Men’s Basketball Travels to Johnson City to Face ETSU

Wednesday, January 29

Johnson City, Tenn.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

ETSU

Photo by: Judy Stapleton

Men’s Basketball Travels to Johnson City to Face ETSU

1/28/2020 1:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Mercer Game Notes

Men’s Basketball looks to extend its winning streak to five straight

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team heads to Johnson City, Tenn. to face Southern Conference leader ETSU on Wednesday evening. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. from Freedom Hall Civic Center. The Bears will be looking to extend its winning streak to five games.

GAME DAY LINEUP
Date: Jan. 29, 2020 | 7 p.m. (ET)
Teams: Mercer (10-11, 4-4 SoCon) at ETSU (18-3, 7-1 SoCon)
Location: Johnson City, Tenn. | Freedom Hall Civic Center
Live Stats: ETSUBucs.com
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, 23-8
• Current Streak: L10
• Last Meeting: L, 88-69 (Feb. 16, 2019)

OPENING TIPOFF
Mercer Men's Basketball travels to Johnson City, Tenn. to face league leading ETSU 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.

ABOUT THE BUCS
ETSU enters the matchup with the Bears with the best mark in the Southern Conference…. The Bucs come into the contest with an 18-3 mark and 7-1 in SoCon play… They have won five straight, the longest active win streak in the SoCon… In the Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, the Bucs are ranked fourth, the highest SoCon school… The last loss for ETSU came on Jan. 4 at Furman… The Bucs are averaging 77.0 points per game and are shooting 47.2 percent from the floor… They are outscoring its opponents by 15 points per game…. Bo Hodges leads the Bucs in scoring averaging 13.5 points per game… He is one of three players scoring in double-figures… Tray Boyd (13.0 ppg) and Jeromy Rodriguez (10.7 ppg) round out the double-figure scorers… ETSU is allowing its opponents to score 62.0 points per game…. Opponents are shooting 41.1 percent from the floor…. Behind the arc, ETSU is holding their opponents to shoot 28.4 percent, which is the 17^th best in the NCAA… ETSU is a perfect 12-0 at home and are the only team in the league that has a perfect home record… ETSU is led by Steve Forbes, who is in his fifth season at the helm.

LAST TIME OUT
Mercer extended its winning streak to four wins on Saturday, following a 69-66, victory over VMI. During the contest, Djordje Dimitrijevic scored 25 points, which was his sixth straight contest scoring 20 or more points. Fifteen of Dimitrijevic's 25 points came from behind the arc. Kamar Robertson followed with 16 points, which tied his career-high. Jeff Gary added 11 points to round out the double-figure scorers. Mercer hit 11 three-pointers in the win, with seven coming in the second half.

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 five games for Mercer, Dimitrijevic has played 35.2 minutes per game and is averaging 26.8 points per game. He is shooting 54.5 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 19 made three-pointers over this stretch. He has led Mercer to a 4-1 record over the last three games.

DIMITRIJEVIC THREE-POINT STREAK
Four SoCon student-athletes have streaks of at least 18 games with a made three-pointer. The Bears Djordje Dimitrijevic has made a three-pointer in 19 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 23 straight games hitting a three-pointer.

Player (School)                                 Streak
Brandon Austin (Samford)           23
Alex Hunter (Furman)                    20
Djordje Dimitrijevic (Mercer)     19
Matt Halvorsen (WCU)                  18

LONGEST WINNING STREAKS IN SoCON
When the Bears and Bucs hit the court Wednesday night, the two longest winning streaks in the Southern Conference will be on the line. The Bucs have won five straight games, the longest streak in the SoCon, while the Bears have won four straight, the second-longest streak in the conference.

SoCON WIN STREAK
The Bears look to win their fifth straight Southern Conference action on Wednesday. The last time the Bears won five 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
Ethan Stair recorded his eighth double-double of the season, last Wednesday against Western Carolina. 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 8.8 rebounds per game. His 8.8 average per game is tied for second in the Southern Conference. Carlos Dotson (WCU) leads the league averaging 9.2 rebounds per game. Stair is tied with James Dickey of UNCG for second.

LAST MEETING BETWEEN ETSU AND MERCER
The last meeting between the Bucs and Bears took place on Feb. 16, 2019 in Johnson City, Tenn. ETSU came away with an 88-69 victory over Mercer on Saturday afternoon at Freedom Hall. Ethan Stair led the Bears with 18 points, while Ross Cummings scored 17; all of those coming in the second half. Mercer went the final 8:55 of the opening half without scoring a field goal and put themselves at a deficit that they weren't able to recover from. ETSU featured balanced scoring with four players in double figures. Daivien Williamson tallied 16, while Jeromy Rodriguez scored 14 and grabbed seven rebounds. Tray Boyd III delivered a double-double with 10 points and 11 assists, while Lucas N'Guessan had 12 points and eight rebounds.

BEARS WINNING ON THE ROAD
The Bears will be looking for its fifth win on the road this season on Saturday in Johnson City, Tenn. 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. on Jan. 18 when the Bears defeated Samford, 90-75. He now has 1,042 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.

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          1,042

SoCON GAME OF THE WEEK
Saturday's matchup between Mercer and The Citadel will be the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week. This will be the second time this season the Bears will be featured as the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week.

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, Feb. 3^rd.

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 Saturday, Feb. 1 when they host The Citadel in Southern Conference action. Action will start at 4:30 p.m. from Hawkins Arena. The Bears and Bulldogs will meet in the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week.

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.