Carson-Newman starts two-game road swing at Mars Hill

Carson-Newman (10-2, 3-1 SAC) aims for a third consecutive victory when it travels to Mars Hill (3-9, 0-4 SAC) for an 8 p.m. tip at the Lions’ Stanford Arena.

The Lions have lost three straight and seven of their last eight, while Carson-Newman has won five of its last six contests.

“They do a bunch of stuff, they play man, they play zone, they’ll press,” Carson-Newman head coach Chuck Benson said. “We just have to be deliberate in our attack, we’re not going to settle. We still have to establish and inside out approach. We’ll just continue with what we’ve been doing.”

Carson-Newman will try to take advantage of a Mars Hill defense that has struggled stopping people all season. The Lions are third to last in the nation in points allowed, giving up nearly 90 a game. Mars Hill ranks last in the SAC in field goal percentage defense (51 percent), points allowed (89.7), rebounding margin (-8.7) and assists allowed (18.4).

Carson-Newman is tops in the league in all those categories with the exception of rebounding margin, where the Eagles rank third.

Junior guard Ish Sanders (Cleveland, Tenn.) has performed lights out in his four outings against the Lions. Including a Carson-Newman and SAC record 51-point night his freshman year, Sanders averages 26 points per game in his career against the Lions.

“He’s just such a steady, strong basketball player and he’s improved each year he’s been here.” Benson said. “That night he scored 51 is iconic and legendary. But he’s continued to improve and work on his game.”

The Lions are led by the only player in the SAC to average a double-double Khourauchi Thiam. The only senior on the Lions roster averages 14.5 points and 10.9 rebounds a game. The rest of the Lions roster, save for junior Will White, is comprised of freshmen.

“Thiam is more or less a one man crew. He’s long and athletic and plays very hard,” Benson said. “He’s improved from last year to this year. That’ll be a challenge for our team to double him and stretch him out away from the rim where he may be uncomfortable.”

Carson-Newman and Mars Hill tip at 8 p.m. Pregame coverage begins at 7:45 p.m. on the Coca-Cola Eagle Sports Network with the Farm Bureau Countdown to Tipoff on ESPN Radio 106.3 The Zone and online at cneagles.com.