Game Day Essentials:
Indiana (9-3, 1-1) vs. Winthrop (10-4)
- Tip Time: 4 p.m. Eastern, Sunday
- Location: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222), Bloomington, Ind.
- Television: BTN (Connor Onion, Shon Morris)
- Radio: IU Radio Network (Don Fischer, Errek Suhr, John Herrick)
- Stream: Fox Sports
- Point Spread: Indiana is a 15.5-point favorite
- KenPom Projected Score: Indiana 89 Winthrop 74
- History: First Meeting
- Tickets (via our StubHub affiliate link)
Winthrop’s Mark Prosser
Mark Prosser is in his fourth season as head coach of the Winthrop men’s basketball program. He was named head coach on April 2, 2021.
Prosser started his coaching career as a student assistant at his alma mater, Marist. After a few seasons, he landed his first assistant job at Wofford in 2002. He then spent five seasons with Bucknell until 2008. He returned to Wofford and remained on their staff until 2011.
Prosser got his first head coaching gig at Division 3 Brevard in the spring of 2011. He spent only one season at the helm and accumulated a 5-23 record. In 2012, Prosser was hired onto Winthrop’s staff as an assistant and remained there until 2018 before getting another head coaching job at Western Carolina. He finished with a 37-53 overall record across three seasons at WCU.
Prosser was then hired to lead Winthrop and has since had some success. In his first season, he led Winthrop to a 23-9 overall record and a 14-2 record in conference play, which was good enough to win the South division in the Big South. In the following two seasons, Winthrop finished in the top-5 of the conference. So far, Prosser has a 65-45 overall record with Winthrop.
Winthrop’s results and roster
| DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11/4/2024 | Piedmont | Rock Hill, S.C. | W 125-65 |
| 11/9/2024 | Little Rock | Rock Hill, S.C. | W 82-67 |
| 11/11/2024 | at Virginia Tech | Blacksburg, VA | L 52-58 |
| 11/15/2024 | William & Mary (Rock Hill Classic) | Rock Hill, S.C. | W 86-85 |
| 11/16/2024 | Georgia Southern (Rock Hill Classic) | Rock Hill, S.C. | L 87-89 |
| 11/17/2024 | North Carolina Central | Rock Hill, S.C. | W 77-75 |
| 11/22/2024 | at Louisville | Louisville, KY | L 61-76 |
| 11/25/2024 | LIU | Rock Hill, S.C. | W 87-65 |
| 11/27/2024 | Averett | Rock Hill, S.C. | W 99-56 |
| 12/3/2024 | at Queens | Charlotte, N.C. | W 86-78 |
| 12/7/2024 | Coastal Carolina | Rock Hill, S.C. | W 96-89 |
| 12/12/2024 | Bob Jones University | Rock Hill, S.C. | W 103-55 |
| 12/17/2024 | at Florida State | Tallahassee, FL | L 64-82 |
| 12/21/2024 | Mercer | Rock Hill, S.C. | W 102-97 |
Winthrop’s Game Notes (via Winthrop Athletics)
TEAM NEWS
- Reached 10 wins before conference play for first time since 2015-16
- Playing in the state of Indiana for just the second time as only other trip came Nov. 13, 2012 in a 66-55 loss at Indiana State
- All-time the Eagles are 3-2 against teams from Indiana
- Posted the 44th all-time 100 point game in the 102-97 victory over Mercer (42-2 all-time)
- It was the 18th 100-point game vs. a D1 opponent as the Eagles are 16-2 in those games
- In the last road game, the Eagles shot a season-low 29 percent from the floor in the loss at FSU
- Of the Eagles non-conference D1 opponents, six of them have winning records and eight are .500 or better this season as of Dec. 26
- Eagles have five 1,000 point scorers on this year’s roster, tied for the 3rd most in the nation (D1) as Minnesota/Ole Miss lead the way with seven
KELTON TALFORD
- Has a double-double in two of the last three games after 18 points and 10 rebounds vs. Mercer (18th career double-double)
- Has 16 games vs. Power 4 opponents and averaging 11.9 ppg, 6.2 rpg
- In 10 starts vs. Power 4 opponents he’s averaging 14.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg (63 percent from the floor)
- Tied program record for most games played (131), so today’s game will break the mark
- Leads Big South with 52 offensive rebounds, 2nd in rebounding and 8th in scoring (as of Dec. 26)
LOGAN DUNCOMB
- Returned to action vs. Mercer after missing the previous nine games
- Has three or more rebounds in three of the six games played (missed the opener)
- Began collegiate career at Indiana, transferred to Xavier and now at Winthrop
- Played in 18 games in two seasons at Indiana
Winthrop’s KenPom notable numbers:
(out of 364 teams)
Tempo – No. 4 (Offense No. 8 / Defense No. 45)
Offensive Efficiency – No. 183
- As the tempo number suggests, Winthrop plays very fast, with an average possession length of 15 seconds.
- They shoot a 49.4 effective field goal percentage (No. 224).
- They’ve struggled from outside with a 28.5 three-point percentage (No. 332).
- They have the highest free throw attempt rate in the country with a 55.1 attempt rate (FTA/FGA). But they make just 65.3% at the stripe.
Defensive Efficiency – No. 187
- Winthrop forces a good amount of turnovers at a 21.7 percent rate (No. 33).
- Teams are shooting 35.7 percent on threes and 50 percent on 2s against them (No. 269; No. 148).
- Their block and steal rates are both in the top 120 across the nation (10.6 percent block rate, 11.5 percent steal rate).
- Teams are getting offensive rebounds at a decent rate against Winthrop (32.7 percent, No. 280).
OG’s Pick
Win/Loss Record: 8-2
It’s Indiana’s last game before they head into conference play for the rest of the season, so it is safe to say they’d like to tune things up before Big Ten play.
Winthrop has some decent metrics defensively, but have struggled against teams of higher competition (i.e. Florida State, Louisville). The Hoosiers have not been a team to pull away early though, and were only ahead by single digits in the last five minutes against Chattanooga. Although I do expect the Hoosiers to win comfortably, I don’t think it’s an entirely dominant effort.
PICK: Indiana 82 – Winthrop 68
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