VIDEO: Coker Cinematic Highlights
JEFFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (11-5, 6-4 South Atlantic Conference) takes on the other team that was tied with it for first in the preseason SAC coaches poll Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. when No. 9/16 Lincoln Memorial (9-2, 7-1 SAC) comes to Holt Fieldhouse.
LMU leads the all-time series 114-105 heading into the 221st all-time meeting between the two teams.
LMU boasts the SAC's top defense in terms of field goal efficiency, Opponents only shoot 41.5 percent on the Railsplitters and score 73.5 points. Lenoir-Rhyne and Limestone are the only team to shoot better than 45 percent against LMU. UNCP is the only team to crest 80 points.
Carson-Newman is number two in the country in scoring efficiency and number one in the nation in effective field goal percentage.
Carson-Newman is playing its fourth 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 of back-to-back wins over top-20 foes with a 89-68 win over then-No.9/7 North Georgia and a 103-97 triumph over then No. 18/24 Coker. The wins over Fort Lewis and North Georgia are the Eagles' largest margins of victory over nationally-ranked foes in school history. Carson-Newman's win at Coker marked its first win on the road at a ranked foe since March 2021, snapping a four-game skid. Carson-Newman has played back-to-back games against ranked teams, on five occasions under Chuck Benson in his 15-year career coaching the Eagles, but never in three-straight games.
Jack Browder has been stellar offensively over Carson-Newman's last seven games. The junior forward is averaging 26.57 points per game while shooting 63.63 percent from the field, 60.0 (24-for-40) percent from three and 94.73 percent from the line. He has scored 20 or more points in five of C-N's last seven games. He's also averaging eight rebounds per game in that stretch. Browder leads the league in both scoring and rebounding.
John Zhao is the ninth member of Carson-Newman's 200-three club. Nick Brenegan joined the club earlier this season. Brenegan has 237 career threes, 22 away from Malik Abraham and Charles Clark, who are tied for second with 259 career triples. Zhao needs eight more threes to match Braun Dabbs for seventh all-time.
Zhao, Brenegan and Jack Browder are see-sawing around the all-time leading scoring list. Zhao has 1,153 career points Brenegan 1,135 and Browder 1,068. The top 30 is in sight for both Zhao and Brenegan. Jim Shuler is in 30th with 1,197. Browder needs 20 more to catch 37th place and Malik Abraham.
Lincoln Memorial sophomore guard Wes Enis has been on a tear. Enis is second in the league in scoring at 20.5 points per game. He has put together back-to-back 33-point games against Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne. Enis has scored 20 points in six of his lsat eight games after being held to two points on Nov. 20 at UNC Pembroke. He is averaging 23.625 points in that stretch on a 51.3/50.0/86.9 slash line. Enis has connected on four or more threes in five of the Railsplitters' last eight games.
Tipoff between the Eagles and Railsplitters 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 Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/FloMbb.
