Men’s Basketball Heads to VMI

Saturday, January 25

Lexington, Va.

1 p.m.

Mercer University

VMI

1/24/2020 1:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Mercer Game Notes VMI Game Notes

Mercer heads to VMI looking to extend its winning streak

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team heads to Lexington, Va. to face VMI in the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. from Cameron Hall on the campus of VMI.

The Bears will be looking for its fourth straight win on Saturday.

GAME DAY LINEUP
Date: Jan. 25, 2020 | 1 p.m. (ET)
Teams: Mercer (9-11, 3-4 SoCon) at VMI (6-15, 1-7 SoCon)
Location: Lexington, Va. | Cameron Hall
Live Stats: VMIKeydets.com
Radio: 100.9 The Creek FM and SportsMic – Rick Cameron
TV: ESPN3
Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB

SERIES HISTORY
• Overall: Mercer leads in the all-time series, 11-3
• Current Streak: W1
• Last Meeting: W, 73-62 (Jan. 15, 2020)

OPENING TIPOFF
Mercer Men's Basketball travels to Lexington, Va. to face VMI in Southern Conference action on Saturday. The contest between VMI and Mercer is the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. ET and will be aired on ESPN3, Nexstar (WMUB), 100.9 The Creek FM and Sportsmic Radio with Rick Cameron on the call.

ABOUT THE KEYDETS
VMI enters the second matchup with the Bears with a 6-15 overall mark and 1-7 in Southern Conference action… The Keydets won its first Southern Conference game of the season on Saturday, Jan. 18 when they defeated The Citadel, 88-79, in Lexington, Va… In the last matchup on Wednesday night, the Keydets were defeated 66-54, by Wofford… This season, the Keydets are averaging 72.5 points per game and are shooting 43.1 percent from the floor…. VMI is averaging 10.9 made three-pointers per game this season, which is the best in the Southern Conference and the second-best in the NCAA… VMI also ranks second in the nation in total made three-pointers with 228 and seventh in the nation in assists with 348… The Keydets have attempted 624 three-pointers, which is the second-most in the NCAA… Travis Evee leads the Keydets in scoring averaging 13.0 points per game… Kamdyn Curfman leads the team with 56 made three-pointers… Opponents are averaging 69.4 points per game and opponents are shooting 44.0 percent per game.

LAST TIME OUT
Mercer extended its winning streak to three games on Wednesday evening following an 85-79 victory over Western Carolina in SoCon action. For the fifth straight contest, Djordje Dimitrijevic scored over 22 points. Dimitrijevic finished with a game-high 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Jeff Gary followed with a career-high 20 points. Ethan Stair recorded his eighth double-double of the season with a 17 points, 13 rebound performance. Mercer shot 48.3 percent from the floor in the win.

SoCON GAME OF THE WEEK
Saturday's matchup at VMI will be the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week. This the first of two times the Bears will be featured in the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week. The next time the Bears will be in the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week is Saturday, Feb. 1 when they host The Citadel at Hawkins Arena.

SINGLE GAME SoCON SCORING LEADERS
The Bears Djordje Dimitrijevic scored 34 points on Jan. 11 against 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 OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
Senior Djordje Dimitrijevic has been heating up on the offensive end of the court for the Bears. Over the last four games for Mercer, Dimitrijevic has played 34.8 minutes per game and is averaging 27.3 points per game. He is shooting 56.7 percent from the floor and 50.0 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 two of the last three ballgames. He has made 17 made three-pointers over this stretch. He has led Mercer to a 3-1 record over the last three games.

DIMITRIJEVIC NAMED SoCON PLAYER OF THE WEEK
On Tuesday, Djordje Dimitrijevic was named the Men's Basketball Player of the Week presented by GEICO. Over the two games last week, he averaged 25.5 points per game leading the Bears to their first two league wins. For the week, Dimitrijevic shot 60.7 percent from the floor (17-for-28), 63.2 percent from 3-point range (12-for-19) and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line (83.3 percent), averaging 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

DIMITRIJEVIC THREE-POINT STREAK
Five SoCon student-athletes have streaks of at least 17 games with a made three-pointer. The Bears Djordje Dimitrijevic has made a three-pointer in 18 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 22 straight games hitting a three-pointer.

Player (School)                                 Streak
Brandon Austin (Samford)           22
Alex Hunter (Furman)                    19
Djordje Dimitrijevic (Mercer)     18
Kaiden Rice (The Citadel)              17
Matt Halvorsen (WCU)                  17

SoCON WIN STREAK
The Bears look to win its fourth straight Southern Conference action on Saturday. The last time the Bears won four 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.

PICKING UP DOUBLE-DOUBLES
In Wednesday night's victory over Western Carolina, Ethan Stair recorded his eighth double-double of the season. It was his first double-double since Dec. 28, 2019, against Milligan. This season, the Bears have recorded 12 double-doubles.

STAIR LEADS BEARS IN REBOUNDING
Senior Ethan Stair leads the Bears in rebounding this season. He is averaging 8.9 rebounds per game. His 8.9 average per game is third in the Southern Conference. Only Carlos Dotson (WCU) and James Dickey (UNCG) are in front of him. Dotson and Dickey are averaging 9.0 rebounds per game.

LAST MEETING BETWEEN VMI AND MERCER
The last meeting between the Keydets and Bears took place only 10 days ago in Macon, Ga. on Jan. 15. The Bears trailed by 11 points, 38-27, at halftime before catching fire in the second half. Mercer shot 60.7 percent from the floor en route to a 73-62 victory. The win for Mercer was the first in Southern Conference action. Djordje Dimitrijevic scored 26 points in the contest (19 in the second half) to lead the Bears. Dimitrijevic hit a career-high six three-pointers in the win. As a team, Mercer hit 11 three-pointers, which was the fourth time this season hitting 10 or more in a game.

BEARS WINNING ON THE ROAD
The Bear will be looking for its fourth win on the road this season on Saturday in Lexington, Va. Last season the Bears were 2-12 on the road. During the 2017-18 season, Mercer went 7-9 on the road. The seven wins is the most road wins for the Bears over the last four years.

STAIR CLIMBING UP THE SCORING RANKS
Ethan Stair joined the 1,000-point club in in Birmingham, Ala. as the Bears defeated Samford, 90-75. He now has 1,034 points in his career and is tied for 37th 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 Stair is looking to catch are below.

1,000 Point Scorers (No. 30-35)
                Rk.         Name                    Pts
                30           Jerry Thurston   1,099
                31           Bob Reeves        1,097
                32           Tony Bolds          1,085
                33           Demetre Rivers 1,065
                34           Seve Moody       1,064
                35           Bud Thomas       1,059
                T37         Ethan Stair          1,034

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 return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 29 when they travel to Johnson City, Tenn. to face ETSU in Southern Conference action. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. from Freedom Hall Civic 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.