GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- SURVIVE AND ADVANCE! The 2022 South Atlantic Conference Tournament gets underway this week as the third-seeded Tusculum Pioneers host the No. 6 seed Newberry Wolves on Wednesday for a quarterfinal game at Pioneer Arena. Tip-off time is slated for 7 p.m. (ET).
The winner of the Tusculum / Newberry game will take on the winner of the match-up between No. 2 seed Queens and No. 7 seed Catawba this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in the second SAC Semifinal, to be held at Timmons Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.
Tusculum (19-7) enters the SAC postseason riding a five-game winning streak, which remarkably came all within the past week. Newberry (14-12) has won three of its last four games including Saturday's 66-61 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne.
The Pioneers swept the season series with Newberry winning 73-57 at home in December and posted a 73-55 victory over the Wolves in Newberry in early February.
This year's SAC quarterfinal will pit two of the top defensive teams in the league where Newberry is allowing 67.5 points per game (2nd in SAC / 48th in NCAA II), while Tusculum is allowing 69.7 points per contest (4th in SAC).
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Tusculum head coach J.T. Burton has guided the Pioneers to their fourth straight winning season including qualifying for the South Atlantic Conference postseason every year since his arrival in Greeneville in 2018.
This year's club has established a new school record for most conference wins in a season (19) and matches the fifth most overall victories in a season (19). A win over Newberry would give Tusculum its fifth 20-win season in program history and first since the 2008-09 campaign when TU posted a 20-11 record, advanced to the SAC Tournament Championship game and earned a NCAA II postseason bid.
Tusculum leads the conference in three-point field goal percentage defense (.300 – 19th in NCAA II) and is third in both total rebounds per game (39.27 rpg – 29th in NCAA II) including 12.81 offensive rebounds per game (2nd in SAC / 23rd in NCAA II). TU is also third in rebound margin (+5.0 – 34th in NCAA II) and fourth in blocked shots per game (3.9 bpg – 40th in NCAA II).
TU graduate student Trenton Gibson had another MVP season where he led the Pioneers in scoring and assists for third consecutive year. His 17.5 points per game average is third in the league while dishing out 5.0 assists per contests (3rd in SAC / 28th in NCAA II). He is also hauling in 6.0 rebounds per game which is 19th in the conference. He has scored 10 or more points in 23 of his 24 games this season and in 89 of his 105 career contests.
Gibson averaged 21.5 points per game this season against Newberry, including 20 markers in his last outing versus the Wolves. He is also seventh in the SAC in free throw percentage (82.8%) and steals per game (1.50 spg). His 111 made free throws this year are the most in the league so far.
Gibson, the 2021 SAC Player and Scholar Athlete of the Year, is listed in the top-10 in the TU record book in 10 statistical categories including: points (1609 – 6th), field goals made (504 – 9th), field goal attempts (1213 – 4th), free throws made (476 – 1st), free throw attempts (594 – 1st), free throw percentage (.801 – 6th), rebounds (659 – 8th), rebound average (6.28 rpg – 4th), assists (449 – 3rd), assists per game (4.28 apg – 6th) and steals (134 – 6th).
In Gibson's SAC Tournament career, he is averaging 17.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while shooting a steady 54.4 percent from the floor including 10-of-16 from three-point territory (62.5%). He is dishing out 4.0 assists in his five tournament games and is shooting 71.4 percent from the free throw line.
Sophomore forward Inady Legiste is TU's second leading scorer averaging 10.2 points per game. The 2021 SAC All-Freshman Team honoree leads the team with his 1.46 blocked shots per game while also shooting 57.8 percent from the floor (5th in SAC) including 32-of-44 over the past month (72.7%). He is grabbing 4.2 rebounds per game and is shooting 14-of-28 from three-point land.
Virginia State University transfer forward William Vedder is third on the team averaging 9.3 points off the bench. He is shooting 54.6 percent from the field (10th in SAC) and grabbing 4.8 rebounds per contest. While at VSU, he helped the Trojans to three CIAA Division titles as well as three trips to the NCAA postseason.
