USC Upstate vs Winthrop Prediction College Basketball Picks 1/2/25

The USC Upstate Spartans and the Winthrop Eagles meet Thursday in college basketball action from Winthrop Coliseum. Here’s a USC Upstate vs Winthrop prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best USC Upstate vs Winthrop pick. We will examine:

The USC Upstate Spartans’ recent form and player performance

The Winthrop Eagles’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the USC Upstate Spartans

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Winthrop Eagles

Recent betting trends in games played between USC Upstate and Winthrop

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the USC Upstate vs Winthrop game

USC Upstate Spartans Betting Preview

The Spartans got off to a miserable start this year, hitting a 2-8 run across their first 10 outings. The wins in that time were over Piedmont and Southern Wesleyan. Otherwise, it was losses to NC State, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, UNC Wilmington, East Tennessee State, Queens University, Iowa, and Coastal Carolina. After wins versus Brevard and Western Carolina, USC Upstate has since lost to South Carolina, South Carolina State, and Youngstown State over the last three outings.

Way back on December 21 in their last appearance versus Youngstown State, the Spartans came out of halftime sporting a 27-23 deficit. USC Upstate didn’t end up getting any closer than that on a 45-41 second, eventually falling 72-64. Leading the team in scoring was Mister Dean with 23 points, four assists, and seven rebounds. Also in double-figures was Breylin Garcia on 16 points and six boards.

Winthrop Eagles Betting Preview

Over on the Winthrop side, they opened up on a shaky run themselves, losing three of their first seven games. The wins at that time were over Piedmont, Little Rock, William & Mary, and North Carolina Central. Otherwise, it was losses to Virginia Tech, Georgia Southern, and Louisville. The Eagles took out Long Island U, Averett, Queens U, Coastal Carolina, and Bob Jones in the next five, then hit a 1-2 run with losses to Florida State and Indiana around a win over Mercer.

On Sunday in the matchup with Indiana, the Eagles held a 41-37 deficit going into the second half. Winthrop was outscored 36-31 the rest of the way and ended up falling by nine points 77-68. All five starters finished in double-figures, including 14 options and 12 boards for KJ Doucet. Kasen Harrison also had 14 points with four assists and three steals. Kelton Talford added 13 points with three rebounds as well.

Why the Winthrop Eagles will win

• Winthrop has won each of its last six games at Winthrop Coliseum.
• USC Upstate has lost 28 of its last 31 away games when playing with a rest advantage.
• USC Upstate has lost the first half in nine of its last 10 road games.

Why the USC Upstate Spartans will win

• Winthrop has lost six of its last seven day games against Conference opponents.
• USC Upstate has won the first half in four of its last five games against Conference opponents.

USC Upstate vs Winthrop Prediction

I’ll stay with Winthrop here. The Eagles played a pretty good game versus a talented Indiana squad in their last outing, all things considered. Winthrop didn’t shoot especially well (37.5 percent) and had 11 turnovers for 19 Hoosiers points, not to mention the six of 20 missed free throws (70 percent). Indiana also shot pretty miserably from both the 3-point range (1-of-20 for five percent) and the line (16-of-24 for 66.7 percent), so that helped cosmetically.

In any case, Winthrop has a couple of sub-69-point scoring duds in their last three games versus Indiana and Florida State. Otherwise, it’s been a great scoring run, with 86 or more points in each of the last six wins.

As for USC Upstate, there’s not a whole lot to be optimistic about. The Spartans couldn’t keep pace with a decent Youngstown State team in their last outing, eventually shooting just 35.8 percent from the field and a disastrous 1-of-18 (5.6 percent) from outside. The 16 turnovers for 14 Penguins points didn’t help, but USC Upstate did well on the boards with a 41-40 advantage.

The Spartans aren’t scoring too badly this year. They’ve got 70 or more points in six of the last nine games. That said, USC Upstate is also giving up a truckload of points on the other side. They’ve surrendered 72 or more in every loss this year (11 of them). I don’t see that changing here.

Andrew Jett's Pick: Winthrop Eagles -15.5