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The Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team will battle Carson-Newman on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. in Jefferson City in a rematch of the two in-state rivals. The Railsplitters (20-2, 10-1 South Atlantic Conference) defeated the Eagles (11-9, 5-5 SAC) by a score of 84-76 at Tex Turner Arena back on Jan. 7 in the first meeting of the season. Lincoln Memorial is coming off a 77-64 win over SAC Piedmont Division leader Catawba on Saturday to get back in the win column following a heartbreaking 80-78 setback at Tusculum on Wednesday that snapped an 18-game winning streak. The Railsplitters are 112-105 all-time against the Eagles, but only 43-60 on the road. Carson-Newman took a 78-66 decision last March in the semifinals of the SAC Tournament.
 
In Saturday afternoon's triumph over the Indians, Quay Kennedy scored 26 points while adding four assists, three rebounds and two blocks to lead the Railsplitters to a commanding victory.
 
The host Eagles have cooled off after starting the season 10-2 and 4-0 in conference, as they lost 7 of their last 8 games, going 1-6 in January. Carson-Newman had a week off after losing 78-65 at UVA Wise last Wednesday, while its most recent win was Jan. 21 against Lenoir-Rhyne (60-53).
 
Lincoln Memorial was ranked No. 8 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches poll and No. 9 in the D2SIDA poll released on Jan. 31.
 
RAILSPLITTER STRIKES (through games played Jan. 31)

• Lincoln Memorial leads the SAC in assists per game (20.0, fourth in Division II), field goal percentage (52.5, second), rebounding margin (+9.9, sixth), scoring margin (+20.4, second) and scoring offense (90.3 points per game, sixth) so far this season.
• Chase Rankin stands at second in Division II in both total assists (142) and assists per game (6.5), with those marks ranking third and sixth, respectively, nationally. The graduate guard's 2.73 assist-to-turnover ratio leads the SAC.
• Martez Brown's 195 total rebounds leads the league and ranks No. 13 in the country.
• Matthew Sells has made 58 3-pointers this season, good for fourth in the conference and 31^st in Division II. The sophomore guard's 44.3 percent shooting from distance leads the league while being No. 20 nationally.
• Rankin earned the SAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week honor on Jan. 16, while redshirt sophomore guard Me'Kell Burries won it on Jan. 9.
• Rankin was named to the Top 100 Watch List for the Bevo Francis Award on Jan. 15, which is given to the player who had the finest overall season within Small College Basketball.

SCOUTING CARSON-NEWMAN: The Eagles enter Wednesday's contest leading the SAC in blocks per game (4.4, 16^th in Division II) and fouls per game (14.9) as a physical defense.
 
Senior center Bryant Thomas leads the SAC in blocks per game (2.16) and total blocks (41), ranking No. 13 in both categories nationally. The Eagles' big man's 58.0 percent field goal shooting is good for second in the league and 38^th in Division II.
 
SAC Men's Basketball Standings (as of Feb. 1)
 
Mountain Division                Overall           Conference
Lincoln Memorial                  20-2                 10-1
Tusculum                                10-8                 6-5
Carson-Newman                     11-9                 5-5
UVA Wise                               12-8                 5-6
Limestone                               9-11                 4-6
Emory & Henry                      12-8                 4-7
Mars Hill                                 5-14                 1-9
 
Piedmont Division                Overall           Conference
Catawba                                 14-5                 9-2
Wingate                                  13-7                 8-3
Newberry                                12-8                 5-5
Coker                                      11-10               5-6
Anderson                                 7-13                 4-6
Lenoir-Rhyne                          8-11                 3-8
 
Up Next
The Railsplitters travel to Wingate for a 4 p.m. tipoff on Saturday in their second of two straight road games.