ROCK HILL, S.C. – Hitting the court for the first time in the new year as Big South Conference play opened Thursday, USC Upstate men's basketball battled in its league opener, eventually falling to Winthrop in a 95-76 decision at the Winthrop Coliseum.
 
Heading a group of four double-figure scorers for the Spartans, freshman guard Mister Dean dropped a team-best 17 points. He finished the evening shooting 58.3 percent from the field, hitting 7-of-12 attempts as he posted a field goal percentage greater than 50.0 percent for the third straight contest.
 
Joining Dean in double-figures were freshman guard Carmelo Adkins, redshirt junior guard Andrew McConnell, and redshirt junior guard Isaiah Skinner who poured in 14, 11, and 11 points, respectively. Skinner's 11 points mark a career-high while freshman forward Nic Book tied his career-high with a team-best nine rebounds.
 
Game Information
Score: Winthrop 95; USC Upstate 76
Records: USC Upstate (4-12; 0-1 Big South); Winthrop (11-5; 1-0 Big South)
Location: Winthrop Coliseum | Rock Hill, S.C.
 
How It Happened
First Half

• Jumping out to an early lead, Winthrop took the opening tip, turning it into a three to open the day's scoring. The Eagles answered a Brit Harris layup with an 8-2 scoring stretch, growing their advantage with the lone Spartan basket in the stretch coming via a dunk from Mister Dean. Winthrop upped its lead to eight—the largest of the half—into the under-16 stoppage.
• Answering the Eagles' largest lead, Upstate embarked on its first extended scoring stretch, flipping the contest's momentum with a 7-0 run. Flipping the lead to eight—the Spartans' largest of the day—the Spartans followed a Winthrop dunk with 11 straight markers, crafting an 18-2 scoring stretch.
• Seeing the pace of the contest slow and transform, neither side permitted a long scoring run heading toward the under-eight media stoppage, seeing no stretch greater than five points. The Spartans countered a 5-0 scoring spurt from the Eagles with one of their own before Dean sent home another slam to snap a 4-0 stretch from Winthrop into the stoppage.
• Holding Upstate without a field goal for nearly eight minutes of action, Winthrop regained the lead behind a 13-3 scoring stretch with Upstate's lone markers coming from the charity stripe. Into the final minute, Isaiah Skinner buried five attempts from the line, keeping things close before Nic Book stuck a put-back at the buzzer to cut the disadvantage to two into the locker room.

 
Second Half

• Fighting its way back and adding to Book's put-back to end the first half, Dean knotted the game with a pair of free throws. The two sides kept things close, answering one another's field goals before Upstate scored four straight markers to regain the lead. Following a Winthrop layup, Skinner knocked down a three to put the Spartans up two.
• Turning the tide, the Eagles retook the lead behind an 8-2 scoring stretch as Andrew McConnell snapped the run with a jumper inside the lane. Started by an and-one conversion from Carmelo Adkins, Upstate offered its own 8-2 scoring stretch, retaking the advantage as Adkins scored six of the eight in the run.
• After seeing Upstate take the lead with 9:17 to play, Winthrop fashioned the game's longest scoring run, reeling off 25 unanswered points. Dean snapped the run for the Spartans scoring seven straight points in a personal scoring run.

 
Notable

• Hitting 10 three-pointers Thursday afternoon, Upstate secured its fourth game of the 2024-25 season knocking down 10 or more threes. The Spartans' 10 threes—six makes coming in the opening half—surpass its total makes from its prior four contests (nine) since making nine treys against Brevard on Dec. 4, 2024.

 
Up Next for the Spartans
Continuing Big South play, USC Upstate returns to action Wednesday following the team's first bye of conference play. The Spartans face Presbyterian in the team's first league home contest with tip-off set for 7 p.m. ET.
 
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