VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After five straight games against Tusculum (12-6, 12-4 South Atlantic Conference) away from Holt Fieldhouse, Carson-Newman (14-7, 11-6 SAC) at long last gets a crack at its rivals on 11-E inside its home gym after 749 days.
Tipoff between the Eagles and Pioneers is set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
This is Carson-Newman's second home game against Tusculum this decade. Through a combination of CoVID scheduling, tournaments, etc, Carson-Newman hasn't played Tusculum at home since Jan. 15, 2020 - A 72-68 win over the Pioneers. Carson-Newman has played five straight games against Tusculum away from Holt Fieldhouse.
"A big crowd can be a difference maker for us," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "We've not had them here in our gym in a while. We've gotten used to taking some stuff from their fans on the road. We'd be much appreciated if we had a lot of fans out here having a good time enjoying themselves in whatever fashion they want to enjoy it."
Carson-Newman is looking to win a 10th consecutive home game. The Eagles haven't dropped a home game since losing on a Jamari Smith buzzer beater to Queens 83-81 on Nov. 20.
Carson-Newman has held back-to-back foes in Holt Fieldhouse to under 50 points. Carson-Newman has held as many foes under 50 in the last two weeks as it had in the previous 16 years combined. Since the turn of the century, prior to the back-to-back games against Coker and Newberry, C-N had held five teams under 50. The program has produced 61 performances all-time where its limited a foe below 50 points. Of those 61 games, 40 came prior to the 1980s.
"There are so many factors that play into our defense," Benson said. "We ask for this type of performance every night. However, who you play, how they're playing, the style of play, how many fouls there are go into it. Our guys know what we try to control. It starts with transition and ends with rebounding."
C-N has been a strong second-half team over the last half a month. Carson-Newman hasn't had a lead at the halftime break since Jan. 12 at Catawba. The Eagles either have trailed or been tied at the break in six straight games, but have a 4-2 record in that stretch. C-N is outscoring teams 37.83-27.5 and by 10.33 points per game in the second half over the last six contests.
Bryant Thomas is once again among the best in the nation at rejecting shots. He is 7th nationally with 46 blocks and 17th in the country with 2.16 re-directs per game. Thomas is the league leader in both categories.
Carson-Newman has the country's 10th best shot-blocking team with 90 total rejections. The Eagles lead the league for the category. Carson-Newman's 10-rejection day against Newberry is one of 32 double-digit rejection days in Division II this year.
Tripp Davis is fifth in the country in total steals with 50 and seventh in steals per game with 2.78. Davis is two steals away from cracking the top 15 for steals in a single season (his own mark of 53 from last year). Davis has 142 steals for his career, He moved past Braun Dabbs with a six-steal day against Wingate and now has sole possession of sixth on the career steal chart. He needs seven more to catch Andrew Johnson (2005-09) for fifth and his 148 steals.
Carson-Newman and Tusculum were a combined 13-0 in the month of February last season.
The Pioneers are led by reigning SAC Player of the Year Trenton Gibson – the SAC's second-leading scorer at 18.5 points per game. He is the only active player in NCAA Division II with multiple triple-doubles in a career.
"He has always been hungry as a guy who was overlooked on a lot of levels coming into his college career," Benson said. "He really has worked on developing his game. Every year has been better than the year before for him. He is absolutely going to bring it. However, we can't control Trenton Gibson. We have to focus on ourselves."
Tipoff between the Eagles and Pioneers is set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 7:15 p.m. with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Sports 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
