Chuck Benson By the Slice – Catawba Preview

C-N Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (11-6, 8-5 South Atlantic Conference) searches for its first road win in nearly a month when it travels to Salisbury, N.C. for a Saturday matchup with Catawba (5-12, 5-8 SAC).

The Eagles have lost three consecutive on the road (Queens, Tusculum and Anderson most recently 83-81 Wednesday night).  C-N's last win away from Holt Fieldhouse came on Jan. 4 with an 80-72 victory over Wingate. 

The Eagles eked out a 62-60 win over the Indians on Dec. 7. The Eagles led by 13 with 8:49 left in the second half.  

"They had a quality win the other night against Wingate," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "It's a tough place to play and Jim Baker is one of the veterans of this league who will have his players ready to go every game. I'm thankful we've already played them once this year, because this is one of those tough weeks you have to go through because of the long road trip to Anderson."

The Indians feature a potent one-two punch in Tyrece Little and Kijuan Arrington. Arrington averages 16.4 points and 6.1 boards. Little adds 15.1 points and 8.1 rebounds.  He has three career double-doubles against C-N. 

"Tyrece is an all-conference kid, no doubt," Benson said. "Arrington just scares you to death because of his size and his skillset.  That's a great one-two punch and it's certainly not all they have in their arsenal."

Little has rejected nearly two shots a game this year.  He had four in the first meeting with the Eagles. 

"Little will get his blocks even if you try to bring him out away from the basket," Benson said. "He's so long and quick, plus he's got great timing. We have to know it's going to happen and not let us impact us on any level. It would be bizarre for him not to have any blocks in a game."

Antoine Davis (Rustburg, Va.) has been white hot for the Eagles in 2014.  The senior has scored 20 or more in six of the Eagles eight games since the calendar turned over. 

Tipoff Saturday is set for 4 p.m. Pregame coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 3:45 on 106.3 ESPN Radio The Zone (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.