Men’s Basketball Welcomes WCU To Hawkins Arena

Wednesday, January 22

Macon, Ga.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

Western Carolina

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Photo by: Jesika Moore

Men’s Basketball Welcomes WCU To Hawkins Arena

1/21/2020 4:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Mercer Game Notes Western Carolina Game Notes

Mercer looks for third straight win on Wednesday

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball returns to Hawkins Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 22 to host Western Carolina in Southern Conference action. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET.

Fans are encouraged to wear white Mercer for the White Out Wednesday game. Fans who show up in any white Mercer apparel will receive free admission.

GAME DAY LINEUP
Date: Jan. 22, 2020 | 7 p.m. (ET)
Teams: Western Carolina (12-5, 4-2 SoCon) at Mercer (8-11, 2-4 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena
Live Stats: MercerBears.com/LiveStats
Radio: 100.9 The Creek FM and SportsMic – Rick Cameron
TV: ESPN+
Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB

SERIES HISTORY
• Overall: Mercer trails in the all-time series, 10-8
• Current Streak: L1
• Last Meeting: L, 79-71 (Jan. 11, 2020)

OPENING TIPOFF
Mercer Men's Basketball returns to Hawkins Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 22 when they host Western Carolina in Southern Conference action. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and will be aired on ESPN+, 100.9 The Creek FM and Sportsmic Radio with Rick Cameron on the call.

The Bears and Catamounts meet for the second time in 11 days. WCU leads the all-time series 10-8 over the Bears. In the last meeting between these two schools on Jan. 11, 2020, Western Carolina came away with a 79-71 victory over the Bears.

ABOUT THE CATAMOUNTS
Western Carolina enters the Southern Conference contest with the Bears with a 12-5 mark and a 4-2 mark in SoCon action… The Catamounts have dropped its last two games to Furman and ETSU… The last win for Western Carolina came on Jan. 11 against Mercer… The Catamounts are averaging 81.2 points per game and are shooting .469 from the field… The Catamounts are shooting .387 from deep and are making 10.5 three-pointers per game, the fourth-best mark in the nation… Mason Faulkner leads the Catamounts in scoring as he is averaging 18.1 points per game… He is one of four players averaging double-figures on the season…. Carlos Dotson is averaging 13.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game for WCU… Opponents are averaging 74.2 points per game and are shooting .436… Western Carolina his holding opponents to .298 percent on three-point shooting this season…. The Catamounts are led by Mark Prosser, who is in his second season at the helm.

LAST TIME OUT
The last time the Bears took to the court was Saturday, Jan. 18 when they defeated Samford, 90-75, in Birmingham, Ala. In the win for the Bears, Ethan Stair became the 41^st player in program history to score 1,000 points. Stair led the Bears with 26 points and Djordje Dimitrijevic followed with 25. Dimitrijevic led the Bears with six three-pointers in the game. Mercer shot 55.7 percent from the field and for the second straight game; Mercer hit 10 or more three-pointers. The win for Mercer was its second straight in SoCon action.

SINGLE GAME SoCON SCORING LEADERS
The Bears Djordje Dimitrijevic scored 34 points in the last meeting with Western Carolina. The 34 points are the second-highest single-game total in the Southern Conference. The only player to score more in the SoCon this season was Jordan Lyons, who scored 40 points at VMI earlier this year. Below are the top five SoCon scorers this season.

Name (Team)                                    Points                   Opponents (Date)
Jordan Lyons (Furman) 40                           at VMI (1/1/20)
Djordje Dimitrijevic (Mercer) 34                           at Western Carolina (1/11/20)
Jordan Lyons (Furman) 33                           at Alabama (11/19/19)
Kaelon Harris (The Citadel) 32                           at Wofford (1/11/20)
Mason Faulkner (WCU) 31                           vs. Chattanooga (12/03/19)
Isaiah Miller (UNCG) 31                           vs. Mercer (1/1/20)

DIMITRIJEVIC HOT STREAK
Senior Djordje Dimitrijevic has been heating up on the offensive end of the court for the Bears. Over the last three games for Mercer, Dimitrijevic has played 34.3 minutes per game and is averaging 28.3 points per game. He is shooting 57.4 percent from the floor and 51.9 percent on three-pointers. During this stretch, he set his career-high with 34 points at Western Carolina and has hit six three-pointers in each of the Bears last two ballgames. He has led Mercer to a 2-1 record over the last three games.

