GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- After clinching the program's fourth consecutive winning season, the Tusculum University men's basketball team will be looking to stay hot as the Pioneers play two South Atlantic Conference games this week.
TU (14-6, 14-4 SAC) will host Mars Hill University on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. before traveling to Limestone University on Saturday for a 4 p.m. contest in Gaffney, South Carolina.
Tusculum recorded a pair of road wins last week against Carson-Newman University and Newberry College to run its season road record to 8-2 including wins in TU's last four away contests.
Last Wednesday, TU overcame a 15-point second half deficit and were down by 11 with 5:46 to go at Carson-Newman. The Pioneers closed out the game with a 16-4 run as Jalen Crowder buried two 3-pointers in the final 15 seconds including his 30-foot game-winner with 3.0 seconds left in TU's 68-67 win. Crowder finished with five 3-pointers and matched a season-best with his 17 points.
Tusculum followed with Saturday's 73-55 wire-to-wire victory at Newberry as Trenton Gibson led the way with his 20-point performance, while Inady Legiste shot a perfect 6-of-6 from the field for his dozen markers.
Tusculum's eight road wins this year are tied for the third-most in school history and two away from matching the school-record 10 road victories by the 1992-93 squad. TU has three road games remaining on its regular season slate including Limestone (Sat.), Lincoln Memorial (Feb. 16) and Anderson (Feb. 26).
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
With six games remaining on its schedule, Tusculum remains in third place in the South Atlantic Conference standings with a 14-4 league mark. TU is a game-and-half behind league co-leaders Queens and Lincoln Memorial who have identical 16-3 records.
The Pioneers are a game-and-half ahead of fourth-place Wingate (13-6) and a three-and-a-half games clear of fifth-place Carson-Newman (11-8). TU has already clinched a spot for next month's SAC Tournament and needs two more victories to secure a top-four finish and hosting rights for the quarterfinal round.
Tusculum has been getting the job defensively this season where the Pioneers are limiting the opposition to 69.8 points per game, which are ranked third in the conference in scoring defense. TU has limited teams to just 62.9 ppg in its last 11 games including 61.8 ppg in the last four.
Coach J.T. Burton's club is grabbing 40.05 rebounds per contest (2nd in SAC / 25th in NCAA II) including 13.35 offensive boards per game (2nd in SAC / 16th in NCAA II). TU's three-point field goal percentage defense (29.7% - 18th in NCAA II) is the best in the SAC.
TU graduate student Trenton Gibson is the league's second-leading scorer averaging 18.3 points per game. Gibson is coming off his ninth 20-plus point effort of the season and 25th of his storied career. He has scored 10 or more points in 83 of his 99 career games.
Gibson, the 2021 SAC Player and Scholar Athlete of the Year, continues to be the only player in the league who is listed in the top-10 statistically in scoring (2nd), rebounding (6.7 rpg – 10th) and assists (5.3 apg – 2nd). His 5.3 assists per game average is ranked 22nd in the nation. He is fifth in the league in free throw percentage shooting 84.2 percent from the foul line as his 85 made free throws are tops in the SAC (51st in NCAA II).
The two-time All-Conference honoree eclipsed the 1,500-point plateau for his career last week, becoming only the 11th player in the 111-year history of the Tusculum program to achieve that feat. He is currently listed in the top-10 in the TU record book in 10 statistical categories including: points (1520 – 9th), field goals made (478 – 9th), field goal attempts (1152 – 5th), free throws made (450 – 2nd), free throw attempts (561 – 2nd), free throw percentage (.802 – 6th), rebounds (636 – 8th), rebound average (6.42 rpg – 4th), assists (423 – 3rd), assists per game (4.27 apg – 6th) and steals (121 – 7th).
Gibson enters the week needing nine made free throws to surpass former All-SAC guard Darius Carter, who posted a school record 458 free throw makes (2011-2016).
Sophomore forward Inady Legiste is TU's second leading scorer averaging 10.0 points per game. The 2021 SAC All-Freshman Team honoree is coming off a 12-point showing against Newberry which snapped a six-game, double-digit scoring drought for Legiste. He has made nine straight field goals since the second half of the Jan. 29 Lenoir-Rhyne game, raising his field goal percentage to 55.5 percent which is seventh in the league. He is grabbing 4.0 rebounds per game and leads the Pioneers in blocked shots averaging 1.40 per game, which is second-best in the conference. Legiste posted 21 points in this year's first meeting with Limestone.
Virginia State University transfer forward William Vedder is third on the team averaging 9.2 points off the bench. He is shooting 52.4 percent from the field (13th in SAC) and grabbing 5.3 rebounds per contest (23rd in SAC). While at VSU, he helped the Trojans to three CIAA Division titles as well as three trips to the NCAA postseason.
Justin Mitchell is fourth on the team averaging 9.0 points per game including 13.4 ppg in his last four outings. During that four-game stretch, he is shooting 23-of-43 from the field (53.5%). He is averaging 5.3 rebounds per game (22nd in SAC) and his 1.4 steals per contest are best on the team and 11th in the conference. He is the only player on the Tusculum roster to have started in every game this season.
Graduate student forward Brandon Mitchell leads the Pioneers in field goal percentage and is second on the team in rebounding and blocked shots. His .635 field goal percentage is third-best in the conference while his 6.5 rebounds per contest are 12th in the league. He is averaging 7.8 points per game, which is the fifth-best average on the squad.
Mitchell has hauled in 747 rebounds in his Tusculum career which are the third-most in program history. His 336 career offensive rebounds are listed second in the SAC record book, while his TU-record 192 career blocked shots are the second-most by an active NCAA Division II player and are ninth in league history.
