Storyline – vs. Tusculum
The Tusculum Pioneers and leader of the squad J.T. Burton will head to Wise, Va. to face the UVA Wise Highland Cavaliers on the road after snagging a win against the Limestone Saints, 77-68. Their win against Limestone marks their third win in a row and puts them at the top of the South Atlantic Conference leaderboard, but puts them behind Queens (NC) overall, who haven't lost any of their non-conference or conference games this season. Tusculum's two losses this season came from their first two games of the season, against non-conference opponents USC Aiken and Clayton State. 

The Tusculum Pioneers average 37.6 rebounds per game, 14 assists per game, and shot 46.4% from field goal range. 

In the last matchup against UVA Wise, Tusculum defeated the Cavaliers 101-82 on Dec. 6, 2020.
 

TUSCULUM PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Trenton Gibson:  Averages 20.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg, dropped 23 points against Carson Newman on Nov. 17, 2021

William Vedder: Averages 14.2 ppg, averages 5.4 ppg, scored 14 points against conference opponent Catawba (11/20/21)
 

About UVA Wise
Head Coach Blake Mellinger and the Cavs will go into their second home game of the busy holiday week coming off a tough 88-66 loss against the Mars Hill Lions in their home opener.  The Cavs struggled mightily from the line, going 9-19 from the charity stripe while Mars Hill went 24-29 from the line. From the arc, UVA Wise only connected on 5 of 22 shots. The Cavs had been shooting over 60 percent in free-throw points in their previous four games of the season. The Cavs only made four of 13 free-throw shots in the first half, and ended the night going nine for 19. UVA Wise hopes to break the five-game losing streak in their second home game of the season.