SAC, Southeast Region implications persist as Eagles, ‘Dogs collide
January 22, 2022

SAC, Southeast Region implications persist as Eagles, ‘Dogs collide

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The ramifications of Carson-Newman’s (12-5, 9-4 South Atlantic Conference) collision with Wingate (14-4, 10-4 SAC) will ripple throughout the South Atlantic Conference and the Southeast Region when the team’s meet Saturday at 4 p.m. in Cuddy Arena.

C-N Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The ramifications of Carson-Newman's (12-5, 9-4 South Atlantic Conference) collision with Wingate (14-4, 10-4 SAC) will ripple throughout the South Atlantic Conference and the Southeast Region when the team's meet Saturday at 4 p.m. in Cuddy Arena.

Carson-Newman sits a half-game back of Wingate in fifth place in the league standings.  Both teams are less than three games out of first place with 11 left to play (in Carson-Newman's case).  Both teams will presumably also be receiving consideration for the NCAA tournament once region rankings are released in mid-February. 

"I'm not surprised by what Wingate has done this season," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "They have elite shot-making from the perimeter with physical post play and one of the best players in this region in Jarren Cottingham. Coach Good does a great job on both sides of the ball. We know from an offensive and defensive standpoint this will be an elite challenge."

Carson-Newman is looking for a fifth straight win in the series with Wingate and back-to-back regular season sweeps of the Bulldogs. Carson-Newman has never won five straight versus the Bulldogs in the 70 previous meetings between the two schools.

The Eagles won the first meeting this year in Holt Fieldhouse 77-68 in a game they played without Ren Dyer on Nov. 27, 2021.  John Zhao had eight points off the bench and Caleb Bridgewater snared five offensive rebounds in his first career start in Dyer's stead. 

"Anytime you see a team that's having success, you know there's going to be a fair bit of good fortune," Benson said. "They haven't been touched by injury. We have.  We are so thankful for John Zhao and Caleb Bridgewater for stepping up to fill that void when we played them the first time.  Having a healthy Ren back who has found his confidence only solidifies our team and helps us to be the best version of ourselves."

Ren Dyer has been on a tear for C-N of late. The freshman has produced double-doubles in back-to-back games and three of the Eagles' last four contests.

Wingate has attempted 279 threes and knocked down 173 triples this year, both figures are second in the SAC and 16th and 14th, respectively, nationally. The Bulldogs have hit double-digit triples in four of the last 18 games. Sean Elmore's 54 threes made are best in the SAC and 14th in the country.

Jarren Cottingham is the league's third-leading scorer with 18.3 points per game. Cottingham has five, 20-point efforts in the Bulldogs' last seven games, including a season-high 34 in Wingate's 83-75 win over Lenoir-Rhyne Wedensday.

"Elmore, (Aundreas) Wilson, (Donnel) Nixon and Cottingham can all knock it down," Benson said. "They are all elite three-point shooters.  Wingate is so dangerous when they have balanced scoring from those guys."

Cottingham has scored in double-digits in every game for the Bulldogs with the exception of a seven-point night (3-12 fg, 1-3 from three) in a 92-75 beatdown of Tusculum on Dec. 11. • The Bulldogs have won three straight, but rallied from double-digit deficits (12 at Anderson, 16 against Lenoir-Rhyne) in their last two wins. The Bulldogs have come from behind by double-digits in four of their wins (Catawba and Limestone).

Bryant Thomas comes into the contest with 102 career blocks. He is second all-time. Andy Tipton holds the school record (2004-09) with 109 career rejections - Thomas is seven rejections away. If he were to do that against the 'Dogs, he would also set the single-game school record with seven rejections. Thomas has three career six-block games.

Thomas is once again among the best in the nation at rejecting shots. He is 7th nationally with 35 blocks and 16th in the country with 2.19 re-directs per game. Thomas is the league leader in both categories.

Carson-Newman has the country's 15th best shot-blocking team with 70 total rejections. The Eagles lead the league for the category.

Tripp Davis is sixth in the country in total steals with 41 and ninth in steals per game with 2.73. Davis is 12 steals away from cracking the top 15 for steals in a single season (his own mark of 53 from last year). Davis has 132 steals for his career, three more and he moves into a tie for sixth on the all-time list with Braun Dabbs.

Tipoff between Carson-Newman and Wingate is set for 4 p.m. Saturday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 3:45 p.m. with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Sports 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. 

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