Chuck Benson By The Slice – Brevard Preview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (8-4, 5-3 South Atlantic Conference) tries to bounce back from a road loss to Queens with a home contest with Brevard (3-9, 3-5 SAC). The Eagles have won six straight against the Tornados dating back to the 2010 season when BC eliminated the Eagles in the semifinals of the Food Lion SAC Tournament. 

Brevard features the hottest player in the league. Darius Moose is averaging 30 points and 10 rebounds over his last three games en route to earning South Atlantic Conference player of the week honors following a split for the Tornados with a loss to Catawba and a 101-90 home win over Tusculum. 

"They are scary," C-N head coach Chuck Benson said. "Brevard had the Queens team that just beat us down double digits.  Their scheme is very unique.  They run a Princeton style and then they have multiple shooters."

The Tornados have three other players who average double figures (Miles Leathers, Dominique Pickett and Trevon Shaw).  Shaw leads the SAC and is third in the nation in three-point field goal percentage at a 56.7 percent clip. 

"They're tough to defend," Benson said. "We'll have to make some adjustments within our matchup zone to get to spots and contest shots.  They're more versatile this year because of Moose because he can jump up there and put 30 on you. We'll have to score at an efficient rate against Brevard to have a chance." 

The Tornados drain 10.3 treys a game (13^th in the nation).  However, Brevard ranks second to last in the nation in field goal percentage defense (52.9 percent) and three-point field goal defense (42.6 percent). 

"Even with those numbers, their defense is very confusing and confounding," Benson said. "They run a a true match-up zone that can look like a switching man-to-man defense." 

Antoine Davis (Rustburg, Va.) has been particularly stable in his career against BC. The senior averages 22.5 points per game lifetime.  He's turned in two 25-point efforts and a pair of 20-point games against BC. 

Ish Sanders (Cleveland, Tenn.) has inched closer and closer to the South Atlantic Conference career record for most three pointers.  He needs 16 to surpass Kyle Moore's (Tusculum) mark of 307.  With 291 threes, Sanders is the NCAA's active leader for the stat. 

The contest begins a string of three out of four games at home for the Eagles. Tipoff Wednesday with Brevard is set for 8 p.m. Pregame coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 7:45 on 106.3 ESPN Radio The Zone (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.