GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's basketball team has announced its 2021-2022 schedule as the Pioneers will face a 26-game schedule including a challenging 24-game South Atlantic Conference slate. (2021-22 Schedule)
Tusculum returns nine lettermen and four starters from last year's 14-6 squad that finished third in the SAC standings and earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Pioneers advanced to the Southeast Region semifinal for the first time in program history.
The Pioneers will open their season Nov. 12-13 as they participate in the SAC/Peach Belt Conference Challenge in Morrow, Georgia. TU will tip off the regular season against USC Aiken on Nov. 12, followed the next day against host Clayton State.
USC Aiken went 9-8 during the COVID-abbreviated season last year including 8-6 in Peach Belt play, which was fifth-best in the league. This will be the seventh recorded meeting between TU and the Pacers as the Pioneers own a 5-1 lead in the series including a 93-63 Tusculum win in 2019 in their last encounter.
Clayton State, who went winless (0-9) last year, begins its first season with head coaching veteran Vince Alexander. The Lakers owns a 3-1 lead in the all-time series with TU's lone victory coming in the last meeting in 2019 as the Pioneers won 78-61.
Tusculum opens league play on Nov. 17 when they host arch-rival Carson-Newman. The two teams met on three occasions last year with TU coming away with two victories including a 65-63 overtime win against the Eagles to open the NCAA II Southeast Regional. C-N edged the Pioneers 60-59 in the SAC Semifinal. The teams met only once in the regular season with Tusculum coming away with an 82-72 win.
Carson-Newman went 16-6 and finished fourth in the SAC last year, but caught fire in the postseason to win the SAC Tournament crown and advance to the NCAA Tournament.
The Pioneers will travel to Catawba on Nov. 20 to face the Indians. Tusculum won the regular-season meeting 74-72 when SAC Player of the Year Trenton Gibson hit a three-pointer at the buzzer for the win. The two teams would meet in the SAC Quarterfinal where the Pioneers won 93-70.
Tusculum will be back at home on Nov. 23 when they host Limestone at Pioneer Arena. The Saints will be making their first trip to Greeneville since 1998. Limestone leads the all-time series 9-3 including a 68-61 victory in last year's only meeting. The Saints went 2-11 last year and finished 12th in the conference.
The Pioneers will be on the road for their next two games beginning with a Nov. 27 trip to UVA Wise. The Cavaliers are coming off a 5-13 season where they finished 10th in the SAC. TU swept the regular-season series as the Pioneers eclipsed 100 points in both games. The Pioneers have won six in a row over UVA Wise.
Tusculum will be at Queens University of Charlotte on Dec. 1 in the first of two meetings with the Royals. The teams met only once last year as Queens came away with an 85-59 victory. The Royals finished second in the regular season and were SAC Tournament runner-ups, following to Carson-Newman in the championship game. Queens finished the year 16-6 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
The Pioneers are back at home to host long-time in-state foe Lincoln Memorial. The two teams split last year's regular season meetings with the Railsplitters winning on their home floor before Tusculum won 90-74 in Greeneville. The two would meet in the NCAA II Region semifinal as LMU came away with an 80-66 win.
Tusculum will be at Wingate on Dec. 15 as the Bulldogs will be looking to improve on their 11-9 overall record and seventh-place finish in the conference. The Pioneers defeated Wingate in last year's opener in their lone meeting of the season. This will be the 49th meeting between the two schools as the Bulldogs lead the series 31-17 but TU has won four of the last five meetings.
TU welcomes Newberry to Pioneers Arena on Dec. 15 in the 47th meeting with the Wolves. The series is tied 23-23 as Newberry won last year's only contest between the two schools. The Wolves are coming off a 9-6 campaign where they finished fifth in the SAC standings.
Tusculum will close out the pre-holiday portion of its schedule when the Pioneers travel to Hickory, North Carolina to take on Lenoir-Rhyne on Dec. 18. The Bears finished sixth in the league and went 9-7 overall. Lenoir-Rhyne leads the all-time series 31-21, but the Pioneers have won three in a row including last year's 78-67 victory in Greeneville in the regular-season finale.
The Pioneers have home rematches with Wingate (Jan. 5) and Catawba (Jan. 8) to open the calendar year as TU will play five of its next seven games at home where TU posted an impressive 8-1 record.
On Jan. 12, Tusculum will make the short trip to Mars Hill to face the Lions. This will be the 94th recorded meeting in a series which the Pioneers lead 60-33. The Pioneers swept last year's series and have won 10 of the last 11 meetings with MHU. The Lions finished last in the conference last year and posted a 2-16 record.
Tusculum will travel to Coker on Jan. 15 for the 17th meeting between the Pioneers and Cobras. The series is tied 8-8 as Tusculum swept last year's two games and have won five of the last six contests. Coker went 4-12 last year and finished 11th in the SAC.
The Pioneers return home for three straight beginning with a Jan. 19 rematch with Queens, followed by Anderson (Jan. 26) and Lenoir-Rhyne (Jan. 29) to close out the month.
Anderson and Tusculum will meet for a 25th time on the hardwood as the Trojans lead the series 16-8, but TU has won four in a row including a 60-59 decision in their last meeting when Gibson made two free throws with 4.9 seconds remaining in the only meeting last year.
The month of February will be a busy one for Tusculum as eight games are on tap including five on the road. TU travel to Carson-Newman (Feb. 2) and Newberry (Feb. 5) before returning home on Feb. 9 to host Mars Hill. Tusculum makes trips to Limestone (Feb. 12) and Lincoln Memorial (Feb. 16), before returning to Greeneville to host Coker (Feb. 19) and UVA Wise (Feb. 23). The regular season will close out on Feb. 26 with a road trip to Anderson.
The SAC Tournament will begin Mar. 2 with quarterfinal games at the top-four seeds, before moving onto Greenville, South Carolina on Mar. 5-6 at Timmons Arena at Furman University.
The NCAA Division II regionals will be held at campus sites Mar. 12-15 with the winners advancing to Evansville, Indiana for the NCAA Elite Eight (Mar. 23-26).