Junior forward Justin Mitchell is fourth on the team averaging 8.8 points per game including 13 points in his last outing against Newberry. He is averaging 5.0 rebounds per game and his 1.46 steals per contest second on the team and ninth in the conference.
Graduate student forward Brandon Mitchell leads the Pioneers in field goal percentage and rebounding and is second in blocked shots (1.0 bpg – 8th in SAC). His .631 field goal percentage is third-best in the conference while his 6.1 rebounds per contest are 17th in the league. He is averaging 7.3 points per game, which is the fifth-best average on the squad and has totaled 915 points in his 131-game career.
Brandon Mitchell has hauled in 776 rebounds in his Tusculum career which are the second-most in program history. His 344 career offensive rebounds are listed second in the SAC record book, while his TU-record 198 career blocked shots are the second-most by an active NCAA Division II player and are sixth in league history.
James West IV, a 2021 All-SAC honorable mention selection, is averaging 6.6 points and 1.6 rebounds per game this season. In just 36 career games at Tusculum, he has already made 69 treys which comes out to 1.92 triples per contest.
SCOUTING NEWBERRY
The Newberry Wolves will be competing in their 33rd SAC Tournament game when they open the 2022 event at Tusculum.
Coach Jason Taylor's squad overcame an 0-5 start to the year and clinched the program's second consecutive winning season.
The trio of QuanDaveon McCollum, TJ Brown and Marcus Ford are all scoring in double figures. McCollum is posting 13.1 points (18th in SAC) and a team-best 7.5 rebounds per contest (3rd in SAC). His 3.00 offensive boards per game are second in the league and 40th in the country.
Brown averages 12.7 points (19th in SAC) and 3.2 rebounds per game, while Ford posts 12.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.19 assists per outing (9th in SAC).
TU IN THE SAC TOURNAMENT
Since 2000, Tusculum has played in 29 SAC Tournament games where TU owns an 11-18 record including a 6-3 mark when playing at Pioneer Arena.
The Pioneers' only SAC Tournament title came in 2005 when Tusculum defeated Carson-Newman, Catawba and Lenoir-Rhyne and earn the program its first NCAA Division II Tournament berth.
This marks the fourth consecutive year Tusculum has hosted a SAC Quarterfinal game as TU has advanced to the semifinal round the last seasons.
Tusculum and Newberry have met twice in the SAC postseason, both resulting in TU wins. The two teams met in the 2009 semifinal in Hickory, North Carolina as the Pioneers came away with a 79-61 victory to advance to the championship game. The second meeting came in the 2011 quarterfinal round as Tusculum won a 67-62 triple-overtime decision at Newberry.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 49th meeting between Tusculum and Newberry in a series which began in 1978. TU leads the series 25-23 as the Pioneers have won six of the last seven meetings and seven of the last nine including a sweep of this year's two games.
The Wolves won last year's only meeting in a 73-66 victory at Eleazer Arena. Six of the last eight meetings have been decided by 10 points or less with two of those going into overtime.
TICKETS
Admission to Wednesday's SAC Quarterfinal is $5 for adults, $3 for youth ages 6-12 and for seniors age 65 and older, and $3 for active and retired members of the military. College students with valid ID will be admitted for $2. Children ages 5 and under will be admitted free. Gates open at 6 p.m. on Wednesday and tickets are available to purchase on-line at: https://www.tusculumpioneers.com/information/tickets.
No cash sales will be permitted at the gate.
FOLLOW THE GAME
Fans can watch the action of Tusculum basketball all season at www.TusculumPioneers.com on the Pioneer Sports Network and the SAC Digital Network. The radio call of the game will also be available locally on WSMG Radio on 95.5 FM and 1450 AM, as well as online at https://jewel955.com/listenlive.
Live statistics of Wednesday's SAC Quarterfinal are available on the Tusculum Athletic web site at: www.TusculumPioneers.com and at www.TusculumStats.com.
