VIDEO: C-N at Newberry Cinematic
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (12-6, 7-5 South Atlantic Conference) will have to contend with the hottest team in the South Atlantic Conference when UVA Wise (10-5, 7-4 SAC) comes to Holt Fieldhouse for a 7:30 p.m. tip Wednesday.
The Cavaliers have won five straight games, tied with Anderson for the longest active streak in the league.
UVA Wise's 87-81 win over Carson-Newman in the Prior Convocation Center on Dec. 4 jump-started the quality run for the Cavs. UVA Wise has won seven of its last eight games and won five straight.
Carson-Newman struggled to make layups in the meeting earlier this season in the Prior Center. Carson-Newman. C-N made and attempted season lows of that shot type against the Cavaliers, going 7-for-20 on layups. It's the only game this season C-N has shot worse than 55 percent. The Eagles connected on just 35 percent of their layups against the Cavs. The normally hyper-efficient trio of Nick Brenegan, Trey Hubbard and John Zhao was a combined 4-of-15 at the hole.
The Cavs were 13-of-30 from beyond the arc in the first meeting this season. The 13 threes are still a season high against NCAA Division II competition. The Cavs drained 12-of-31 threes against No. 15 Lenoir-Rhyne in their 90-86 win over the Bears on Sunday. Wise has made double-digit threes in six of their games, including a season-best 21 against Carolina Christian on Dec. 16. Wise is 10th in the league in three-point percentage.
UVA Wise is 3-0 against top-20 teams this season, with notches on the belt from North Georgia, C-N and LR.
Jack Browder has been stellar offensively over Carson-Newman's last nine games. The junior forward is averaging 25.0 points per game while shooting 62.0 percent from the field, 56.0 (28-for-50) percent from three and 95.55 percent from the line. He has made 43 of his last 45 free thrws. He has scored 20 or more points in six of C-N's last nine games. He's also averaging eight rebounds per game in that stretch. Browder leads the league in both scoring and rebounding. Browder hasn't scored below 18 points since Nov. 30. He had a career-best 36 points and 16 rebounds in the Eagles loss at UVA Wise on Dec. 4.
John Zhao is the ninth member of Carson-Newman's 200-three club. Nick Brenegan joined the club earlier this season. Brenegan has 240 career threes, 19 away from Malik Abraham and Charles Clark, who are tied for second with 259 career triples. Zhao needs three 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 1,184 career points Brenegan 1,157 and Browder 1,108. The top 30 is in sight for both Zhao and Brenegan. Jim Shuler is in 30th with 1,197.
Carson-Newman led the nation last season in three-point percentage. After going 14-of-26 from deep against Newberry, C-N has once more taken over the top spot in the country.
Tipoff between the Eagles and Cavs is set for 7:30 p.m. 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.
