Good luck with that this winter, especially after performances such as the one the junior turned in Monday night at Stu Foster Gym.

Hickey rained down six 3-pointers and accumulated 26 points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals, leading Winthrop to a 70-41 road win over neighboring Monmouth in MVC and Class C South competition.

“Obviously we lost a lot of seniors, so I’m trying to take it to the next level, do a little bit of everything and help my team the best way I can,” Hickey said. “My teammates did a great job of getting me open. They set great screens all night.”

Winthrop (2-0) attacked outside-in, with Hickey and senior big man Anthony Owens serving up a riddle that Monmouth (0-2) couldn’t answer.

Owens finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds for Winthrop, which exploded to leads of 10-0 and 22-5.

“We’re in a fortunate position where we’ve got somebody that can dominate in the paint, and we’ve got someone who can dominate the perimeter,” Winthrop coach Todd MacArthur said. “Combining the both of them, we feel that we can be a complete team that’s tough to defend.”

Hunter Richardson led Monmouth with 12 points, eight rebounds and five steals.

The Mustangs’ first eight possessions ended with four misses and four turnovers. Scurrying its way through the Ramblers’ furious full-court pressure much of the evening, Monmouth shot 4-for-21 from the field in the first half and 14-for-45 (31 percent) overall.

“It seemed like every possession they put one in and we didn’t. It was a tough start,” Monmouth coach Lucas Turner said. “They take you out of your half-court set. We were going to the rim a little out of control, missing layups and free throws.”

And beginning with his first 3-ball of the night, 55 seconds in, Hickey was can’t-miss. He capped the first quarter with another deep 3-pointer for a 19-5 lead.

Hickey took on more of a supporting role in the second quarter, finding Owens and Derek McLaughlin for baskets to keep the lead at 28-14 going into the halftime huddle.

“He is a very team-oriented guy who cares about his teammates and cares about winning more than himself,” MacArthur said. “The last two years he probably could have done some of this, but he had a group ahead of him that was pretty talented, so he kind of took a back seat to them. I’m just happy that he’s able to showcase the work he’s put in.”

Monmouth still lurked within a baker’s dozen when Hickey found Spencer Steele on a backdoor cut for a 34-19 advantage with 5:18 left in the third.

“That’s been the surprising thing is his ability to see the floor,” MacArthur said. “We’ve had that conversation that now that you’re getting the attention, it opens others up. He’s doing a good job of finding the open man, and when he does that, he’s even tougher to defend.”

Hickey had eight points down the stretch in that period, applying the exclamation point with a 3-pointer at the horn for a 46-25 cushion.

“We started with a junk defense against him, and I think if we’d had a different start offensively we would have stuck with it,” Turner said. “We had a guy chasing Hickey all night and he was still making shots. That one at the end of the third was kind of the dagger.”

Winthrop was efficient at both ends of the floor. Owens went 7-for-8 from the free throw line and drew two of the five offensive fouls against Monmouth. Bennett Brooks, Andrew Pazdziorko and Garrett Tsouprake also threw their bodies in harm’s way to force turnovers.

Owens is the lone senior starter.

“He’s a great post player. He takes up so much space, not only his size but his moves. He can create his own shot, and it really helps our team out,” Hickey said. “Third grade to now, we’ve all played together, so we know what each other’s strengths and weaknesses are and what we can do to be successful.”

Travis Hartford scored nine points and Luke Thombs added seven for the Mustangs, who committed 25 turnovers.

“We’re still trying to find our way with this group,” Turner said. “We’re bringing back six guys, but it’s a different role for everybody.”

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