HARROGATE, Tenn. –The top two defensive teams in the South Atlantic Conference will go head-to-head on Wednesday night when the Railsplitters welcome the upstart Tusculum Pioneers to Tex Turner Arena for the 177th all-time meeting in the series.
 
Tip-off between Lincoln Memorial (12-4, 7-2 SAC) and Tusculum (9-8, 5-4 SAC) is set for 8 p.m. Live stats and video links are available at www.lmurailsplitters.com, while fans can also follow along with in-game updates via the official LMU athletics Twitter page, @LMURailsplitter. 
 
Notes on Tusculum
 
- Since falling four games below .500 with a two-point loss to Belmont Abbey and a three-point loss at Lenoir-Rhyne, the Pioneers have reeled off five consecutive wins to move into sixth place in the SAC. 
- Tusculum has won back-to-back overtime games. On Saturday, the Pioneers upset Wingate in an 80-77 thriller that featured 15 ties and 22 lead changes. Tusculum then played a rescheduled game against Newberry on Monday night, rallying from a 13-point, second-half deficit to pull out a 91-81 overtime victory in Greeneville, Tenn.
- The Pioneers have also beaten Mars Hill, Coker and Carson-Newman during their five-game winning streak. Not including 6-3 Wingate, the combined SAC record of Tusculum's other four opponents over this winning streak is 7-30. 
- Five players are averaging at least nine points per game for the Pioneers. Senior Donovan Donaldson leads that quintet with 16.1 points per game on 46 percent shooting, while Tariq Jenkins and Trenton Gibson are adding 12.4 and 11.3 points per game, respectively. Dillon Smith and Caleb Hodnett are also contributing right at nine points per contest. 
- Donaldson has been on a tear of late, as the Trevecca Nazarene transfer has 20-plus points in three of his last four appearances, including a season-high 32 points in the win at Wingate. 
- Hodnett is the team's leading rebounder with 6.4 boards per game. Brandon Mitchell is second with 6.1. 
- Tusculum boasts the SAC's best scoring defense, holding opponents to 71.4 points per game. The Pioneers are second in the league behind only the Railsplitters in field-goal percentage defense by allowing just 40.5 percent shooting. 
- The Pioneers lead the SAC in offensive rebounds per game with 15.1. 
- J.T. Burton is in his first season leading the Tusculum men's basketball program. The Pioneers have already exceeded their win total from the 2017-18 campaign when they finished 10th with a 6-21 record.  
- Five of the Pioneers' eight losses have been decided by five points or less. Tusculum's most lopsided loss was a 17-point setback at USC Aiken in the season opener. 
 
Last Time Out 
 
With visiting Lenoir-Rhyne holding a slim 37-36 lead early in the second half, the Railsplitters scored 10 unanswered points to take the lead for good, and then used another 12-2 spurt to gain some distance late in a 79-68 victory over the Bears on Saturday evening at Tex Turner Arena.
 
Kamaran Calhoun led the way for the Railsplitters with a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds, while Courvoisier McCauley added 15 points in 31 minutes off the bench. Anthony Brown chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds, while Julius Brown needed only 21 minutes to contribute 11 points. 
 
It marked Lincoln Memorial's 30th consecutive regular-season victory at Tex Turner Arena, where the Railsplitters improved to 8-0 this season. LMU also moved into sole possession of second place in the SAC and defeated Lenoir-Rhyne for the 18th straight time. 
 
Tip-Ins
 
- With leading scorer and preseason All-American Cornelius Taylor sidelined, Calhoun has picked up the slack offensively, scoring at least 20 points in back-to-back games after failing to reach that mark in any of his previous 61 appearances in the Blue and Gray. Calhoun scored a career-high 22 points at Mars Hill before his 21-point showing against Lenoir-Rhyne. 
- The Railsplitters lead the SAC and rank 10th nationally in field-goal percentage defense by holding opponents to 39.6 percent shooting. 
- McCauley – a freshman guard – is building some confidence with back-to-back double-digit scoring efforts. The Indianapolis, Ind., native had 14 at Mars Hill before the 15-point effort against Lenoir-Rhyne, which was one point shy of matching his career-high mark. 
- The Railsplitters are ranked 10th nationally in three-pointers per game with 11.7. Taylor (3.29) and Alex Dahling (2.56) lead Lincoln Memorial in that department. 
- Anthony Brown has double figures in five straight games, a run that started with three straight 20-point efforts. Brown is shooting 59 percent from the field and leads the team with 58 total assists. 
- Lincoln Memorial has the 13th-highest scoring offense in the country with 88.3 points per game. The offense has been even better at home, where the Railsplitters are piling up 96 points per game. 
 
Series History
 
- The Railsplitters have completely and utterly dominated a series that dates all the way back to 1924. Lincoln Memorial has won 133 of the 176 previous meetings, including a run of 23 straight that started in January 2010. 
- Lincoln Memorial has not lost to Tusculum at Tex Turner Arena since December 2005. 
- The Railsplitters have beaten the Pioneers by at least 17 points in the last six head-to-head matchups. 
- LMU won last season's home game 103-70.