VIDEO: North Georgia Cinematic Recap
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (10-5, 5-4 South Atlantic Conference) begins 2025 with a similar scenario to how it closed 2024 – with a high-level Southeast Region game against a nationally-ranked opponent.
The Eagles will also hope the result mirrors how 2024 ended when it heads to the DeLoach Center for a 4 p.m. tip Saturday against No. 18/24 Coker (11-1, 7-1 SAC).
Carson-Newman is fresh off a 21-point win over the then-top-10 North Georgia Nighthawks. Meanwhile, the Cobras are nationally ranked for the first time in school history. Coker started a program-best 9-0 before losing by one at Lenoir-Rhyne. Coker recovered to go 2-0 at Embry-Riddle's tournament before Christmas against Lees-McRae and Mount Olive.
Coker is unbeaten in its last four games at home and 9-1 in its last 10 games in Hartsville.
Coker's offense has been stupendous this season. Coker has hit triple digits in 10 of their 12 games this season. Coker scored a program record 135 points in the first game of the season in a 135-76 win over Erskine. The Cobras have six games with at least 110 points. Coker is second in the nation in points per game with 110.3 per contest. A 99-98 loss to Lenoir-Rhyne and an 89-85 win over Lees-McRae are the only two games where the Cobras haven't scored 100 or more points.
The Cobras have been especially effective from beyond the arc. Coker has hit double-digit threes in every game this season. More than half of Coker's games have featured better than 40 percent shooting from beyond the arc. The Cobras are ninth nationally and second in the league in three-point percentage at 40.1. Max Hurray, Judson Coan, Jamie Muldowney all average multiple threes per game. Eight Cobras average at least a three a game.
Carson-Newman is playing its third nationally-ranked foe of the season. The Eagles registered a 94-75 win over then-No. 23 Fort Lewis the first time out and are coming off an 89-68 win over then-No. 9/7 North Georgia. Those two wins are the Eagles' largest margins of victory over nationally-ranked foes in school history. Carson-Newman's last road win over a nationally-ranked foe came in the 2021 SAC title game at No. 17/16 Queens 88-79. C-N has dropped four consecutive road games to ranked foes.
Jack Browder has been stellar offensively over Carson-Newman's last six games. The junior forward is averaging 27.83 points per game while shooting 65.4 percent from the field, 57.7 (19-for-33) percent from three and 94.4 percent from the line. He has scored 20 or more points in five of C-N's last six games. He's also averaging eight rebounds per game in that stretch,
John Zhao needs seven more threes to become the ninth member of Carson-Newman's 200-three club. Nick Brenegan joined the club earlier this season. Brenegan has 233 career threes, 26 away from Malik Abraham and Charles Clark, who are tied for second with 259 career triples.
Zhao, Brenegan and Jack Browder are see-sawing around the all-time leading scoring list. Zhao has 1,124 career points Brenegan 1,119 and Browder 1,049. The top 30 is in sight for both Zhao and Brenegan. Braund Dabbs is in 31st in front of the pair with 1,130 points, while Jim Shuler is in 30th with 1,197. Browder needs 10 more to catch 38th place and Pete Billingsly.
Tipoff between the Eagles and Cobras is set for 4 p.m. Saturday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 3:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
