JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (3-4) steps out of South Atlantic Conference play for the final time in 2015-16 for a meeting with the Limestone Saints (1-7) Wednesday at 7 in Holt Fieldhouse.
The Eagles come into the game looking for an antidote to the venom of the turnover bug.
The Eagles rank 296 out of 297 teams in turnover margin (-7.1) and the Eagles have yet to finish a game with fewer turnovers than its opponent.
"We've done out due dillligence and stayed with our normal game-by-game processes," head coach Chuck Benson said. "We've gone over the tapes and made our teaching points. Now it's the need for individual responsibility and having guys let those lessons impact their performance on game night."
However, the crux of the stat comes in converting those turnovers into points. The Eagles are 3-0 when they have more points off turnovers than the opposition and 0-4 when the reverse is true. In its four losses, the Eagles have given up an average of 10.25 more points off turnovers.
"We have a group of guys that are averaging 16-17 turnovers a game," Benson said. "Historically that had been around 11. We've got to figure a way to finish games out with wins in spite of that at this point."
Possibly the best news for the Eagles is that Limestone is dead last in the country in turnovers forced per game (8.13). The Saints are also bottom 20 nationally in steals per game (4.5).
The Saints are 1-3 against South Atlantic Conference competition this season. The win came against Mars Hill 86-82. The Saints lost by 20 to Wingate and have a pair of losses to Coker.
The Saints (leaders in the all-time series 2-1) took a 74-66 win from Carson-Newman in their last visit to Holt Fieldhouse. Antoine Davis had 25 that night for the Eagles while Ish Sanders struggled, going 1-for-11 from beyond the arc to finish with 12 points. The Eagles shot a season low 34.9 percent from the field in what was the sixth worst shooting performance of the Chuck Benson-era.
"I can remember being very frustrated by that game because they made big shots and deep threes and we struggled to find the bucket," Benson said. "We were able to rebound from that loss and play well enough to make the NCAA tournament. There's a lot of mutual respect between these two programs."
The Saints have a trio of double-digit scorers this season. Brolin Floyd leads the way with 13.1 points per game while Shaq Dance and Kenshay Kirksey follow with 12.9 and 11.8, respectively.
Tipoff between the Eagles and Saints is set for 7. Coverage will be available on the Eagle Sports Network at 6:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
