MORROW, Ga. – Two of the deeper teams in the Southeast Region face off Tuesday evening at 5:30 p.m. when 21st-ranked Carson-Newman, with 10 players averaging double-digit minutes, travels to Barfield Court to play Clayton State who has eight athletes posting at least 10 minutes.
"Clayton is a very good team," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "They are picked high up in the Peach Belt. They have good foot speed. They have good players. They will get after you. They took it to two of our conference opponents the first weekend of the season. I think they will play a lot of people. I think you will see two teams that will get after each other defensively and try to wear each other down. It will be two teams trying to win at the same game plan."
Mincey is one win away from career victory No. 200 on the C-N bench looking to become the third mentor in Mossy Creek history to hit that mark. Eddie Carter is the all-time leader with 250 and Lewis Bivens won 216 contests. In the history of the SAC, four coaches have won 200-plus games with C-N becoming the first program to have two hit that mark when Mincey gets to 200.
Both teams are averaging less than a dozen turnovers per game putting themselves in the top 12 in the country in protecting the ball. Under Mincey, the team is 146-46 when recording fewer turnovers than the opponent versus a 52-46 mark when tallying more. The Lady Eagles are 55-12 in games where they give the ball away 12 or less times.
Mincey's unit has shot 50 percent or better in eight of the last 12 quarters and leads the conference shooting 49 percent from the floor, the 15th-best mark in the country scoring 88 points per game ranking No. 13 nationally. The Orange and Blue are looking for a fourth straight 90-point scoring effort for the first time since a stretch of five, three of which were 100-point nights, from Jan. 17-31, 2018.
Tuesday evening marks the 10th all-time meeting between Carson-Newman (3-1) and Clayton State (4-0) with the Lakers holding onto a 5-4 edge. Four of the outings have been decided by two points or less while three of the contests have come in the NCAA Tournament.
The programs last squared off on Nov. 22, 2019 in Dahlonega, Ga. with the Lakers walking away with a 78-68 victory using a second half where they outscored the No. 20 Lady Eagles 43-30. C-N turned the ball over 18 times leading to 21 points off of giveaways Clayton State made 10 triples on 26 attempts.
Carson-Newman won the last meeting played in Morrow, Ga. winning 65-62 on Dec. 12, 2009. Ashley Kyle scored four of the team's final six points to break a 59-59 tie with a foul shot with 29 seconds remaining on the clock. Shari Buford, 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Zoriah Williams, 14 points and 12 boards, each had a double-double in the win. Both of C-N's win in Morrow, Ga. have been by a single possession while the Lakers have won by 22 and 24.
To begin the year the Lakers have beaten two of the top five preseason picks in the South Atlantic Conference by double digits toppling UVA Wise by 15 and Anderson by 25 in the first weekend of the year. The program is off to a 4-0 start for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign when it opened the year 32-0 racing through the regional tournament by 33, 17 and 22 before losing to Augustana in the Elite Eight.
One of the key calling cards of the team this year is on the defensive end where foes are shooting 33 percent from the field to post 52 points per game with no team shooting above 39 percent and the most points allowed being 58 by Montevallo on Friday. While foes are turning the ball over 22 times per game, the Lakers are turning the ball over 11 times per game, the ninth-best tally per game in the country.
On the offensive end, Clayton State is posting 66 points per game and shooting 39 percent from the field. It has been a balanced attack with three players in double figures led by Timi'a Swanson's 14.8 points per game. The senior has a double-double on the ledger leading the team in steals and blocks coming off of the bench in each of the first four games.
Most of the work is done inside of the arc as the club ranks 226th in three-point percentage at 24 percent and 17th from the bottom in free-throw percentage at 52 percent. Overall the Lakers have made 18 triples with a season-high eight in the win over Anderson. Outside of a 7-for-9 night at the stripe against the Trojans, the unit is making half of its foul shots.
Tune into the broadcast on the Eagle Sports Network starting at 5:15 for "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off" on Mountain Sports 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) with an audio stream available on cneagles.com/live free of charge.
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