White hot Eagles seek seventh straight win Wednesday versus Mars Hill
February 16, 2021

White hot Eagles seek seventh straight win Wednesday versus Mars Hill

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The SAC’s hottest team, Carson-Newman (11-5, 9-5 South Atlantic Conference), will take aim at a seventh consecutive victory when Mars Hill (1-12, 1-12 South Atlantic Conference) arrives in Holt Fieldhouse for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff Wednesday.

C-N Game Notes  

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The SAC's hottest team, Carson-Newman (11-5, 9-5 South Atlantic Conference), will take aim at a seventh consecutive victory when Mars Hill (1-12, 1-12 South Atlantic Conference) arrives in Holt Fieldhouse for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff Wednesday.

The Eagles boast the conference's longest active winning streak at six games.  Carson-Newman has won seven straight in Holt Fieldhouse. 

A seventh straight win overall would match the start of the 2017-18 season for the Eagles' last seven-game win streak.

However, while the Eagles have been surging this season, they've struggled of late with Mars Hill.

Mars Hill has dominated the series of late against Carson-Newman. The Lions have won back-to-back games and four of the last five against C-N. A win in Holt Fieldhouse would give Mars Hill just its second ever three-game win streak over Carson-Newman. The Lions rattled off three straight from 2008-10 on C-N. Carson-Newman had owned the series prior to this recent swoon, winning 13 of 15 contests.

"I do think despite Mars Hill's record," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "They've got it.  They've been through so much dealing with CoVID, they aren't lacking with talent and their ability to play. We have to defend and score in an efficient manner to have a chance to win."

Tripp Davis (Nashville, Tenn.) has been on an absolute tear in the Eagles' last four games. The senior is averaging 24 points per game with back-to-back 20+ point efforts. He's done it with staggering efficiency, shooting 70.7 percent from the field (29-of-41), 55.5 percent from three (5-of-9) and 94.2 percent at the free throw line (33-of-35). Additionally, he is averaging 4.25 steals per game to go with 4.25 boards and 3.5 assists.

Davis is the league's leader in steals with 2.19 per game. He ranks 29th in the country in that regard. He has 17 steals in Carson-Newman's last four games.

Carson-Newman has the league's top scoring defense - averaging 65.9 points allowed per game, a figure that ranks 19th nationally. Carson-Newman boasts the league's second best field goal percentage defense - opponents shoot 39.2 percent from the field, a figure that also is ninth nationally. Carson-Newman has held eight of its last 12 foes to below 40 percent shooting. Tusculum and Catawba are the only teams to shoot better than 45 percent from the field on the Eagles.

Part of the Eagles defensive standing comes from shot blocking. Carson-Newman leads the SAC and ranks 13th nationally with 4.3 blocks per game. If the season were to end today, Carson-Newman would set a new school record for average shots blocked per contest. Bryant Thomas has swatted 32 shots this year to rank second in the country.

Mars Hill is looking to snap an eight-game losing streak. The Lions have been the SAC team affected by the most CoVID pauses this season. These contests will be Mars Hill's 11th and 12th in the last 23 days.

The Lions defense has struggled at times this year. The Lions rank 11th in the SAC and 193rd out of 207 teams nationally in scoring defense - giving up 86.2 points per game.

Tipoff between the Eagles and Lions is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts 15 minutes prior to gametime with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on The Mountain 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.

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