moves on to the Big South Quarterfinals to face #1 Winthrop in Rock Hill on Monday (March 1) at 6:00 pm on ESPN3. The Panthers advance to the quarterfinals after a thrilling 65-60 win in the first round over USC Upstate on Saturday night (Feb. 27).

Matchup History

• HPU is facing Winthrop in the Big South tournament for the first time since 2014. It will be the first time since 2006 that the Panthers will play Winthrop in the tournament in Rock Hill.
• HPU is a 14-30 against Winthrop since becoming a D-1 program in 1999.
• The two sides met less than two weeks ago for a two-game series inside the Millis Center. The Eagles haven't played a game since. The Panthers and Eagles played in a close one in the first game of the series as the Panthers nearly came out with the win as The Eagles survived 76-70. 
• John-Michael Wright On Thursday (Feb 18) against Winthrop Wright finished the game with his first double-double of the season, scoring 27 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. The 27 points were two shy of tying Wright's season-high, while the 10 boards were the most the Fayetteville, N.C. native has collected this season. On Friday (Feb. 19) against the Eagles, JMW tied a season-high with 29 points on the evening. Wright scored 19 of his points in the second half and consistently fueled the Panthers' offensive output. Wright averaged 28 points over the two games against the top team in the Big South

Across the Bench

• The Eagles are 20-1 this season and 17-1 in Big South play. Winthrop has the second-best win percentage in the nation with a total of 95.2. They are second in the nation behind the No. 1 ranked team in the country, Gonzaga. 
• Leading Winthrop is 2020-2021 Big South Coach of the Year Pat Kelsey he is in his 9th season as the head coach of the Eagles. Kelsey is 183-94 as coach of Winthrop.
• Winthrop is led this season by Big South Player of the Year Chandler Vaudrin, he leads Winthrop in both points and rebounds. The senior averages 12.3 points a game and 6.9 rebounds a game.

Panther Notes

Postseason Panthers

The High Point Big South First Round win is HPU's first post-season win since 2016. It's the Panthers' first Big South Tournament win in the Millis Center in nearly a decade as HPU defeated Gardner-Webb in 2012. 

Wright Answer

John-Michael Wright led the way in scoring for HPU with 24 points in the game he also grabbed 10 boards finishing with a double-double. The sophomore scored 13 in the second half alone including some clutch buckets late.

Big South Honors

John-Michael Wright, Ahmil Flowers, and Emmanuel Izunabor all earned Big South All-Conference honors on Friday afternoon. Wright was named to the Big South All-Conference First team, Flowers was selected to the Big South All-Freshman team, while Izunabor earned Big South All-Academic honors.

Leaving Millis on a High Note

Denny Slay II hit a monster jumper to put High Point up three with 24 seconds left to play. Slay's shot put the Millis Center into a frenzy in what is most likely the last men's basketball game in the history of the Millis Center. 

Panther Block Party

HPU is 88th in the nation in block shots as they average 3.8 per contest. HPU has recently recorded a seven-block performance as a team against the Eagles of Winthrop on Friday (Feb. 19).

Vote FlyDell 

Lydell Elmore has been selected to participate in the 2021Dark Horse Dunker Fan Vote where 16 players are put in a bracket and the fans vote to decide which one gets the opportunity to participate in the 2021 Great Clips College Slam Dunk Championship. Go to http://www.darkhorsedunker.com/ to vote daily for Lydell!

Panther Dunk Counter

Throughout the entire 2019-20 season, the Panthers totaled 24 dunks. After twenty-three games, the Panthers have nearly double that total with 40 jams on this season.

FlyDell

Elmore has 23 dunks so far this season for The Purple and White, which leads the squad for jams made.

Tubby All-Time Wins Tracker

Coach Smith has 631 wins which currently ranks him 35th all-time in wins amongst D-1 coaches.

#GoHPU