GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Riding a three-game winning streak, the Tusculum University men's basketball team will host nationally-ranked Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday before traveling to Coker this weekend in a pair of South Atlantic Conference contests.
Tusculum (9-4, 9-4 SAC) is currently in fourth place in the league standings heading into the next to last week of the SAC regular season. The Pioneers are looking to climb into the No. 3 spot as the top-three teams will earn a bye in the upcoming SAC / Pilot Flying J Basketball Tournament and automatically advance to the quarterfinal round on Mar. 1. Teams seeded No. 5 to No. 13 will open first round play next Saturday (Feb. 27).
Tusculum's schedule is due to end this Saturday against Coker, but the Pioneers still have three games against three possible opponents that could be rescheduled for next week. Tusculum has postponed games against Anderson (home), Newberry (home), and two versus Lenoir-Rhyne (home & away) that could potentially be made up.
Two home games against Lenoir-Rhyne (Feb. 8) and Limestone (Feb. 16) were postponed due to the programs pausing team activities due to COVID protocols.
The Pioneers connected on 16 three-pointers, including 13 in the opening half in an 86-65 road win at Mars Hill last Wednesday in TU's only action James West IV poured in a season-best 24 points going 6-for-11 from three-point land. TU also got 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists from Trenton Gibson, while Brandon Mitchell added 14 points, eight boards and three blocked shots.
TU's Joshua Scott tallied 10 points, while Keaston Brown added eight points and matched a career-best with five assists as the Pioneers completed the season-sweep over Mars Hill.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Coach JT Burton's Pioneers continue to lead the South Atlantic Conference in offensive rebounds per game (14.08 rpg - 12th in NCAA II), steals per game (8.2 spg - 28th in NCAA II) and blocked shots per game (4.2 bpg - 14th in SAC). TU is also third in the league in total rebounds per game (40.0 rpg - 23rd in NCAA II) and fourth in field goal percentage defense (.417 - 32nd in NCAA II)
Tusculum has won four of its last six games while allowing 67 points per game during that six-game span. TU also carries a 5-0 home record into the week.
Trenton Gibson continues to pace the Pioneers and is the only player in the SAC to be listed in the league's top-10 in scoring, rebounding and assists. His 18.8 points per game average is third-best in the conference, while he is also third in rebounding (7.6 rpg) and fifth in assists (4.3 apg).
Gibson has scored in double figures in 12 of his 13 outings and six games with 20 or more points including a career-high 31 points earlier this season against UVA Wise. He posted 21 points in this year's first meeting with LMU, but was held to his only single-digit performance of the year with his nine markers against Coker. He is also shooting a team-best 84.9 percent from the free throw line which is sixth in the conference.
James West IV is second on the team in scoring averaging 15.2 points per game including 3.3 three-point field goals per contest. West was injured in the first half of the LMU game in early January and would miss the next seven games where TU went 4-3. In his six games in the TU line-up, the Pioneers are 5-1 including his last two contests where he is averaging 20.5 points per game and shooting 10-of-19 from beyond the arc (52.6%).
The Mount St. Mary's transfer is shooting 44.4 percent from three-point territory on the season, while posting 3.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.
Rookie forward Inady Legiste is averaging 8.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game (14th in SAC) while leading the team in field goal percentage at (.494 – 16th in SAC). Legiste is also second on the roster in blocked shots, averaging 1.15 rejections per game, which are third in the league. Legiste scored a team-best 13 points against Coker and added six markers and seven rebounds vs LMU.
Sophomore Joshua Scott is fourth with his 8.0 points per game average including 10 points in last Wednesday's win at Mars Hill. Scott is also pulling down 4.3 rebounds per game. He scored 13 points in his previous outing against LMU and was perfect against Coker shooting 3-of-3 from the floor and 2-of-2 from three-point land in TU's home win over Coker.
