Complete dominance – Eagles downgrade Tornado to light breeze 108-71
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (1-0) tallied its largest margin of victory on opening night in head coach Chuck Benson’s 16-year tenure as head coach with a 108-71 mud-hole stomping of King (0-1) Saturday night in Holt Fieldhouse.
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
29 | 42 | 71 |
|
|
62 | 46 | 108 |
VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
VIDEO: Highlights
VIDEO: Rylan Houck Interview
VIDEO: Oli Smith Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (1-0) tallied its largest margin of victory on opening night in head coach Chuck Benson's 16-year tenure as head coach with a 108-71 mud-hole stomping of King (0-1) Saturday night in Holt Fieldhouse.
Carson-Newman went the opening 6:45 of the game with no empty possessions, opened up a double-digit lead by the under 16 media timeout and led by as many as 49 in a comprehensive performance.
The 37-point margin of victory is the Eagles' largest over King since 1974.
"You don't know what to expect with a bunch of new faces," Benson said. "I loved what I saw defensively tonight. I loved what I saw on the boards tonight. We obviously generated points at a very efficient rate. There's nothing negative I can say, we've just got a quick turnaround before playing Lees-McRae Sunday."
Carson-Newman dominated all facets. C-N singed the nets to the tune of 56.9 percent shooting for the game. The Eagles fired away at a 63.9 percent clip in the opening half as they built a 62-29 halftime lead.
The Eagles drilled 9-of-16 first half threes and finished at 39 percent from deep for the game (13-of-33). While Carson-Newman's offense grooved after losing 3,900 career points from Nick Brenegan, John Zhao and Trey Hubbard, C-N clamped down on King.
C-N blocked nine shots and held the Tornado to 34.1 percent shooting. King was 5-of-30 from deep (16.7 percent) and missed its first 16 shots from range. The nine blocks are tied for the fifth-most in a game in school history.
The Eagles owned a 53-37 rebounding edge, the most boards in a game since February 2024 and tied for the 10th-most in a game in school history.
In spite of the disparity in shooting percentages, Carson-Newman had a 16-8 edge in second-chance points.
The Eagles dished out 28 assists on 41 made baskets.
Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) paced the Eagles with 23. He was 9-of-14 from the field and 5-of-10 from deep. He narrowly missed out on a 26th career double-double with nine boards. He led the team with five assists.
Oli Smith (Sydney, Australia) added in 22 in his C-N debut. He was hyper efficient, making 7-of-8 shots and 4-of-5 threes. Smith also tallied six boards, three assists and two blocks.
Keliese Frye (Newport, Ky.) reset his career high with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Meanwhile Lipscomb transfer Rylan Houck (Oxford, Ala.) scored 12.
A debuting Colin Brown (Bristol, Tenn.) had 11 off the bench.
Carson-Newman's bench scored 49 points.
Lenier Pocknett guided King with 19, albeit on 6-of-19 shooting. Xavier Betancourt had 12. Jordan Akal followed with 11 while Luis Acevedo and Jeremias Berchal each had 10.
Carson-Newman closes out the SAC/Conference Carolinas Challenge at 3 p.m. Sunday against Lees-McRae. Airtime on the Eagle Sports Network is at 2:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff online at cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/FloMbb.
Team Stats
King (Tenn.)
| Game Statistics | King (Tenn.) | Carson-Newman |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (29-85) | (41-72) |
| Field Goal % | 34.1% | 56.9% |
| Rebounds | 37 | 53 |
| Assists | 10 | 28 |
| Turnovers | 10 | 17 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 18 | 21 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 8 | 16 |
| Pts in the Paint | 42 | 54 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 10 | 26 |
| Bench Pts | 24 | 49 |