PLAYING AT HAWKINS ARENA
Since the 2017-18 season, the Bears have compiled a record of 25-13 when playing at Hawkins Arena. This season, the Bears are 5-4 on the season at home. Over the past two years, Mercer has not won less than nine games at home and has not finished below .500 at Hawkins Arena.

DIMITRIJEVIC THREE-POINT STREAK
Five SoCon student-athletes have streaks of at least 16 games with a made three-pointer. The Bears Djordje Dimitrijevic has made a three-pointer in 17 straight games. Dimitrijevic is the third-longest streak in the SoCon. The SoCon leader for consecutive games hitting a three-pointer is Brandon Allen of Samford. He is currently at 21 straight games hitting a three-pointer.

Player (School)                                 Streak
Brandon Austin (Samford) 21
Alex Hunter (Furman) 18
Djordje Dimitrijevic (Mercer) 17
Kaiden Rice (The Citadel) 16
Matt Halvorsen (WCU) 16

SoCON WIN STREAK
The Bears look to win its third straight Southern Conference action on Wednesday night. The last time the Bears won three or more straight SoCon games was during the 2017-18 season. During the 2017-18 season, the Bears rallied off eight straight SoCon wins to close out the regular season. During the 2017-18 season, Mercer went on to finish conference play at 11-7. Last season, the Bears longest winning streak in conference was two games.

BEARS HEATING UP FROM DOWNTOWN
Mercer is heating up from the outside over its last two contests. Against VMI and Samford, the Bears have made 11 and 12 three-pointers. They now have hit 10 or more three-pointers in five games this season. The school record for three-pointers hit in a single game is 16, which was set on at Northern Kentucky during the 2013-14 season. Over the last two games for Mercer, the Bears are shooting 42 percent on three-pointers and have made 23.

Date      Opponent                           3-pt FG Made
11/6       at St. John's                        12
12/16     at UNCW                             11
12/28     Milligan                                14
1/15       VMI                                       11
1/18       at Samford                          12

LAST MEETING BETWEEN WESTERN CAROLINA AND MERCER
The last meeting between the Catamounts and Bears took place only 11 days ago in Cullowhee, N.C. on Jan. 11. Western Carolina defeated the Bears, 79-71 in the contest. Djordje Dimitrijevic led the Bears with a career-high 34 points but it was not enough. Mercer struggled shooting the three-pointer in the contest, as they were 2-for-19 in the game. Mercer shot 38.1 percent from the floor in the game.

BEARS HOT SHOOTING
Over the last two games, the Bears shooting has started to heat up. Over the two games, Mercer has shot over 50 percent from the floor. On Saturday, Mercer shot 55.7 percent (34-for-61) in the win over Samford. It was the sixth time this season the Bears have shot over 50 percent from the floor.

STAIR JOINS 1,000-POINT CLUB
Ethan Stair became the 41^st member of the 1,000-point club in Mercer history on Saturday afternoon in Birmingham, Ala. Stair scored his 1,000th point with 19:36 left in the second half when he opened the half with a three-pointer. He ended the game with 26 points to lead the Bears. He now has 1,017 points in his career and is 40^th in program history. Below are the players he is looking to catch over the next few Bears games. 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           Ethan Stair          1,017
                41           Dartez Talbott   1,014

CATAMOUNTS FROM DEEP
Western Carolina finds itself in the top 15 in two offensive categories in the nation. The Catamounts are ranked fourth in the NCAA for three-pointers made per game (10.5) and 14^th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (38.7). Western Carolina is second in the SoCon in made three-pointers per game as VMI ranks second in the nation.

SENIOR CLASS AWARD
On Friday, Jan. 17, 30 NCAA Men's Basketball student-athletes who excel both on and off the court were selected as candidates for the 2019-20 Senior CLASS Award and senior Ethan Stair was one of the selections. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. The men's candidates will be narrowed to a field of 10 finalists in February, and those names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four C's of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2020 NCAA Men's Final Four® and NCAA Women's Final Four® this spring. For more information on each of the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.

GREG GARY COACH'S SHOW
The Greg Gary Coach's Show is underway from Margaritas in Mercer Village. 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 next Greg Gary Coach's Show will be on Monday, Jan. 27^th.

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
The Bears hit the road to face VMI on Saturday, Jan. 25 in Lexington, Va. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. from Cameron Hall.

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.