VIDEO: Catawba First Meeting Highlights
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (9-5, 8-5 South Atlantic Conference) will try for its first season sweep of Catawba (4-8, 4-8 SAC) in three years when the Eagles square off with the Indians for a second time in seven days Saturday at 4 p.m. at Goodman Gym.
"Obviously we have to do these kind of things because of scheduling conflicts and CoVID protocols," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "Ironically, it's sort of nice to play a team so quickly. We have a recent game and a level of familiarity. Our scout from last Saturday is still fresh on our minds, and hopefully that benefits us."
The Eagles have won four straight and seven of their last eight in fine fashion. In those seven wins, Carson-Newman has outscored its opposition by 22.9 points per game. The Eagles are shooting 54.4 percent from the field and 44.8 percent from three while holding foes to 36.7 percent shooting from the field and 30 percent shooting from long range. Foes are averaging 60.4 points per game against Carson-Newman in that stretch.
Carson-Newman is trying to sweep the season series with Catawba for the first time since the 2017-18 season. That also marks the last time the Eagles picked up a win in Goodman Gym.
Carson-Newman is also trying for back-to-back road wins for the first time since the start of the 2018-19 season when the Eagles beat Southern Wesleyan (67-50) and King (87-86). The Eagles haven't won back-to-back league road contests since February 2018. The Eagles downed Lenoir-Rhyne in overtime in Hickory 89-79 before traveling to Salisbury and taking a 104-89 decision from the Indians.
After a remarkably tight stretch of nine games from 2013-2017 that saw neither team win by more than seven points, the last seven meetings between the Eagles and Indians have been blowouts. Catawba has a 4-3 edge in the series over the last seven that has seen the average margin of victory dip below 10 just once. The winning team has triumphed by an average 16 points per game over the last four years.
Carson-Newman has the league's top scoring defense - averaging 65.1 points allowed per game, a figure that ranks 20th nationally. Carson-Newman boasts the league's best field goal percentage defense - opponents shoot 38.7 percent from the field, a figure that also is seventh nationally. Carson-Newman has held seven of its last 10 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 and Grand Valley State in defensive field goal percentage among teams nationally that have played 10 or more games.
Part of the Eagles defensive standing comes from shot blocking. Carson-Newman leads the SAC and ranks 11th nationally with 4.2 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 25 shots this year to rank second in the country.
Catawba has the dubious distinction of being bottom in the league in three-point defense and third worst nationally. Opponents have shot 42.4 percent from long distance against the Indians. Eight of 12 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.
Catawba has lost three straight on the road, but return to Goodman Gym for the first time since Feb. 1 where they downed Coker 85-79 in OT. The Indians are 2-2 at home this season.
Tipoff between the Eagles and Indians from Goodman Gym is set for 4:00 p.m. Saturday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts 15 minutes prior to game time with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on The Mountain 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
