GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's basketball team will be in action this week for a pair of South Atlantic Conference games.
Tusculum (3-1, 3-1 SAC) will host arch-rival Carson-Newman University on Wednesday before traveling to Catawba College this Saturday afternoon.
The 24th-ranked Pioneers suffered their first loss of the season in Saturday's 103-82 setback at second-ranked Lincoln Memorial University.
Junior guard Trenton Gibson led the Pioneers with his 21 points, six rebounds and five assists at LMU. Tusculum shot 46 percent from the floor, but committed 21 turnovers resulting into 31 points for the Railsplitters. TU went 9-of-11 from the free throw stripe, while LMU connected 24 of its 36 trips to the foul line. Gibson went 7-of-12 from field including 2-of-3 from three-point territory and 5-of-5 from the charity stripe.
Tusculum sophomore Keaston Brown tallied a career-best 14 points, while sophomore Joshua Scott added 13 markers in the loss.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Tusculum head coach JT Burton currently has his cagers ranked No. 24 in the NABC Division II Coaches Poll, TU's first national ranking since 2009. The Pioneers boast the No. 8 scoring offensive in the nation, scoring 94.8 points per game which is second in the league. Tusculum leads the SAC in rebounding averaging 42.8 boards per contest (9th in NCAA II) including 14.5 offensive rebounds per game (1st in SAC / 6th in NCAA II). TU is also eighth in NCAA II in steals (9.5 spg – 4th in SAC) and 16th in rebound margin (+7.5 – 3rd in SAC / 16th in NCAA II).
Gibson (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) continues to lead the Pioneers in scoring, rebounding and assists. His 20.8 points per game average is fifth-best in the league, while his 7.3 boards per game is seventh in the SAC. He is also dishing out 4.8 assists per contest, which is fifth in the conference. The All-SAC performer is shooting near 90 percent from the free throw line which is ranked 10th in the league. He is three points shy of scoring his 900th career point with the Pioneers.
Guard James West IV is second on the TU roster in scoring averaging 12.3 points per game, but was held to a season-low two markers in just 10 minutes of action on Saturday at Lincoln Memorial. The Woodbridge, Virginia graduate student is also posting 3.3 rebounds per game and is averaging 2.5 treys per contest while shooting 39 percent from beyond the arc.
Sophomore forward Joshua Scott (Pompano Beach, Fla.) is tallying 10.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest. The 2020 SAC All-Freshman Team standout is shooting 46 percent from the floor and 83 percent from the foul line.
DyQuavis Wilkins, a sophomore from Greenville, North Carolina, is averaging 8.5 points per game which are fourth on the TU roster while his 4.3 rebounds per game are fifth-most by a Pioneer. He is shooting 47 percent from the floor.
Sophomore guard Justin Mitchell (Lexington, Ky.) is next on the team averaging 7.8 points and shooting a team-best 55 percent from the field.
Senior forward Brandon Mitchell (Virginia Beach, Va.) was held scoreless on Saturday to lower his scoring average to 7.3 markers per contest. He is grabbing 5.5 rebounds per game while his five blocked shots are most on the team (1.25 bpg – 2nd in SAC / 48th in NCAA II).
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Tusculum and Carson-Newman will meet on the court for the only time this season when the two teams clash this Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. It will be the 175th recorded meeting between the two programs. C-N has dominated the series 117-57, but the Pioneers have won 21 of the last 36 meetings including three of the last four with Coach Burton at the helm.
The Eagles are 1-2 entering this week's game and will see action for the first time in over a month since a 70-67 home loss to Newberry College on Dec. 2, 2020. Carson-Newman opened the season with a 67-53 road loss at Coker University, but followed with an impressive 78-71 road victory at Wingate University.
C-N has three players averaging in double-digit scoring led by sophomore Kaleb Wallace who is averaging 11.3 points per game and shooting 48.3 percent while pulling down 3.0 rebounds per contest. Junior Luke Brenegan is tallying 11 points per game, while freshman guard Ren Dyer is posting 10.3 points per contest. C-N junior center Bryant Thomas is the SAC's leader in blocked shots averaging 2.33 rejections per outing (13th in NCAA II).
As a team, the Eagles lead the conference in blocked shots averaging 3.7 per contest (29th in NCAA II).
Catawba has a 2-3 worksheet entering the week including an 83-81 overtime win at Mars Hill University and a 90-78 season-opening victory against Anderson University. The Catawba Indians' losses came against Wingate (103-84), Lenoir-Rhyne (93-86) and Lincoln Memorial (109-76). Last Thursday, Catawba battled NCAA Division I foe Wake Forest University down the wire before falling 70-62 in exhibition action.
Junior guard Terrence Whitfield leads the charge for the Indians, averaging 17.2 points per game, including 23 points each in back-to-back appearances against Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne. He is shooting 52 percent from the field and a sizzling 43 percent from three-point territory. Since starting the year 1-of-5 from the downtown, he has turned it up making 13 of his next 30 long-range tries for 43.3 percent.
Junior guard Lloyd Hemming is averaging 11.8 points per game, followed by Taqwain Drummond (11.5 ppg), Ben Bowen (10.8 ppg) and Larry McLeod (10.0 ppg).
Tusculum and Catawba meet for the 50th recorded time on Saturday. The Indians lead the all-time series 28-21 and have won the last five meetings and six of the last seven in Salisbury. This is the only scheduled meeting of the year between the two teams.
TUSCULUM COVID ATTENDANCE POLICY
On Dec. 28, 2020, Tusculum University announced it would not allow fans at its home sporting events until Jan. 19, 2021. The announcement was made in accordance with the Tennessee governor's executive order on limiting attendance at indoor events. No fans will be allowed at Wednesday's men's game against Carson-Newman.
FOLLOW THE GAMES
The "Voice of the Pioneers" Brian Stayton describes all the action of Tusculum basketball on the Pioneer Sports Network, with pregame coverage starting 15 minutes before tip. Fans can listen locally on WSMG Radio at 95.5 FM and 1450 AM, and on-line at jewel955.com. Live video and live stats links for all games are available at www.TusculumPioneers.com.
