Men's Basketball Looks to Stay Perfect at Hawkins Arena
2/6/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team eyes its 12th-straight home win on Thursday evening, returning to the friendly confines of Hawkins Arena for a 7 p.m. tipoff versus Jacksonville.
COVERAGE
Thursday's game will be telecast on WRWR TV-38 and streamed live at www.ASun.tv with commentary by Todd Wilson and Brandon Evans. Audio coverage can be heard live on The Peach, 96.5 FM with play-by-play coverage provided by "The Voice of the Bears", Rick Cameron.
SCOUTING JACKSONVILLE
The Dolphins enter Thursday night's contest with a 12-12 (7-4 A-Sun) record after falling by an 81-78 count at the hands of Florida Gulf Coast on February 2. Jacksonville ripped off four-straight wins in January, but has since lost two of the last three games.
A balanced scoring attack has seven Jacksonville players averaging more than five points per game. Junior guard Keith McDougald leads the way at 12.4 points per game, while freshman Jarvis Haywood is next best at 10.2 points per outing. McDougald will not participate in Thursday night's game while he serves a mandatory suspension for a non-fighting flagrant foul.
Jacksonville also boasts one of the league's best collections of newcomers, with Haywood, Dylan Fritsch, Javon Dawson and Kordario Fleming all playing more than 19 minutes per game. Jacksonville players have earned A-Sun Newcomer or A-Sun Co-Newcomer of the Week honors in each of the last four releases of the awards.
Glenn Powell ranks fourth among league leaders in rebounding, pulling down an average of 7.3 boards per game. He's also one of just eight A-Sun players averaging one or more blocks per game.
FAST FACTS
Bob Hoffman's Mercer teams have piled up a 24-8 record after the New Year in each of the last two seasons. This season, the Bears are 6-3 since January 1.
Mercer is 8-3 in night games this season, in comparison with a 6-6 record in afternoon games. The Bears are also 2-1 on Thursday night this season.
Mercer has held an opponent under 50 points seven times this year, the most since the 1947-48 edition of the Bears accomplished the feat 13 teams.
Mercer's bench has outscored the opponent's reserves in seven of the last eight games. Over that span, Mercer's bench is contributing an average of 16.7 points per game.
In 13 of Mercer's 14 wins this season, the Bears have outscored the opponent in the second half. The lone exception was when Chattanooga edged the Bears 31-30 in the second half.
