JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The two highest-scoring basketball teams in the South Atlantic Conference will square off Saturday at 4 p.m. in Holt Fieldhouse when Carson-Newman (14-4, 7-3 SAC) welcomes Coker (11-7, 7-3 SAC) to Jefferson City.
The Cobras lead the league and rank fourth in the nation, averaging 100.6 points per game. The Eagles are sixth nationally with 93.1 points per game. The Cobras are under the direction of first-year head coach Michael Lamberti. Lamberti is a disciple and former player Jim Crutchfield at West Liberty. The Hilltoppers routinely led the nation in scoring when Crutchfield coached at WLU before moving to Nova Southeastern, where he guided the Sharks to the Division II title last year and an unbeaten season.
"Clearly they are an elite scoring threat and really have used Crutchfield's blueprint," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "Scoring is part of it. Defending full court is part of it. Rebounding on the offensive glass is part of that. We have to fight fire with fire and align what they allow and defend well."
The Cobras have scored triple digits in six straight games. A streak which has featured 50 percent or better shooting in all six of those games. The Cobras are one of 11 Division II teams with two players who average 17 points per game or greater. Andre Leavell leads the league with 21.2 points per game. Mahmoud Bangura follows with 17.2 a night.
This iteration of the Eagles has the most 100-point performances since moving to NCAA Division II with nine. There have been just five seasons in Carson-Newman men's basketball history with double-digit 100-point games in a season. The last was in 1987-88 when a fourth straight Chris Jones-coached team accomplished it with 11. The 1970-71 team holds the record with 12 such games.
Carson-Newman leads the country in rebounding margin, averaging an 11.8 rebound advantage per game. Carson-Newman has outrebounded 13 of 18 opponents this year by double digits. Tusculum is the only team this season to outrebound Carson-Newman. C-N has outrebounded three teams this year by 20 or more. Seven teams this season have grabbed six or fewer offensive rebounds against the Eagles.
Nick Brenegan's 4.94 made triples per game are the most in the country. He has buried 84 this season. also first nationally among all divisions by pure volume. If he were to maintain this pace, he would break Ish Sanders' single-season record of 99 and become the first Eagle with triple-digit threes in a season. There have been 11 triple-digit three-point seasons in SAC history. He also ranks second nationally and second in the SAC in percentage at 52.5 percent for the season.
John Zhao's 8-for-9 barrage from deep against Emory & Henry moved him past Brenegan and into the top spot for three-point percentage in the country. Zhao has a truly insane slash line of 64.1/54.9/87.0.
Brenegan has made more threes this season than 17 teams in NCAA Division II. His 84 threes are already the fifth most in a single-season in Carson-Newman basketball history. Two threes will draw him even with fourth-place Calvin Owen (86 in 2001-02), while four will bring him level with Malik Abraham for second. Abraham hit 88 in both 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Brenegan has buried multiple threes in every game this season, but the Lincoln Memorial contest. He's made a three in 24 straight games dating back to last season. He has made at least three threes in 11 of the last 13 games.
Brenegan, John Zhao, Jack Browder and Trey Hubbard account for a third of the top 12 in the SAC in scoring. The quartet combines to average 74.2 points per game. They average more points per game than 90 NCAA Division II schools do as a team.
Carson-Newman has been on another level offensively at home. C-N has topped triple digits in seven of its nine home games. The Eagles average 102.9 points at home, while shooting 55.2 percent from the field and 46.4 percent from three.
Tipoff between Carson-Newman and Coker is set for 4 p.m. Saturday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 3:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Talk 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloSports.
