The Eagles lead the all-time series 78-28. Carson-Newman took the first meeting between the teams' 73-68 and will look for its first sweep in the series since 2012.
Last season, Tusculum upset C-N 71-64 at Pioneer Arena to snap a 13-game losing streak and beat C-N for the first time in four tries.
This year, the Pioneers have lost 10 straight dating back to a 66-61 win over Brevard on Nov. 25.
Through that stretch, Tusculum has come exceedingly close to victories. The Pioneers lost by three in double overtime to Lenoir-Rhyne while dropping a two-point contest at home to Brevard on a last-second layup.
Unfortunately for the Pioneers, only three teams in the country have worse won/loss records than them. Cheyney and Belmont Abbey are both 1-16. Miles is 0-13.
One of the Pioneers biggest problems on the skid has been turnovers. Tusculum coughs it up 17.7 times per game, which is in the bottom 10 nationally. The Pioneers are dead last in the country in turnover margin at -7.1.
In the first meeting, Carson-Newman had 17 turnovers to the Pioneers' 15. That has been the only game this season where the Pioneers had fewer turnovers than their opponent.
Through their close calls, the Pioneers have seen a resurgent game from guard Javon Price. Price is averaging 22.5 points per game over Tusculum's last five games and has scored at least 24 in four of those contests. Price has averaged 4.8 made threes per game over his latest outburst.
Price isn't the Pioneers only option. Chase Mounce is one of two players in the league to rank in the top five for scoring and rebounds. Mounce is averaging 17.7 boards per game and 7.7 caroms a contest.
Mounce has tallied four double-doubles this season, including a 14-point, 15-rebound effort in the first meeting with the Eagles.
Jared Johnson (Springfield, Mass.) produced the top performance for the Eagles' with a 23-point, five-assist game when the team's collided for the first time.
Sawyer Williams (Owenton, Ky.) was held scoreless in that meeting but has been on a tear of late. Williams is averaging 15.7 points per game over the Eagles' last five contests and has hit 73 percent of his shots over that period.
Williams is coming off his second career double-double with 19 points and a career-high 11 rebounds against Coker Saturday.
Tipoff between the Eagles and Pioneers is set for 8 p.m. Wednesday. Pregame coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 7:45 with the Countdown to Tipoff Powered by the Appalachian Electric Cooperative on Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
