Tusculum Releases 2025-26 Men’s Basketball Schedule

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — The Tusculum University men’s basketball team has unveiled its 2025-26 schedule. The Pioneers will play 28 regular-season games including a challenging 22-game South Atlantic Conference slate. TU will also play a pair of exhibition contests against NCAA Division I competition.

This year’s schedule includes nine games against opponents who advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

Head coach J.T. Burton, who is entering his eighth season at Tusculum, returns six lettermen including four of its top-five scorers from last year’s club.

Tusculum gets things started on Nov. 3 when they take on the College of Charleston in an exhibition game. The Cougars are coming off a 24-9 season which included a 94-71 win over the Pioneers. C of C finished third in the Coastal Athletic Association and advanced to the CAA Tournament semifinal.

The regular-season begins Nov. 14-15 as the Pioneers travel to the Southeast Region Crossover in Murfreesboro, North Carolina. TU will open against Clayton State on Nov. 14 as the Lakers will be looking improve on last year’s 7-21 showing. This will be the eighth meeting between the Pioneers and Clayton State where the Lakers own a 5-2 series lead including last year’s 66-51 win in the season-opener.

On Nov. 15, Tusculum will face host Chowan to wrap up the Region Crossover weekend. The Hawks won last year’s inaugural meeting 86-82 over the Pioneers. Chowan finished with an 18-10 overall record and were runner-up in the Conference Carolinas East Division.

The Pioneers will travel to North Greenville on Nov. 18 for its first meeting against the Trailblazers in 20 years. NGU went 10-19 last season and placed fourth in the Conference Carolinas Northwest Division. Tusculum leads the all-time series, 5-2.

TU will play its home-opener on Nov. 22 when they welcome Trevecca Nazarene to Pioneer Arena. It will be the seventh meeting between Tusculum and the Trojans and the first encounter since 2013 (TU leads the series 6-4). TNU is coming off a fourth-place showing in the Gulf South Conference as the Trojans went 19-10 overall.

The Pioneers open SAC play on Nov. 25 with a road trip to Newberry. The Wolves placed ninth in the league last year and finished 13-15 overall. TU leads the series 29-26 including a split of last year’s two meetings.

Tusculum will face-off against Coker on Nov. 29 in Greeneville. The Cobras went 19-10 last year and finished third in the league standings. Taking over the Coker program this year is former TU head coach Nick Pasqua. The two teams split the two meetings last season as TU leads the series, 12-11.

On Dec. 2, Tusculum will host its annual Jack Kilday Education Game when they welcome The Crown College. Crown went 15-14 last year and advanced to the NCCAA National Tournament. This will be the first meeting between the two schools.

The Pioneers are back on the road on Dec. 6 to face the Wingate Bulldogs. Wingate finished eighth in the league and went 12-15. TU was victorious in its last trip to Cuddy Arena as the Pioneers earned a split in the season series. Wingate holds a 36-20 edge in the all-time series with Tusculum.

The next day, TU will travel to Johnson City to take on ETSU for an exhibition game on Dec. 7.

Tusculum hosts arch-rival Carson-Newman on Dec. 10 at Pioneer Arena. The teams held serve at home last year as the two split the season series. C-N won 95-91 in Jefferson City, while the Pioneers posted a 90-88 overtime victory in the rematch in Greeneville. The Eagles tied for third place in the SAC, went 21-12 overall and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. C-N has a 129-73 in the historic series which began in 1910.

TU stays at home to welcome SAC Tournament semifinalist Catawba to Pioneer Arena. The Catawba Indians went 18-13 last year, finished sixth in the conference and earned an at-large berth to the NCAA postseason.

Tusculum closes out the pre-holiday schedule on Dec. 17 with a road trip to Mars Hill. The teams split the series last year winning on their respective home floors. The cross-mountain rivals have played each other 100 times with the Pioneers owning a 66-34 advantage in the series that began in 1929.

Tusculum will play its final non-conference game of the season on Jan. 3 when it hosts Bluefield State. The Big Blues finished runner-up at the CIAA Championship, earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament and finished the year 19-12. The schools have played 10 times with TU owning a 6-4 edge in the series with the last encounter coming in 2017.

The Pioneers are back in league play with a short road trip to defending SAC Champion Lincoln Memorial on Jan. 7. The Railsplitters went 25-6, finished runner-up in the SAC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. LMU swept the season series to take a 141-46 lead in the all-time meetings.

TU continues its three-game road swing with a Jan. 10 trip to Anderson. The Trojans had a 16-13 overall record and placed seventh in the SAC standings. Anderson swept the two games last year and leads the series 18-13.

Tusculum will venture to UVA Wise on Jan. 14 to face the Cavaliers. The Cavs went 18-11 and tied for third place in the league to trim the TU lead in the all-time meetings to 36-21. UVA Wise swept the two games last year, both in overtime. The Cavs won at Wise, 86-78 and followed with a thrilling 121-115 triple-overtime decision in the rematch in Greeneville.

Tusculum hosts defending SAC Tournament and NCAA Southeast Region Champion Lenoir-Rhyne on Jan. 17. The Bears had a magical postseason run last year, winning six straight games, including three in overtime. Lenoir-Rhyne would advance to the NCAA Elite Eight where they lost in the national quarterfinal. LR took two games from Tusculum last year and lead the series, 35-23.

Emory & Henry comes to Greeneville to close out the first half of the conference schedule on Jan. 21. The Wasps finished 13^th in the SAC and went 6-22, splitting the two games with the Pioneers. In a series that started in 1912, E&H leads 56-48.

Tusculum has rematches on the road with Coker (Jan. 24) and Carson-Newman (Jan. 28), before hosting Wingate (Jan. 31) to close out the month of January.

LMU comes to Greeneville on Feb. 4 before the Pioneers venture to Catawba on Feb. 7. Three straight home games have the Pioneers hosting Mars Hill (Feb. 11), Newberry (Feb. 14) and UVA Wise (Feb. 18). TU travels to Lenoir-Rhyne (Feb. 21) and Emory & Henry (Feb. 25) before closing out the regular-season on Feb. 28 at home against Anderson.

The South Atlantic Conference Tournament will be held Mar. 3-6 in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The NCAA II Southeast Regional will be conducted Mar. 13-17 with the winner moving onto Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the national quarterfinal and semifinal round, Mar. 25-27. The NCAA Division II National Championship Game will be played Apr. 5 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

– TU –

2025-26 Tusculum Men’s Basketball Schedule

* South Atlantic Conference Game

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