Benson eyes 200th career win at C-N as Eagles wrap up regular season in Hartsville
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head men’s basketball coach Chuck Benson sets his sights on a second crack at career win 200 at C-N when the Eagles travel to Hartsville, S.C. to take on Coker Saturday at 4 p.m. inside the DeLoach Center.
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
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37 | 39 | 76 |
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29 | 35 | 64 |
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson sets his sights on a second crack at career win 200 at C-N when the Eagles travel to Hartsville, S.C. to take on Coker Saturday at 4 p.m. inside the DeLoach Center.
Benson looks to join Dale Clayton, Gene Mehaffey and Dick Campbell as coaches at C-N with more than 200 career wins for the program.
The matchup won't affect much in the league standings. Cocker has been eliminated from consideration for the South Atlantic Conference tournament title. Meanwhile, the Eagles can finish no worse than a tie for fifth in the league standings and no worse than the six seed. The Eagles will either play at Wingate or Tusculum in the opening round of the league tournament.
The Cobras snapped a nine-game losing streak in their last contest with a 78-55 win over Newberry.
"Coker has nothing to lose," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "I know from watching their game with Newberry, they have a lot of fight left and have guys who are playing with urgency and purpose. We expect their best."
Tripp Davis and EJ Bush have eyes on becoming the men's basketball program's 39th and 40th 1,000-point scorers all-time. Davis sits on 974 career points and needs 26 to get there. Meanwhile, Bush has 966 in his career at C-N and needs 34 more points. Benson has coached seven members of C-N's 1,000-point club (Charles Clark, Ish Sanders, Sawyer Willliams, Antoine Davis, Carson Brooks, Mason Bates and Malik Abraham). Bates and Abraham were the last two Eagles to join it, doing so in February of 2019 in back-to-back games against Coker and Anderson, respectively.
"We learned our lesson after our loss to Tusculum," Benson said. "Tusculum sorta beat us twice when we went to Queens. We won't let that happen after our loss to Lincoln Memorial. We know this is the final chance for us to get ready for the postseason."
Bryant Thomas is once again among the best in the nation at rejecting shots. He is ninth nationally with 58 blocks and 13th in the country with 2.23 re-directs per game. Thomas is the league leader in both categories. His 56 rejections are the Eagles' single-season record.
Carson-Newman has the country's 26th best shot-blocking team with 108 total rejections. The Eagles lead the league for the category. Carson-Newman's 10-rejection day against Newberry is one of 32 double-digit rejection days in Division II this year. Nine more blocks and Carson-Newman will match a single-season record for the program for most blocks in a single season.
Tripp Davis is sixth in the country in total steals with 63 and 10th in steals per game with 2.52. Davis is in the top five for steals in a single season at Carson-Newman. He has moved past Kyle Gribble for sole possession of the NCAA mark and is fourth all-time. He needs three more to catch Skip Wyatt (1971-72) for third most in a single-season.
Davis has 153 steals for his career. Ishmail Simmons sits three steals away from Davis in fourth on the career record chart.
Coker has struggled to rebound this ball this year. The Cobras are 294th out of 296 Division II teams in rebounding with 29.9 boards per game. Carson-Newman had a 36-31 edge on the boards in the last meeting between the two teams.
Coker snapped a nine-game losing streak with a resounding 78-55 win over Newberry in their last game. Demar Anderson and Zavier Measmer combined for 46 points in that game.
"We have to be very much aware of personnel," Benson said. "Our guys know this information; it comes down to real-time decisions and choices to make when the pressure is on. We have to proactively defend those people and actions, I know we can do that at a high level."
Tipoff from Hartsville, S.C. is set for 4 p.m. Saturday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 3:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Sports 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
Team Stats
Coker
| Game Statistics | Carson-Newman | Coker |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (25-56) | (23-55) |
| Field Goal % | 44.6% | 41.8% |
| Rebounds | 36 | 30 |
| Assists | 14 | 8 |
| Turnovers | 15 | 14 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 17 | 15 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 10 | 9 |
| Pts in the Paint | 28 | 28 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 14 | 7 |
| Bench Pts | 12 | 13 |
