CHARLESTON – The Charleston Southern men's basketball program began Big South Conference play with a 2-0 record for the first time since the 2012-13 season. Their next three opponents include: at Winthrop (Jan. 7), vs High Point (Jan. 10), and vs USC Upstate (Jan. 14).

A brief preview of all three opponents can be found below:

Game #18

Opponent: at Winthrop

Date: January 7th

Time: 6:30 PM

TV: ESPN+

• Last season, when CSU traveled to Rock Hill for a road game at Winthrop, it resulted in one of the most exciting college basketball games of the year – a triple-overtime marathon. Despite 30 points from RJ Johnson and 22 points from Taje' Kelly, the Bucs would fall by five (102-97). A player who scored 23 points for the Buccaneers that night, will be apart of this year's match-up as well, just not in a CSU uniform.

• That player is Daylen Berry. Berry was Winthrop's representative at Big South Media Day last October after being named to the All-Big South Preseason Second-Team. So far through league-play, Berry is only averaging 7.0 points per night on a 1-1 Winthrop team.

• The Eagles are led by the reigning Big South Player of the Week, Logan Duncomb. Through two conference games, Duncomb averages 26.0 points and nearly 12 rebounds – securing two double-doubles against Longwood (Dec. 31) and Gardner-Webb (Jan. 3). 

• Similarly to CSU, Winthrop scores a lot of points and shoots a lot of threes. The Eagles rank 38th nationally in Scoring Offense and 50th in Three-Pointers Per Game. CSU ranks 57th in Scoring Offense and 3rd in Three-Pointers Per Game. A battle between the two high-volume offenses is destined to showcase each program's defensive-strategizing capabilities.

• Winthrop leads the all-time series between the two programs, 57-24.

Game #19

Opponent: vs High Point

Date: January 10th

Time: 2:00 PM

TV: ESPN+

• The preseason favorite to win the Big South will arrive to the Buc Dome on January 10th, the High Point Panthers.

• In terms of efficiency, no teams in the conference rank higher than High Point. The Panthers rank 8th in the country in Scoring Offense (93.9 points per game) and 5th in Field Goal Percentage (52.8%). Defensively, HPU ranks 8th in the nation in Turnovers Forced Per Game (16.9).

• The Panthers representative at Big South Media Day, Owen Aquino hasn't posted the offensively-dominant numbers that some college basketball fans expected, but on a deep High Point roster, those numbers haven't been needed to win. Defensively, Aquino's rim-protecting presence is still evident as the big man had posted a combined 5 total blocks in HPU's first two league-games.

• Cam'ron Fletcher has been the primarily highlighted player on the Panthers' roster this season. The 6'7" graduate student was named to the Lou Henson Early Season Watchlist – only one of two Big South players to make the cut (the other being CSU's Brycen Blaine). Fletcher is averaging 16.5 and nearly 8 rebounds overall this season, including five 20+ point performances.

• The HPU point guard this season is Rob Martin. Martin transferred to High Point from Southeast Missouri State and is the Panthers' second-leading scorer so far this season (13.9 points per game).

• A pair of wing players have contributed heavily for High Point so far during conference play: Terry Anderson, a returner from last year's HPU roster currently averages 20.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in Big South play, while Scotty Washington Jr. averages 14.0 per night. 

• The Panthers are led by Head Coach Flynn Clayman, who is currently in his first year as a Division 1 head coach. Clayman is no stranger to the basketball program at HPU as he served as the Associate Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator for the previous two Panther teams (2023-2025).

• High Point leads the all-time series between the two programs, 28-22.

Game #20

Opponent: vs USC Upstate

Date: January 14th

Time: 7:00 PM

TV: ESPN+

• For the fifth Big South contest of the 2025-26 season, the Bucs will host the USC Upstate Spartans. Starting conference play with two losses has make Upstate's record a bit deceptive. The Spartans have competed with and beaten quality opponents all season: 67-66 Win at Fresno State, 85-78 Win vs Coastal Carolina, and a 78-67 Win vs Western Carolina.

• A perimeter trio of Mason Bendinger (15.6), Karmani Gregory (14.6), and Carmelo Adkins (13.1) lead Upstate in scoring. Bendinger has scored 33 points in Upstate's first two conference games.

• Karmani Gregory, Upstate's representative at Big South Media Day has recorded four 20+ point performances already this season, the most recent coming on December 20th at Youngstown State (26 points).

• The Spartans are led by Head Coach Marty Richter. Richter began his Division 1 head coaching career last season at Upstate and has already surpassed last year's win total.

• Charleston Southern leads the all-time series between the two programs, 14-7.

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