VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (5-4, 4-4 South Atlantic Conference) will take the South Atlantic Conference's top scoring defense to Tex Turner Arena to challenge the league's number one scoring offense in No. 5/2 Lincoln Memorial (12-1, 10-1 SAC) Wednesday evening at 8 p.m.
Carson-Newman allows a league low 66.2 points per game while the Railsplitters pour in 96.8 points per game – a figure that is also second in the country.
"They are high octane offense that is fast," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "It's really marked by their efficient play and their ability to share the ball is second to none. They have multiple shooters and they continue to show a level of consistency that is unmatched."
The Eagles defense has been off to a rollicking start for the 2020-21 season. Carson-Newman has the league's second-best scoring defense - averaging 66.2 points allowed per game, a figure that ranks 24th nationally. Carson-Newman boasts the league's top field goal percentage defense. The Eagles rank 10th nationally in allowing opponents to shoot 39.7 percent from the field. Tusculum is the only team to shoot better than 45 percent on Carson-Newman this season.
Carson-Newman's defense will be tested against the Railsplitters. LMU has the conference's highest scoring offense averaging 96.8 points per game - a figure that is also second nationally. The Railsplitters have scored more than 80 in all but one game this year (a 78-57 win at Coker). Furthermore, LMU has put up triple digits on seven occasions, including four of the last five. All but one of the Railsplitters 12 wins have been decided by at least 20 points with the exception of an 80-62 season-opening 18-point win over Newberry.
"I don't know if there's much noticeably different from years past for them," Benson said. "They take good shots, but they are capable of making difficult shots consistently. Consistency is difficult to find, and they have found it over and over again."
Part of the Eagles defensive standing comes from shot blocking. Car- son-Newman leads the SAC and ranks 12th nationally with 4.1 blocks per game. If the season were to end today, Carson-Newman would set a new school record for average shots blocked per contest. Bryant Thomas has swatted 17 shots this year to rank fourth in the country.
LMU's Devin Whitfield is the SAC's leading scorer and seventh nationally with 22 points per game. After starting the year with four against Coker, Whitfield has scored in double digits in 11 straight games. Monday night against Mars Hill, Whitfield saw a string of 10-straight 20-point efforts come to a close when he scored 14 on 5-fo-8 shooting. He has hit at least four threes in all but two games this year.
"This is a great opportunity for us because it gives us a chance to measure what we try to do, at this point, a top five team in the country," Benson said. "We get to test ourselves again. Since returning from Christmas, I've liked how we have responded to challenges, and am excited to see how we handle this one."
Lincoln Memorial ranks in the top 10 nationally in nine categories: Assists per game (1st - 23.8), field goal percentage (1st - 55.2), scoring offense (2nd - 93.8), defensive rebounds per game (2nd- 32.67) scoring margin (3rd - 27.5), rebound margin (3rd - 11.8), assist to turnover ratio (4th - 1.62), field goal defense (7th - 38.9) and three-point percentage (7th - 42.5).
Carson-Newman is looking to snap a 16-game losing streak to ranked opposition. LMU registers as C-N's last ranked win. The Eagles downed the Railsplitters, then ranked sixth in the country 111-109, on Nov. 12, 2016. Carson-Newman has four wins all-time against top-10 teams with Chuck Benson as head coach, and seven wins all-time under Benson against ranked opposition, third most in the conference behind Josh Schertz at LMU and Bart Lundy at Queens.
Carson-Newman hasn't won in Harrogate since the 2014-15 season when the Eagles took down then No. 1 LMU on Feb. 4, 2015 87-72. The Eagles have lost five straight in Tex Turner Arena since.
Carson-Newman is looking for its first four-game win streak since the start of the 2018-19 season when the Eagles opened the year 5-0. It was Lincoln Memorial who ended the Eagles' 5-0 surge to start that year in Harrogate.
Tipoff between the Eagles and Railsplitters is set for 8 p.m. Wednesday night. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 7:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on The Mountain 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
