JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (16-12) hits the road to open up conference tournament play for the first time in four years when it takes the floor at Cuddy Arena for a first-round date with Wingate (20-8) Wednesday night at 8.
The Eagles are the sixth seed. The Bulldogs are the three. Carson-Newman is the defending South Atlantic Conference tournament champion. The Eagles have never won back-to-back tournament crowns.
"We've won more than we've lost on the road in conference this season," head coach Chuck Benson said. "Prior to this year, we'd won three years in a row at Wingate. Our kids know how to play on the road and know how to do their jobs regardless of the venue."
Carson-Newman will look to end a seven-game losing streak for six seeds in the opening round of the SAC tournament. Carson-Newman was actually the last three seed that fell victim to a six when Mars Hill beat the Eagles 78-76 in 2008. The Eagles are 1-3 all-time as a six seed, picking up an 89-74 win over Gardner-Webb in the first round in 1996.
The matchup with the third-seeded Bulldogs marks the first time in three seasons that the Eagles have been on the road for the quarterfinals. The last time it happened, the Eagles made the trek to Cuddy Arena as a six seed in 2012 and fell to the Bulldogs 58-51 en route to Wingate winning the first of back-to-back SAC tournament titles. The Eagles are 3-2 all-time against the Bulldogs in the SAC tournament.
Sawyer Williams (Owenton, Ky.) is nine points away from becoming the 23rd member into Carson-Newman's 1,000-point club. Carson Brooks (Knoxville, Temm.) joined the group earlier this season and now sits at 1,209 career points. Charles Clark (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) is also on the cusp of joining the group as a sophomore, however, the Eagles will need a deep tournament run for him to get it. Clark needs 71 points, sitting at 929.
The Bulldogs have been a thorn in Carson-Newman's offensive side this season. The Eagles haven't cracked 60 on the league's top scoring defense. The conference's second leading scorer Clark has been held to 10 in both meetings, his two lowest point totals of the year.
"Brian Good's teams are always tough defensively," Benson said. "They do a great job controlling the tempo of the game, which makes possessions more valuable. We'll make some adjustments based on what happened in the previous two games to give us a better opportunity to compete."
On top of that, Carson-Newman is a whopping 2-for-28 from beyond the arc against the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs also held Carson-Newman under 40 percent shooting in both games, at 37.9 percent and 38.0 percent their second and third worst shooting nights for the Eagles this season.
Granted, Wingate is arguably the league's finest defensive team. The Bulldogs are tops in the conference in points allowed (71.8). They also rank first in the league and top 15 in the country in blocks with 5.1 a game.
Benson indicated that the two Griffins, guard Xavier and forward Keith (unrelated) are the main two challenges that Wingate's defense provides.
"Xavier's done a great job on Charles and containing him and keeping him in front," Benson said. "Keith has then made things really difficult at the rim, limiting clean looks for Sawyer and Carson. They are the defensive book ends for their scheme and they'll be fired up to get the job done."
Tipoff from Cuddy Arena is set for 8 p.m. Coverage of the game will be available on the Eagle Sports Network. The pregame show will begin with a web-only broadcast on cneagles.com/live with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff 15 minutes before the game is to begin. The game will be joined in progress at the conclusion of the women's basketball quarterfinal matchup at Newberry on Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville).
