Upstate Drops Saturday Contest to Winthrop

After a run through non-conference that gave plenty of optimism heading into Big South Conference play, USC Upstate has gotten a quick dose of the reality that is playing in one of the most competitive mid-major conferences in all of college basketball.

The Spartans (8-9) entered Saturday’s game with Winthrop on a 3-game losing skid and at 0-2 in the conference. All three games in that span have been less than 10-point games that came down to the wire – two 9-point losses to Youngstown State and Presbyterian and a 7 point defeat at the hands of Radford in their Big South opener a week and a half ago.

USC Upstate had an added bonus coming into Saturday afternoon’s game that could play a factor in helping them – they had a few extra days to rest up and prepare with having a bye on Wednesday night. But, that would not make the challenge any easier facing off against an offensively-potent Winthrop team that was 10-8 coming in (2-1 BSC), and has proven to be physically aggressive – able to beat their opposition in a number of different ways.

Early on in the game, it was a defensive struggle. The Spartans kept the Eagles off the scoreboard for almost the entire first 4 minutes of the game, while getting the scoring started with a bang when Mason Bendinger sank a three from the top of the key at the 17:55 mark. That basket would be all the scoring for Upstate until after the under-16 media timeout as they went 0 for their next 6 from the field. On the other hand, the game flipped into Winthrop’s hand very quickly.

The Eagles snapped their skid with a mid-range jumper from Tommy Kamarad at the 15:53 mark, sparking a 12-0 run going into the under-16 and making for a 12-3 lead. Immediately out of the stoppage, Carmelo Adkins hit a pair of free throws, but that could only make it 14-5 by the under 12 break, after which the Spartans went cold for 4:10 until Tyler Smith added 2 more at the line. That turned into a 4-0 spurt after an empty possession from Winthrop and a Mason Bendinger layup. But from there, the 2 sides traded baskets over the next 3 minutes before Winthrop hit on back to back threes, opening up a 31-15 lead at the final media timeout and carrying over to a 38-19 advantage at the half.

“The gap was 19 points kind of different”, said Upstate Head Coach Marty Richter of the first half. “You could see it and feel it. You cannot have your game dictated by whether or not you make or miss. You cannot have that dictate your effort. We had mistakes on Rozier {Kareem, who led Winthrop with 24 points}. We went under on him and we did not need to. We had mistakes on Clouet {Kody, 10 points} that led to two threes. You cannot go under, you have to go over them to shoot. It is not rocket science. As a basketball coach, all you have to do is just get the play off. I have to get them to play hard, share the ball, and eliminate the mistakes that we had.”

The second stanza started with a 5-0 run for the Eagles before USC Upstate finally put together their first extended scoring run of the day ahead of the under 16. The Spartans took advantage of a nearly 2 minute skid by Winthrop to go on a 6-0 run – a feat that was later replicated in the midst of a second 3 minute slide by the Eagles that cut the deficit under 20 points ahead of the under-12 break. Over the final 11:55 of the game that could only be summarized as a bit of a rock fight, USC Upstate managed to cut the deficit down to 15 twice but could pull no closer, falling 71-50.

The Spartans were out rebounded 49-31. Of Winthrop’s boards, 18 were offensive and led to 14 second chance points. Both sides managed 15 points off turnovers, and Upstate’s bench got some big time productivity in the 2nd half, but in the end, the key difference was that Upstate finished 19 for 55 from the field while the Eagles were 24-62, including 12-31 from beyond the arch.

“You have got to give credit to Winthrop”, said Richter. “They did a good job of coming out and throwing the first punch and got the game going their way. Their pace and their speed shocked my guys and by shocking us, we had to play catch up. Our guys did a good job of settling in and amping it up, and it was a back and forth the rest of the way. But, Winthrop played harder and more desperately today. You have a choice to make when you put on a jersey. Either you play it cool or you play hard and desperate. The team that plays it cool always gets beat. We played cool until the 2nd half when I put 5 guys out there that I felt would play hard, and they did. We got outscored in the 2nd half because I should not have waited and put the guys that played hard in right away.”

“We have to do a better job as a program of playing desperately and energetically. I need to find out who is going to do that. That means some are going to play and some are not. You are going to make mistakes. The game of basketball is never played perfectly, and that makes the effort so important. That is on me. I take the blame and I told my team that. Losses are on me, wins are on you guys. Now the question is how we handle losing. How do you handle that adversity and come back? They punched us in the stomach today. Now we have to figure out if we have enough life in us to battle back”, Richter later added.

Upstate was led by Breylin Garcia with 16 points, all off the bench. He also pulled down 6 rebounds with an assist and a blocked shot. The only other Spartan to hang double figures was Carmelo Adkins, who tallied 14 points, 2 boards, and a steal. Upstate’s next closest scorers were Mason Bendinger and Chico Johnson, each with 5 points.

With the loss, Upstate’s skid is now at 8-10 on the season and 0-3 in league play. They will have another chance to right the ship on Wednesday night when they head down to the lowcountry to take on Charleston Southern (11-8, 2-2 Big South), who just played a close game wire-to-wire against High Point to the tune of an 84-82 loss. Tip off is set for 7:00 at the Buccaneer Fieldhouse.