VIDEO: Nick Brenegan Interview
VIDEO: Highlights
VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Simply put, Nick Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.) outscored Newberry by himself.
In one of the all-time great shooting performances in NCAA Division II basketball history, Brenegan poured in 64 points to guide Carson-Newman (10-3, 3-2 SAC) to a 103-51 thrashing of Newberry (2-9, 1-5 SAC) Saturday evening inside Holt Fieldhouse.
"It has not set in," Brenegan said. "It was just one of those days where it felt like I could do anything out there. Credit to my teammates. They knew I was feeling it and shared the ball."
The 64 points reset the Carson-Newman and South Atlantic Conference single-game scoring record held by the Eagles' Charles Clark since 2017. Clark went for 54 against Coker. It marks just the fifth 60-point night in NCAA Division II since 1975 and the 15th if you include Division I. Overall, Brenegan's night is the 15th-highest scoring night in Division II history.
It comes a night after the junior was held to single-digits for the first time all season. He only had seven in Wednesday's loss at Lincoln Memorial, also the first time all season Brenegan, the nation's leader in threes made, didn't hit multiple triples in a game.
"Going into this game, I needed to get stuff back," Brenegan said. "LMU made it tough for me Wednesday. I didn't know if I could do it again. I just trusted the work and this ended up happening."
The bulk of Brenegan's bonkers night came from range. He broke the NCAA Division I and II records for threes made in a game with 18. However, he was stupefyingly efficient, going 18-of-27 from deep. He was 21-of-34 from the field overall and a perfect 4-of-4 at the line.
"What Nick did today, I'm just glad he's on my team," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "He's the kind of guy that everyone respects because of his work ethic. I'm dumbfounded. I truly don't know what to think after seeing that."
Brenegan had 21 points at the break before surging for a massive 40-points in the second half. The 43-point second half breaks Clarks' record for points in a half. Clark had 36 in the second half in second half in his record-setting performance against Coker. Taking Brenegan's second half by itself, he would still have the sixth-highest single-game scoring mark. He made 12 of his 15 three-point shots in the second half. The 12 threes would have been the second-most in a single-game in school history.
"(Newberry head coach) Jason Taylor is one of the best coaches in the country," Benson said. "Every year they are an incredibly challenging team to play. They knew who Nick Brenegan was. And yet, he was still able to find small windows to get the ball off. It truly is unbelievable. When Charles broke Ish's record, Ish showed up at the game. This morning, Charles texted me for the first time in six months saying that commitment pays off. It's unbelievably prescient that this happened."
With 21 made field goals, Brenegan also breaks Mike Ogan's 50-year-old record for shots made in a game, set in 1974 with 19 against Lincoln Memorial. His 34 shots attempted breaks WA Wright's mark of 32 on Jan, 20, 1968 against Georgia Southern.
His 21 made baskets are the most in league history, tied with Denzail Jones' (Anderson against Newberry on March 3, 2012) league mark.
"On every level, the threes, the efficiency, the shot-making, I'm dumbfounded," Benson said. "It is a magical day for our team, for Nick and for our institution."
Brenegan's night overshadowed Carson-Newman's best defensive performance of the season.
The Eagles held Newberry to 25.7 percent shooting for the day and 20.7 percent from three. Carson-Newman owned the glass, outrebounding the Wolves 55-34. The 55 boards are tied for the sixth-most in a game in school history. Newberry missed 55 shots and only had 16 offensive rebounds. Even though C-N shot 50.7 percent from the field, the Eagles' had a 13-9 edge in second chance points.
"We defended poorly at LMU," Brenegan said. "That's what we came into this game with. We wanted to turn around our defensive efforts. This was one of our better defensive performances. Getting stops leads to easy shots, they just happened to go in tonight."
Carson-Newman carried a tenuous 20-17 lead at the under eight media timeout in the first half. The Wolves had rattled off a 10-3 run to erase the majority of an early 10-point Eagle lead.
Then, Carson-Newman realized its spaceship came with fully functional warp speed. Carson-Newman dropped the hammer with a 20-2 run to close the first half. The Eagles would outscore the Wolves 41-8 over the next 12 minutes of game action to build a 36-point lead, 61-25 with 14:39 to go. Newberry made one shot out 15 to close the first half.
"We had some really aggressive conversations the last couple days since the game in Harrogate," Benson said. "We had some hard and fast expectations lined out. They exceeded what I expected of them. We didn't talk about the offense. We just wanted to get our defense right. I'm really happy with what we did defensively today."
Newberry would utilize an 8-0 to trim the deficit inside 30, which seemed to only anger Brenegan. Sitting on a solid 32 points with under 12 minutes to play, Brenegan flipped a switch. He would drill seven threes on the next nine possessions to break the scoring records for C-N and the SAC in the blink of an eye. He had 21 points in four minutes.
Brenegan exited with 2:19 to play to a standing ovation from the Holt Fieldhouse crowd. They, and many of us believed Brenegan had finished with 61. However, Joshuwa Butts, who has never shot a three in his life in a game, was credited with a made triple with 11:20 to go on the game. Upon review of the video, it was indeed Brenegan who drilled that one, giving him 64 for the game.
Carson-Newman dished out 31 assists on 37 made baskets, the third game this season with at least 30 assists.
"We have a great deal of trust in that locker room," Benson said. "Guys know when the ball is moving, we have a better chance to get better scout opportunities. I told the team before the game, that I thought Newberry would defend us a certain way, and if we take 50 threes, so be it. We took 50 threes. And I'll take it."
Aside from Brenegan's 64, John Zhao (Sevierville, Tenn.) and Trey Hubbard (Charlotte, N.C.) both finished in double figures. Zhao had 14, going 4-of-11 from deep. Hubbard produced the first double-double for points and assists since 2019 for C-N with 12 points and 10 assists. He also had seven rebounds, coming within a stone's throw of a triple-double.
James Lovorn led Newberry with 14 points, Caleb Byrd added in 10.
The 52-point margin of victory is Carson-Newman's largest margin of victory ever in a South Atlantic Conference game.
C-N sank 23-of-50 three-point shots to reset the program's single-game record set Dec. 19 against Tennessee Wesleyan.
Carson-Newman is back at home on Wednesday against Emory & Henry. Tipoff with the Wasps is set for 7:30 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 7:15 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Talk 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