Sophomore Justin Mitchell has accounted for 6.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game for the Pioneers in his 12 outings including five starts. Sophomore Keaston Brown is averaging 6.2 points and 2.3 rebounds per contest as he has played in all 13 games including 12 starts to start the season with that string ending at Mars Hill. Brown is second on the team in assists, dishing out 2.46 helpers per game and leads the team in steals posting 1.5 per game (8th in SAC).
Senior Brandon Mitchell leads the Pioneers in blocked shots per game averaging 1.38 per game which is second in the league and 36th in the nation. His 154 career blocks are the second-most in TU history and is five off the program record 159 posted by Brad Hawks from 2001-2005. Mitchell is averaging 6.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. He is also tied for the team-lead in offensive rebounds per game (2.5 rpg - T5th in SAC).
SCOUTING LINCOLN MEMORIAL
Lincoln Memorial is vying to close out another SAC regular season title as the Railsplitters enter this week with a 16-2 overall record and are 14-2 in conference play. But LMU had its nine-game winning streak snapped with Saturday's 71-66 road loss at Newberry.
With all the postponements and cancellations, LMU ends the regular season with a four-game road swing including trips to Tusculum on Wednesday and a rematch with nationally-ranked Queens on Saturday. LMU will close out the regular season next Wednesday at Carson-Newman.
Lincoln Memorial defeated Tusculum 103-82 in this year's first meeting on Jan. 2 as the Railsplitters handed then 24th-ranked Pioneers their first loss of the season. LMU's Devin Whitfield scored a game-high 28 points, including 20 in the second half and the Railsplitters shot 60 percent from the floor.
Head coach Josh Schertz has LMU playing at an outstanding clip in his 13th season in Harrogate. Lincoln Memorial leads league nine statistical categories including scoring offense averaging 93.9 points per game (6th in NCAA II). LMU leads the nation in assists per game (23.2 apg) and defensive rebounds per game (33.06 rpg). The Railsplitters are second in the country in three-pointers made per game (12.3), scoring margin (+24.7) and third nationally in rebound margin (+9.8) and team field goal percentage (.531). LMU also leads the SAC in field goal percentage (.391 - 6th in NCAA II), three-point field goal percentage defense (.306 - 18th in NCAA II) and assist/turnover ratio (1.65 - 6th in NCAA II).
Whitfield, the 2020 SAC Tournament MVP and All-SAC first team selection, is having an All-American season this year where he is the league's No. 2 scorer averaging 20.2 points per game (33rd in NCAA II) and leads the SAC in both field goal percentage (.564) and three-point field goals made per game (3.47 - 5th in NCAA II). He is shooting 43.7 percent from three-point land (2nd in SAC / 36th in NCAA II). His 59 total three-point field goals made are the most in the country while his 135 long-range attempts are second in NCAA II.
Cameron Henry is the defensive leader of the LMU team averaging 2.06 steals per game which are tops in the league and 33rd in the country. His 14.9 points per game average is second on the team and 10th-best in the conference.
SCOUTING COKER
When Tusculum and Coker take the court on Saturday it will be the Cobras first action in 19 days. Coker is 4-8 overall (4-8 SAC) and is riding a six-game losing streak including an 85-79 loss at Catawba on Feb. 1. Following that game, the Cobras paused all team activities due to COVID protocols with four contests being suspended.
Included in that six-game skid is a 58-50 loss at Tusculum on Jan. 16 in the teams' last encounter.
Chandley Lindsay is the lone Coker player scoring in double figures averaging 13.8 points per game including a season-best 33 points in his last outing at Catawba where he went 12-of-21 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Lindsay is also leading the team with his 5.9 rebounds (13th in SAC) and 4.3 assists per game (6th in SAC).
Following Saturday's game with Tusculum, Coker will close out the regular season next week with road games at Queens (Feb. 22) and Newberry (Feb. 24).
FOLLOW THE GAMES
The "Voice of the Pioneers" Brian Stayton will describes all the action on the Pioneer Sports Network on WSMG Radio (95.5 FM / 1450 AM) and on-line at https://jewel955.com/listenlive. Live video and live stats for all Tusculum basketball games are available at www.TusculumPioneers.com.
