JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (1-1) rolls back to Mossy Creek to home the doors to Holt Fieldhouse with a 2 p.m. tip against Southern Wesleyan (0-3), Saturday afternoon.
Carson-Newman has won its home opener in six of the last seven seasons. The Eagles lead the all-time ledger with SWU, 4-1. The teams last met in 2019.
"It starts on our defensive end," Head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "We need to get stops to get into transition to get up the floor fast. We have to play inside and out and play shots like misses to get seconds and thirds."
In a sign that Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson is getting old, Saturday marks the first time in his history as head coach that he will match wits with a coach who previously played against him while Benson was coaching.
SWU mentor Brian Hewitt starred for George Pitts at King and guided the Tornado to two wins, 79-71 and 75-71 in Benson's second season at C-N. Hewitt had 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting in a season-opening decision for King in Harrogate before turning in 14 points and eight boards in a meeting in Holt Fieldhouse to overcome a 27-point night from Ish Sanders.
"If he coaches as well as he plays, we're going to be in trouble," Carson-Newman head coach Chuck Benson said. "He was such a solid player for George Pitts up at King. This is a little bit different. But, that's not the focus. It's about our home opener and putting our best foot forward for things we can control. We're just excited about having a chance to play at home."
Carson-Newman posts Ren Dyer and Bryant Thomas had combined to score two, 20-point games in the first 100 games of their respective C-N careers. They tallied three such performances in the opening weekend of the season.
"They've been committed to our program and institution," Benson said. "Those guys have been here and are taking a greater ownership and burden on themselves to be prime guys. We don't really preach that and want a balance, but I'm glad to see they are capable of doing that."
Carson-Newman has done an exceptional job getting to the free throw line through the opening weekend. C-N ranks sixth in the country in free throws attempted per game (30.0) and fifth nationally in free throws made per game (23.0).
Southern Wesleyan has struggled defensively to start the year. The Warriors rank 285 out of 287 teams in NCAA Division II in scoring defense, giving up 98.3 points per game. The Warriors have given up 100 points in back-to-back games.
North Georgia shot a staggering 75.9 percent from the field in the Nighthawks' 103-81 win over the Warriors. That's the highest single-game total in all of college basketball this young season.
As a results, opponents are shooting a combined 59.1 percent from the field against the Warriors, a figure that ranks 286th nationally. Flagler, Lander and North Georgia have all shot at least 50 percent from the field against SWU.
SWU was picked to finish 11th in the 13-team Conference Carolinas.
The Warriors went 19-10 and 16-7 in Conference Carolinas action in the 2021-22 season. The 16 league wins were the most victories the school has seen since transitioning to Division II. During their 2021-22 campaign, the Warriors were able to defeat fifth-ranked UNC Pembroke, the highest-ranked win in school history.
"I can see it clearly that he worked with Nick Pasqua and played for George Pitts," Benson said. "I went through the same thing a long time ago in what you know is tied to who you played and worked for. Some of our prep has been going back to check some things that he may be privy to as a player with Pitts or as an assistant with Nick."
Tipoff between the Eagles and Warriors 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 Talk 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A paid video stream is available at cneagles.com/flombb.
