# 2016–17 Winthrop Eagles men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Winthrop Eagles men's basketball team represented Winthrop University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by fifth-year head coach Pat Kelsey, played their home games at the Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, South Carolina as members of the Big South Conference. They finished the season 26–7, 15–3 in Big South play to finish in a tie for the regular season Big South championship. As the No. 1 seed in the Big South tournament, they defeated Charleston Southern, Gardner–Webb, and Campbell to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, their first bid since 2010. In the NCAA Tournament, they lost in the first round to Butler.
After the season, head coach Pat Kelsey initially left Winthrop on March 21, 2017 to take the head coaching job at UMass, but backed out 2 days later for personal reasons and returned to the program.

## Previous season

The Eagles finished the 2015–16 season 23–9, 13–5 in Big South play to win a share of the regular season conference championship. They defeated Presbyterian and Gardner–Webb to advance to the championship game of the Big South tournament where they lost to UNC Asheville. Despite the regular season conference title and 23 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/12/2016* 4:00 pm | | Ferrum Homecoming | W 66–47 | 1–0 | Winthrop Coliseum (2,501) Rock Hill, SC |
| 11/15/2016* 8:45 am, ESPN2 | | at Manhattan NIT Season Tip-Off | W 94–81 | 2–0 | Draddy Gymnasium (1,051) Riverdale, NY |
| 11/18/2016* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at Florida State NIT Season Tip-Off | L 86–100 | 2–1 | Donald L. Tucker Center (5,197) Tallahassee, FL |
| 11/21/2016* 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Illinois NIT Season Tip-Off | W 84–80 $^{OT}$ | 3–1 | State Farm Center (9,502) Champaign, IL |
| 11/27/2016* 2:00 pm | | New Hampshire NIT Season Tip-Off | L 60–65 | 3–2 | Winthrop Coliseum (922) Rock Hill, SC |
| 11/30/2016* 6:30 pm | | Furman | W 58–57 | 4–2 | Winthrop Coliseum (1,441) Rock Hill, SC |
| 12/03/2016* 2:00 pm | | at Dayton | L 67–83 | 4–3 | UD Arena (12,708) Dayton, OH |
| 12/06/2016* 6:30 pm | | Greensboro College | W 106–63 | 5–3 | Winthrop Coliseum (916) Rock Hill, SC |
| 12/17/2016* 2:00 pm | | at Hampton | W 86–79 | 6–3 | Hampton Convocation Center (6,426) Hampton, VA |
| 12/20/2016* 11:30 am | | Georgia Southern | W 86–84 | 7–3 | Winthrop Coliseum (2,534) Rock Hill, SC |
| 12/22/2016* 8:00 pm, FSMW+ | | at Saint Louis | W 66–55 | 8–3 | Chaifetz Arena (5,345) St. Louis, MO |
| 12/29/2016 7:30 pm | | at Charleston Southern | W 84–68 | 9–3 (1–0) | CSU Field House (665) North Charleston, SC |
| 12/31/2016 12:00 pm | | Radford | L 80–82 | 9–4 (1–1) | Winthrop Coliseum (1,199) Rock Hill, SC |
| 01/04/2017 7:00 pm | | at High Point | W 80–74 | 10–4 (2–1) | Millis Athletic Center (1,127) High Point, NC |
| 01/07/2017 4:00 pm | | Longwood | W 83–65 | 11–4 (3–1) | Winthrop Coliseum (1,155) Rock Hill, SC |
| 01/11/2017 6:30 pm | | Presbyterian | W 75–52 | 12–4 (4–1) | Winthrop Coliseum (1,257) Rock Hill, SC |
| 01/14/2017 6:30 pm | | at Campbell | W 72–63 | 13–4 (5–1) | Gore Arena (2,283) Buies Creek, NC |
| 01/19/2017 6:30 pm | | UNC Asheville | W 76–73 | 14–4 (6–1) | Winthrop Coliseum (3,215) Rock Hill, SC |
| 01/21/2017 7:00 pm | | at Liberty | W 61–48 | 15–4 (7–1) | Vines Center (4,158) Lynchburg, VA |
| 01/23/2017* 6:30 pm | | Pfeiffer Canceled (mutual agreement between schools) | | | Winthrop Coliseum Rock Hill, SC |
| 01/26/2017 7:00 pm | | at Gardner–Webb | W 72–70 | 16–4 (8–1) | Paul Porter Arena (1,781) Boiling Springs, NC |
| 01/28/2017 2:00 pm | | High Point | L 80–83 $^{OT}$ | 16–5 (8–2) | Winthrop Coliseum (2,255) Rock Hill, SC |
| 02/01/2017 7:00 pm | | at Radford | W 81–65 | 17–5 (9–2) | Dedmon Center (1,131) Radford, VA |
| 02/04/2017 2:00 pm | | Campbell | W 76–62 | 18–5 (10–2) | Winthrop Coliseum (2,481) Rock Hill, SC |
| 02/09/2017 7:00 pm | | at UNC Asheville | L 101–104 $^{2OT}$ | 18–6 (10–3) | Kimmel Arena (2,732) Asheville, NC |
| 02/11/2017 2:00 pm | | Gardner–Webb | W 77–71 | 19–6 (11–3) | Winthrop Coliseum (1,567) Rock Hill, SC |
| 02/15/2017 7:00 pm | | at Longwood | W 83–63 | 20–6 (12–3) | Willett Hall (1,011) Farmville, VA |
| 02/18/2017 2:00 pm | | Liberty | W 84–67 | 21–6 (13–3) | Winthrop Coliseum (2,258) Rock Hill, SC |
| 02/23/2017 6:30 pm | | Charleston Southern | W 86–72 | 22–6 (14–3) | Winthrop Coliseum (1,969) Rock Hill, SC |
| 02/25/2017 4:30 pm | | at Presbyterian | W 93–56 | 23–6 (15–3) | Templeton Center (431) Clinton, SC |
| Big South tournament ||||||
| 03/02/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | (1) | (8) Charleston Southern Quarterfinals | W 92–78 | 24–6 | Winthrop Coliseum (2,556) Rock Hill, SC |
| 03/03/2017 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | (1) | (4) Gardner–Webb Semifinals | W 80–77 $^{OT}$ | 25–6 | Winthrop Coliseum (3,008) Rock Hill, SC |
| 03/05/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN | (1) | (7) Campbell Championship | W 76–59 | 26–6 | Winthrop Coliseum (5,109) Rock Hill, SC |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 16, 2017* 1:30 pm, TNT | (13 S) | vs. (4 S) No. 21 Butler First Round | L 64–76 | 26–7 | BMO Harris Bradley Center (18,025) Milwaukee, WI |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South Region Source. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||