James West IV, a 2021 All-SAC honorable mention selection, is averaging 6.4 points and 1.4 rebounds per game this season. West got back to his All-Conference form on Saturday where he scored 11 points and connected on three 3-pointers. In just 30 career games at Tusculum, he has already made 61 treys which comes out to over two triples per contest (2.03).
Junior college transfer Jalen Crowder was held scoreless on Saturday, after matching a season-high 17 points last Wednesday in the win at Carson-Newman. Despite being held scoreless in two of his last five games, he is still posting 10 points per contest during that span. He has connected on 15 of his last 29 three-point tries (51.7%) and is averaging 5.3 points per game this year while playing in all 20 outings.
True freshman KJ Crump has earned a start on 18 occasions in his rookie campaign including his last 14 outings dating back to Dec. 1 when he scored a season-best 18 points in TU's 81-74 upset win at No. 4 Queens University of Charlotte. His .388 three-point percentage is best on the team (14th in SAC) as he is posting 5.4 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. As a rookie, his 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio is ranked fourth in the league.
Lipscomb University transfer Jacob Hobbs has been in the starting lineup in the last 11 games where TU has posted a sterling 9-2 record. He is averaging 4.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, while also totaling 19 assists, six blocks and 16 steals.
SCOUTING MARS HILL
After starting the conference season winning three of its first four SAC games, the Mars Hill Lions momentum was unfortunately halted due to postponements due to COVID and weather. Since posting an impressive 14-point win at Catawba on Nov. 27, Mars Hill (4-16, 4-12 SAC) has lost 13 of its last 14 games.
The Lions will come to Greeneville riding a 12-game losing streak including Monday's 100-54 loss at nationally-ranked Lincoln Memorial.
In last month's first meeting with the Lions jumped out to a nine-point lead in the first five minutes of the game. But the Pioneers rallied to tie the game at the half and scored the first 10 points of the second period en route to 69-61 Tusculum win at Stanford Arena.
In that game, MHU's Kadyn Dawkins led the Lions with 14 points, while Isaiah Jones added 11 markers, six rebounds and four blocked shots. Isayah Johnson contributed eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds for Mars Hill, which shot 37.7 percent from the floor.
Dawkins is one of four Mars Hill players who are averaging in double figures with a team-best 16.2 points per game, but was held to four points in Monday's loss at LMU.
Johnson is second on the team with his 12.1 points per game average including his 17-point outing on Monday at LMU. Johnson also leads the team averaging 7.7 rebounds per contest, which are the third-most in the conference.
Also scoring in double figures are sophomore forward Michael Houge (11.1 ppg) and junior guard Trey Belin (10.4 ppg). Houge is also seventh in the SAC in rebounding (7.1 rpg).
SCOUTING LIMESTONE
The Limestone Saints enter the week 9-12 overall and 7-11 in conference play. The Saints had their three-game winning streak snapped on Saturday with a 73-65 road loss at Lenoir-Rhyne.
Limestone dropped a hard-fought 77-68 decision at Tusculum on Nov. 23 in the season's first meeting.
Ayo Dada leads Limestone with his 16.3 points per game, while sophomore forward Ben Gahlert is second on the roster with his 15.5 points per game average, while also leading the team with 6.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. Dada scored a season-high 35 points against Catawba earlier this season. Gahlert is averaging 20.0 points per game in his last three outings including a season-best 28 points last month at Mars Hill.
Guard Isayah Owens is third on the team in scoring with 13.3 points per game and is the Saints' leader in assists dishing out 3.1 helpers per contest.
SERIES HISTORY
Mars Hill: Wednesday will be 94th recorded meeting between Tusculum and Mars Hill with TU leading the series 60-33. Sixteen (16) of the last 25 games between TU and MHU have been decided by 10 points or less. Tusculum has won 10 of the last 11 over Mars Hill and 12 of the last 14. Since joining the South Atlantic Conference in 1998, Tusculum is 32-14 vs Mars Hill. The cross-mountain rivals first met 93 years ago as Tusculum defeated the Lions 45-34 on Feb. 1, 1929. Mars Hill leads the series 22-21 in games played at Mars Hill.
Limestone: Saturday will be the 14th meeting between the Pioneers and Limestone. The Saints lead the series 9-4 and have won two of the last three meetings including last year's 68-61 victory in Gaffney in the 2020-21 season's only meeting. Limestone won the first six meetings in the series which began on Nov. 14, 1981. Three meetings of the series came in the 1997-98 campaign alone. TU won in Boiling Springs, North Carolina in the consolation game of the Gardner-Webb Invitational. TU also won the rematch in Gaffney, 82-65 on Jan. 10, 1998.
TICKETS
Admission for Tusculum home basketball games is $10 for all entrants and children 12 and under will be admitted free. Tusculum students will be admitted free and valid Tusculum ID is required. Fans may also purchase tickets online in advance through HomeTown Ticketing at www.TusculumPioneers.com/information/tickets.
Spectators using HomeTown Ticketing can choose to print tickets at home or use mobile entry tickets at the gate. All attendees are currently required to wear face masks while inside Pioneer Arena.
FOLLOW THE PIONEERS
Fans can watch the action of Tusculum basketball all season at TusculumPioneers.com on the Pioneer Sports Network and the SAC Digital Network. The radio call of the games will also be available locally on WSMG Radio on 95.5 FM and 1450 AM, as well as online at https://jewel955.com/listenlive.
Tusculum fans are encouraged to visit the athletic web sites of our road opponents prior to traveling for information regarding attendance policies at away events.
