JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (7-5, 6-5 South Atlantic Conference) will attempt to finish off a three-game stretch of home games in style when the Catawba College Catawba Indians (4-5, 4-5 SAC) arrives in Holt Fieldhouse for a 4 p.m. tip Saturday.
The Eagles have been white-hot of late, downing Limestone and Anderson in succession by 36 points each on Monday and Wednesday night. Carson-Newman has won five of its last six all by double-digits.
"We've had a level of consistency," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "Anytime you start rotating players in and out, the quality of that second groups play has the greatest impact on our ability to sustain runs. If we can continue to see the continued evolution of Tyler Bowens, Joshuwa Butts and Camden McElhaney – all three true freshman – that will only continue to add value for us."
Carson-Newman has won five straight games at home. The last time the Eagles won four straight, they didn't lose at home for a year, winning 15 straight at home from Jan. 18, 2017 to Jan. 17, 2018.
In the unlikely event that Carson-Newman were to defeat Catawba by 30 or more points, it would mark the first time in the NCAA era and the second time in program history that Carson-Newman won three straight games by at least 30 points. The 1972-73 team downed Emory & Henry (46), Tusculum (36), Lincoln Memorial (47) and Tennessee Wesleyan (30) in succession.
Carson-Newman has the league's top scoring defense - averaging 65.0 points allowed per game, a figure that ranks 16th nationally. Carson-Newman boasts the league's best field goal percentage defense - opponents shoot 38.7 percent from the field. Carson-Newman has held six of its last eight foes to below 40 percent shooting. Tusculum has been the only team to shoot better than 45 percent from the field on the Eagles.
If one were to take into account that some teams don't have large sample sizes of games, Carson-Newman's defense looks even more impressive. The Eagles trail only Colorado School of Mines in defensive field goal percentage among teams nationally that have played 10 or more games. The same is true for scoring defense. Carson-Newman is seventh in the country among teams who have seen the floor at least 10 times.
Part of the Eagles defensive standing comes from shot blocking. Carson-Newman leads the SAC and ranks 6th nationally with 4.5 blocks per game. If the season were to end today, Carson-Newman would set a new school record for average shots blocked per contest. Bryant Thomas has swatted 24 shots this year to rank second in the country.
"There's no doubt that Bryant and are posts do a good job of protecting the paint," Benson said. "That's definitely a cog of our defense. I think our guards and forwards on the outside are doing a good job of funneling the ball in certain directions. That one-two punch works well with this particular team."
Catawba is looking to extend a win streak in the series to five-games for the first time in more than a decade. The Indians won a series best seven-games in a row from 2008-11. That was part of an eight-year run dominated by the Indians with two seperate seven-game win streaks. Catawba won 14 of 15 meetings from 2003-11.
Prior to the Indians sweep of the last two season series, the Eagles had won seven out of 10 meetings.
"Pound for pound, they have the best roster in our conference," Benson said. "They are going to pass the look test. They have so much talent, size and athleticism. They have talented players and a scheme that is proven to get the job done. We go in focusing more on ourselves."
Catawba has the dubious distinction of being bottom in the league in three-point defense and 13th worst nationally. Opponents have shot 41.1 percent from long distance against the Indians. Seven of 10 foes have buried double-digit threes against the Indians. Wingate and Lincoln Memorial both knocked down 18 triples against Catawba. The 18 threes made by Wingate and LMU are the sixth most in a Division II game this year.
Tipoff between the Eagles and Indians is set for 4 p.m. Saturday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts 15 minutes prior to gametime with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on The Mountain 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
