Men’s Basketball Heads to the Windy City

Saturday, November 23

Chicago, Ill.

5 p.m.

Mercer University

Illinois - Chicago

11/22/2019 11:12:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Mercer Game Notes

Mercer faces UIC in their first game of the Boca Raton Beach Classic

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team heads to Chicago, Ill. to open a four game road swing. The Bears take on the Flames of UIC on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. Saturday's contest at UIC will open the Boca Raton Beach Classic presented by Sport Changes Life.

GAME DAY LINEUP
Date: November 23, 2019 | 5 p.m. (ET)
Teams: Mercer (3-2) at UIC (2-3)
Location: Chicago, Ill. | Credit Union 1 Arena
Live Stats: UICFlames.com
TV: ESPN+
Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB

SERIES HISTORY
• Overall: Mercer trails 0-2 in the series
• Current Streak: L2
• Last Meeting: L, 62-36 (Nov. 17, 2012)

OPENING TIPOFF
Mercer Men's Basketball travels to Chicago, Ill. to face UIC for the first time since, Nov. 17, 2012. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. ET against UIC. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+ with Jonathan Hood and Chris Bleck on the call.

ABOUT THE FLAMES
UIC enters the weekend with a record of 2-3 on the season… The Flames snapped a three-game losing streak on Thursday with a 72-62 victory over Robert Morris… UIC is 2-1 when playing on its home court this season… UIC was picked to finish third in the Horizon League this season in the conferences preseason men's basketball coaches' poll… As a team, the Flames are being outscored by 12.2 points per game…. UIC is averaging 59.4 points per game and are led in scoring by Godwin Boahen, who is averaging 12.4 points per game… Tarkus Ferguson, who has only played in the last two games, is averaging 12.0 points per game… Ferguson is doing more than scoring as he leads the team in rebounding averaging 7.5 rebounds per game… The Flames are shooting 37.4 percent from the floor on the season, while opponents are shooting 41.8 percent… UIC is averaging 7.6 made three-pointers per game this season… They are averaging 15.8 turnovers per game.

LAST TIME OUT
Mercer is coming off a 98-88 loss to Georgia Southern on Tuesday, Nov. 19. The Bears shot 52.5 percent for the contest. Ethan Stair led the Bears with 28 points, on 9-of-17 shooting, setting a new career-high. The Bears had five players scoring in double-figures in Statesboro. Maciej Bender set career-high in points and rebounds at Georgia Southern. Bender scored 14 points and nine rebounds. The Bears shot 50 percent, 9-for-18, from behind the arc. Bender and Stair each missed out on a double-double in the contest as they led the team with nine rebounds each. The Bears recorded 16 assists in the game on 31 made field goals. Mercer scored half of the points (44) in the paint against the Eagles on Tuesday.

FIRST TRIP TO THE WINDY CITY SINCE 2008
The Bears make its first trip to the Windy City since the 2008-09 season this weekend. The Bears last trip to the Windy City came when they participated in the Chicago Invitational Challenge, which was hosted by Chicago State. The Bears made the trip to the Chicago area during the 1924-25 and 1925-26 seasons to play Northwestern. The Bears have never played UIC in Chicago.

SoCON PLAYER POINT HIGHS
For the second time this season, Ethan Stair set a career-high in points as he scored 28 points on 9-of-17 shooting at Georgia Southern. The 28 points are the second most in a game by a Southern Conference player this season. Below are the top five scoring games in the SoCon.

Player (School)                                 Points   Date (Opponent)
Jordan Lyons (Furman)                  33           11/19/19 (at Alabama)
Ethan Stair (Mercer)                       28           11/19/19 (at Georgia Southern)
Brandon Austin (Samford)           28           11/13/19 (UVa.-Wise)
Storm Murphy (Wofford)             26           11/9/19 (High Point)
Hayden Brown (The Citadel)        26           11/12/19 (at Georgia)

RACE TO THE 1,000-POINT CLUB
Both Ross Cummings and Ethan Stair are closing into on becoming the Bears 41st and 42nd 1,000-career scores in Mercer History. Which player will be the first to score 1,000 points? Cummings has scored 833 points in his career that spans 75 games, while Stair has scored 808 points in 90 games. Sitting in 40th on the 1,000-point club for Mercer is Dartez Talbott who scored 1,014 points in his career at Mercer, which stretched from the 1979-81 seasons. James Florence, who played for the Bears from 2006-10, is the all-time leading scorer as he scored 2,286 points. Florence is the only 2,000-point scorers in Mercer history. The list of players that Cummings and Stair are looking to catch is below.

