Eagles Earn 12 Seed, Will Face 5th-Seeded Villanova Friday
Indianapolis, IN – Winthrop men’s basketball earned a 12-seed in the South Region of the 2021 NCAA Tournament and will face 5th-seeded Villanova on Friday, Mar. 19. Tip-off is set for 9:57 p.m. on TNT inside Farmers Coliseum.
The Eagles are coming off a historical season, posting a 23-1 overall record and winning a second-consecutive Big South Championship title. The Eagles 17 Big South Conference wins is a conference record. The Eagles opened the season 16-0, winning 21 consecutive games, dating back to Feb. 27, 2020, which a one time was the longest active streak in the NCAA DI.
Several Eagles took home hardware at the conclusion of the regular season. Chandler Vaudrin was named the Big South Player of the Year and Tournament MVP, while Pat Kelsey took home conference Coach of the Year honors. D.J. Burns Jr. and Charles Falden were named Honorable Mention All-Conference with Kyle Zunic representing the Eagles on the All-Academic team.
This is Winthrop’s 11th NCAA tournament appearance and 12th automatic bid.
The Wildcats won the BIG EAST regular season championship with a 16-6 overall record and were eliminated in the conference tournament on Thursday by eventual champion, Georgetown.
This will be the first meeting between the Eagles and Wildcats and Winthrop’s first matchup with a BIG EAST team since facing Butler in the First Round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
The winner will move on to the Round of 32 on Sunday and play the winner of No. 4 Purdue and No. 13 North Texas. You can hear the Winthrop vs. Villanova game on 104.1 The Bridge & FM 94.3 starting at 9p on Friday night.
