JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (14-8, 11-7 South Atlantic Conference) will take the conference's top scoring defense into a major matchup with the league's number two scoring offense and league-leading No. 17/11 Queens (19-3, 15-3 SAC) Saturday at 2 p.m. in Curry Arena.
Carson-Newman's last win against a ranked team came in Curry Arena when the Eagles collected an 88-79 win on March 7, 2021 over the then No. 17/16 Royals for the SAC tournament championship crown. Carson-Newman is 0-2 against ranked foes this season and 0-1 away from Holt.
"Both teams have got proven veteran players," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "One of the biggest differences between us is the availability portion. They've dodge both the CoVID bullet and the injury bomb. We've not been as fortunate. Even with that, I anticipate we'll have another extreme battle on our hands."
Queens is the best rebounding team in the South Atlantic Conference. The Royals have collected 909 rebounds this season and rank fourth in the country. The Royals lead the league with a +8.0-rebound margin. Carson-Newman and the Royals were even on the boards on Nov. 20, Wingate has been the only team to outrebound Queens, doing so on Dec. 15. The Royals haven't been outrebounded in the 2022 calendar year.
Jamari Smith has been a man possessed in 2022. The Bevo Francis Watch List member has turned in nine straight double-digit scoring nights with five double-doubles in that stretch. The All-SAC performer has five, 20-point games in his last 12 outings, including a 28-point night in a win over Lincoln Memorial in Curry Arena.
"This is his third year in the league, and he's always had a high talent ceiling," Benson said. "He's found a new level of performance this season and there's been a level of consistency to that."
Kenny Dye has been elite at distributing for Queens. The All-SAC guard ranks 10th in the country in assists with 115. Dye is second in the SAC for assists. He has handed out five helpers on 12 occasions and turned in double-digit assists against both Johnson & Wales and Anderson.
Smith nailed a kick-out three off an offensive rebound to beat the buzzer and give No. 16/7 Queens an 83-81 win over Carson-Newman back on Nov. 20.
Nine ties and 15 lead changes highlighted a see-saw battle and early heavy-weight prize fight between the teams picked one and two in the preseason SAC poll in a rematch of last year's SAC title game that C-N won in Charlotte.
The three by Smith was just the third make from long-distance for the All-SAC selection on the year. The buzzer-beater three is the fourth Carson-Newman has suffered in the last 10 years. Quin Nottingham drilled a 75-footer to power Anderson past the Eagles in 2020, Emarius Logan hit a three from the head of the key for Wingate in 2019 and Denzail Jones sniped on from long range in 2013 at Anderson.
Bryant Thomas is once again among the best in the nation at rejecting shots. He is ninth nationally with 47 blocks and 17th in the country with 2.16 re-directs per game. Thomas is the league leader in both categories.
Carson-Newman has the country's 10th best shot-blocking team with 91 total rejections. The Eagles lead the league for the category. Carson-Newman's 10-rejection day against Newberry is one of 32 double-digit rejection days in Division II this year.
Tripp Davis is fifth in the country in total steals with 53 and seventh in steals per game with 2.79. Davis is in the top 15 for steals in a single season at Carson-Newman. Davis has 144 steals for his career, He moved past Braun Dabbs with a six-steal day against Wingate and now has sole possession of sixth on the career steal chart. He needs four more to catch Andrew Johnson (2005-09) for fifth and his 148 steals.
Tipoff between the Eagles and Royals is set for 2 p.m. Saturday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 1:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Sports 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