1,000 Point Scorers (No. 36-40)
                Rk.         Name                    Pts
                36           Will Emerson     1,050
                T37         Jim Hearn            1,034
                T37         Reggie Elliott      1,034
                38           Rodney Kirtz       1,025
                39           Donnie Veal        1,023
                40           Dartez Talbott   1,014
                                Ross Cumming   833
                                Ethan Stair          808

PLAYING AWAY FROM HAWKINS ARENA
Mercer is playing its next four games away from Hawkins Arena. The Bears are currently 0-2 on the road this season. They have lost its last four on the road. The last road victory for Mercer came on Feb. 14, 2019, when they defeated Western Carolina in Cullowhee, N.C. Mercer will play the first two games as road games before playing two neutral site games to end the four-game swing. Mercer is 0-5 in its last five on neutral courts. Its last win on a neutral site came on Nov. 18, 2017, when they defeated Drexel, 78-59, at Liberty.

LEADING THE SOCON
Through five games this season, the Bears are leading the Southern conference in a few statistical categories. The Bears have the top-scoring offense, are the best three-point percentage team and have made the most free throws in the SoCon. While leading the SoCon in these categories, the Bears also rank in the top 40 in the NCAA in free throws made and three-point field goal percentage. Below are the rankings and value for the Bears for these categories.

Three-Point Field Goal Percentage – 40.4 % (SoCon 1^st; NCAA 32^nd)
Free Throws Made – 81 (SoCon 1^st; NCAA 39^th)
Scoring Offense – 81.8 (SoCon 1^st; NCAA 56^th)

DOUBLE-DOUBLE
The Bears have played five games this season and have three double-doubles as a team. In the last two games, the Bears missed out on a double-double by one rebound. The Bears have had double-doubles this season by Ethan Stair and Djordje Dimitrijevic. Stair has just missed on a double-double over the last two games, while Maciej Bender was a rebound shy of his first career double-double. Below are the double-doubles the Bears have recorded this season.

Ethan Stair, 23 points and 10 rebounds at St. John's, 11/6/19
Ethan Stair, 17 points and 12 rebounds vs. Columbia International, 11/8/19
Djordje Dimitrijevic, 16 points and 10 rebounds vs. Kennesaw State, 11/11/19

BOCA RATON BEACH CLASSIC
Mercer opens up its four-game Boca Raton Beach Classic on Saturday in Chicago. The Bears play two campus site games before finishing the tournament at FAU. The inaugural Boca Raton Beach Classic is presented by Sport Changes Life. The event will be held in conjunction with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Games will be played on Sunday, Dec. 1 and Monday, Dec. 2 at Abessinio Court at FAU Arena, on the campus of FAU. The Bears schedule for the Boca Raton Beach Classic is as follows:

Saturday, Nov. 23 at UIC (Chicago, Ill.)
Tuesday, Nov. 26 at St. Bonaventure (Olean, N.Y.)
Sunday, Dec. 1 vs. Canisius (Boca Raton, Fla.)
Monday, Dec. 2 vs. Holy Cross or Hofstra (Boca Raton, Fla.)

MOVING ON UP!
Ross Cummings is closing in on the 1,000-point club but he is also climbing up the Mercer record books for made three-point field goals. During his junior season, Cummings hit 101 three-pointers, becoming only the second Mercer Bear to make 100 or more threes in a season. Prior to his junior year, the most threes, Cumming hit in a season was 57. For his career, he has hit 167 career three-pointers. He is 23 three-pointers away from tying for third all-time at Mercer. Below are the top five all-time leaders for Mercer for three-point field goals made. With his 167 made three-pointers, he is number three on the SoCon active career leader list.

3-Point Field Goals Made (Career)
                Name                   3-FGM Years
1.            Langston Hall      256         2010-14
2.            James Florence 242         2006-10
3.            E.J. Kusnyer        190         2008-10
4.            Ross Cummings 167         2016-Present
5.            Bud Thomas       161         2010-14

SOCON AGAINST THE HORIZON LEAGUE
The Bears will be the first team in the Southern Conference to face a Horizon League team this season. The SoCon will have three games against the Horizon League. The next time, the SoCon will play a Horizon team is on Dec. 21 when Cleveland State travels to ETSU and Northern Kentucky travels to UNCG.

GREG GARY COACH'S SHOW
With the 2019-20 season underway, so is the Greg Gary Coach's Show. The 11-edition show will be streamed on Sportsmic Radio and the Mercer Men's Basketball Facebook page. The show is aired from Margaritas in Mercer Village from 6 to 7 p.m. The first show can be restreamed on the Mercer Men's Basketball Facebook page. The next Coach's Show will take part on Monday, Dec. 9.

SoCON CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2020 Ingles SoCon Men's Basketball Championship presented by General Shale will be held March 6-9 at Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville in Asheville, North Carolina. The 2020 edition of the tournament is the 100th for the nation's oldest collegiate conference basketball tournament.

UP NEXT
Following the contest with UIC, the Bears head to Olean, N.Y. to play St. Bonaventure as part of the Boca Raton Beach Classic. This will be the second game of four in the Classic. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. from the Reilly Center.

How to Follow the Bears:
For complete coverage of Mercer Basketball, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerMBB (Twitter), /MercerBasketball (Facebook) and @Mercer_MBB (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.