VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (4-4, 1-1 South Atlantic Conference) pops back into South Atlantic Conference action with a jaunt over to the Palmetto State to face Anderson (3-3, 0-2 SAC) in the Electric City at 4 p.m.
Carson-Newman is looking to win a ninth consecutive game against the Trojans. Something that neither team has done in the series' history. The Eagles' current eight-game winning streak is C-N's second longest active win streak against a SAC foe (C-N has won nine straight against Coker).
Doing that will be no easy task. Anderson spent the first month, and first six games of the year on the road. The Trojans open the doors to the Abney Center where they won 11 games last year. Anderson is 9-4 in its last 13 home openers. The Trojans have won back-to-back home openers.
"I am hoping we can take some of the things we've discovered about ourselves on the road with us, I think they travel well," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "Every game moving forward has critical importance because it's conference play. We've really impressed upon them that Anderson's feel for home games is one of the best in the conference."
Carson-Newman has topped 90 points in five of its first eight games. The Eagles rank 11th nationally with 93.5 points per game. It's the first time C-N has been this prolific scoring so early in the season since the start of the 2008-09 campaign. That team cracked 90 in six of its first eight games and seven of its first nine.
Part of the Eagles prodigious scoring efforts has come from their pace of play and their ability to rebound. The Eagles are second nationally with 46.88 rebounds per game. C-N has snagged at least 40 rebounds in every game this year with the exception of 38 against Wingate. The Eagles are +9.5 on the glass this year, top 20 nationally. Anderson has been outrebounded by 23 twice this year, in tight losses to both Lander and Queens. Carson-Newman enters the game after posting the fourth most rebounds in school history with a 57-board effort against Warren Wilson.
Carson-Newman has been dynamite on the offensive glass as well. The Eagles are are averaging 15.75 offensive boards per game, which ranks fifth in the country. The Eagles are +40 in second chance points on the year. They've outscored their last four foes in second chance points.
For the second time this year, Carson-Newman will face off against one of the country's 10 best scorers. Quin Nottingham averages 25 points per game to lead the SAC and rank eighth nationally. He has scored at least 20 points in all but one game for Anderson this season. Nottingham topped out at 34 points on 13-of-19 shooting in a 90-75 win at Flagler. King's Jordan Floyd is the other top-10 scorer C-N has seen. He had 32 against C-N.
"They're very different," Benson said. "Floyd is a little bigger and can lift up from NBA range to set the rest of his game up off of that. Nottingham can shoot the three, but he does a great job of attacking the rim at 6-0, 180 and is just tough. He has great lift and release on his shot and is in a situation where he is allowed to be successful. There's no doubt we have to have a good countermeasure to that with our defense."
It's not just Nottingham doing the heavy lifting for the Trojans. Shawn Benard and Josh Livingston follow to add 17.7 and 16.0 ppg, respectively. The trio is combining to average 74.7 percent of the Trojans scoring on a nightly basis.
"One big time scorer is enough of a challenge, three is a different beast," Benson said. "Those three guys are top 15 in scoring in the league. We know who is who and what we have to do against them. The flip of that is if we don't put points on the board too. We can do a great job defensively, but if we don't capitalize and score, then that's all for naught."
Livingston is the second best defensive rebounder in the SAC, averaging 7.0 defensive boards per game. He ranks 36th nationally in the stat.
Tipoff between the Eagles and Trojans is set for 4 p.m. Saturday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 3:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on The Mountain 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
