VIDEO: UVA Wise Highlights
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (19-6, 12-5 South Atlantic Conference) will have its first chance at securing a fourth, 20-win season under head coach Chuck Benson when the Eagles travel to take on UVA Wise (10-14, 6-10 SAC) Wednesday evening at the Prior Convocation Center at 7:30 p.m.
"I hope we are a little healthier than we have been," head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "We will have to go up there and know personnel while generating opportunities for ourselves. Probably most crucial within that is taking care of the basketball."
A win would also mean a second, 20-win season in the last three years under Benson. The Eagles' 14-year head coach has been the coach of half of the Eagles' six, 20-win campaigns since moving to NCAA Division II.
With three games left in the regular season schedule, Carson-Newman has already wrapped up a spot in the SAC tournament. A win Wednesday would guarantee the Eagles a top-four seed.
UVA Wise sits in 10th place in the league standings, but is just two games back of seventh-place Anderson and 1.5 back of eighth-place Lenoir-Rhyne with four games to play. The top eight teams make the South Atlantic Conference tournament, which is scheduled to be played in Rock Hill, S.C. from March 5-8.
Nick Brenegan's 4.04 made triples per game are the most in the country. He has buried 97 this season. also first nationally among all divisions by pure volume. Brenegan needs two more threes to tie Ish Sanders single-season school record of 99 triples. A third would give him 100 for the year - the 12th 100-three-point season in South Atlantic Conference history and the first by an Eagle. He also ranks fifth nationally and third in the SAC in percentage at 49.5 percent for the season.
Nick Brenegan and John Zhao are both top 10 in Division II among active players in career three-point field goal percentage. Brenegan is fourth amoing active players at 45.5 percent. Zhao is eighth at 44.6 percent.
John Zhao has produced a quartet of 30-point games this season. He has tied Charles Clark for the second-most in the NCAA-era for a single season. Clark had 14, 30-point games in his career, including five in his senior season in 2017-18. He had four as a sophomore, three as a junior and two as a freshman. Since being held to eight against Wingate on Jan. 20, Zhao averaged 27.33 points per game over a crazy six-game stretch. That came with some stupefying efficiency. He had a 67.9/61.3/84.4 slash line. He was 27-of-44 from deep in that stretch, an average of 4.5 threes per game.
Carson-Newman has been on another level offensively at home. C-N has topped triple digits in nine of its 14 home games. The Eagles average 100.9 points at home, while shooting 55.0 percent from the field and 45.0 percent from three. Carson-Newman has scored at least 90 in all 12 of its home victories this season. It has been kept below 90 in its two home losses to Limestone and Tusculum. C-N's offensive numbers drop on the road. The Eagles average 82.3 points per game while shooting 47.8 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from three.
This iteration of the Eagles has the most 100-point performances since moving to NCAA Division II with 11. 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 can tie that team with its next 100-point performance.
Carson-Newman is second in the country in rebounding margin, averaging an 10.6 rebound advantage per game. Carson-Newman has outrebounded 17 of 25 opponents this year by double digits. Tusculum is the only team this season to outrebound Carson-Newman. C-N has outrebounded four teams this year by 20 or more. Eight teams this season have grabbed six or fewer offensive rebounds against the Eagles.
Tipoff between the Eagles and Cavs is set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 7:15 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Talk 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
