Mercer Hosts The Citadel in the SoCon Game of the Week

Saturday, February 1

Macon, Ga.

4:30 p.m.

Mercer University

The Citadel

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Mercer Hosts The Citadel in the SoCon Game of the Week

1/31/2020 3:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Mercer Game Notes The Citadel Game Notes

Men’s Basketball looks to extend winning streak to six games

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team returns to Hawkins Arena on Saturday when the Bears host The Citadel in the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m.

Saturday is Middle Georgia Education Day. Sign up today for your complimentary tickets to the game by clicking here.

GAME DAY LINEUP
Date: Feb. 1, 2020 | 4:30 p.m. (ET)
Teams: The Citadel (6-14, 0-9 SoCon) at Mercer (11-11, 5-4 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena
Live Stats: MercerBears.com/LiveStats
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, 16-7
• Current Streak: L2
• Last Meeting: L, 67-61 (Feb. 9, 2019)

OPENING TIPOFF
Mercer Men's Basketball returns to Hawkins Arena on Saturday, Feb. 1 when they host The Citadel in Southern Conference action. The matchup between the Bears and Bulldogs is the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. ET and will be aired on ESPN3, Nexstar, 100.9 The Creek FM and Sportsmic Radio with Rick Cameron on the call.

ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
The Citadel enters the contest with Mercer with a record of 6-14 on the season and is 0-9 in Southern Conference action…. The Bulldogs are currently on a nine-game losing streak, and their last win came on Dec. 19, 2019, when they defeated Longwood 102-99 in triple-overtime… They are scoring 78.4 points per game, the second-most in the SoCon… The Citadel is shooting 43.5 percent from the floor and 32.9 percent on three-pointers… The Bulldogs have shot 590 three-pointers on the season, the fourth-most in the Southern Conference… Junior Kaiden Rice leads a trio of scorers averaging just over 13 points per game… Rice leads the team averaging 13.7 points, while Kaelon Harris (13.6 ppg), and Hayden Brown (13.3 ppg) follow… Harris leads the team in rebounding as he is collecting 7.8 rebounds per game… Opponents are scoring 79.7 points per game and are shooting 44.1 percent from the floor against the Bulldogs… The Citadel is led by Duggar Baucom, who is in his fifth season at the helm.

LAST TIME OUT
Mercer extended its winning streak to five wins on Wednesday night following a 71-55 win at ETSU. The victory for the Bears was their first win over ETSU since Feb. 28, 2015, and snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Bucs. Mercer shot 64.3 percent in the game and were led by Djordje Dimitrijevic, who scored 18 points. Maciej Bender scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Ethan Stair and victor Bafutto rounded out the double figure scorers with 11 points and 10 points, respectively. The Bears were the first team this season to win at Freedom Hall Civic Center.

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.

SINGLE GAME SoCON SCORING LEADERS
The Bears Djordje Dimitrijevic scored 34 points on Jan. 11 against Western Carolina. The 34 points are the third-highest single-game total in the Southern Conference. Jordan Lyons (Furman) scored 40 points at VMI earlier this year and last weekend Josh Sharkey (Samford) scored 35 against Chattanooga. Below are the top five SoCon scorers this season.

Name (Team)                                    Points                   Opponents (Date)
Jordan Lyons (Furman)                  40                           at VMI (1/1/20)
Josh Sharkey (Samford)                 35                           vs. Chattanooga (1/29/20)
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)

DIMITRIJEVIC OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
Senior Djordje Dimitrijevic had an outstanding January on the court. Over the Bears first 14 games of the season, Dimitrijevic was averaging 14.5 points per game and shooting 37.9 percent from the floor. In eight games in January, Dimitrijevic averaged 23.9 points per game, shot 55.2 percent from the floor and 48.2 percent from behind the arc. He scored a career-high 34 points on Jan. 11 at Western Carolina and he hit a career-best six three-pointers against VMI and at Samford. After January, Dimitrijevic averages increased. He is now averaging 18.0 points per game and shooting 45.4 percent from the floor and 41.0 percent from behind the arc.

DIMITRIJEVIC THREE-POINT STREAK
Three SoCon student-athletes have streaks of at least 19 games with a made three-pointer. The Bears Djordje Dimitrijevic has made a three-pointer in 20 straight games. Dimitrijevic is the second-longest streak in the SoCon. The SoCon leader for consecutive games hitting a three-pointer is Brandon Allen of Samford. He is currently at 24 straight games hitting a three-pointer.

Player (School)                                 Streak
Brandon Austin (Samford)           24
Djordje Dimitrijevic (Mercer)     20
Matt Halvorsen (WCU)                  19

LONGEST WINNING STREAKS IN SoCON
Mercer has won five straight games and is tied for the longest win streak in the Southern Conference. The Bears are tied with UNCG, who has also won five straight. Both win streaks will be on the line on Saturday. Mercer hosts The Citadel, while UNCG travels to ETSU.

SoCON WIN STREAK
The Bears look to win their sixth straight Southern Conference action on Saturday. The last time the Bears won six 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.

ANOTHER DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR STAIR
Entering his senior season with only two career double-doubles, Ethan Stair has become a double-double machine. On Wednesday night in the victory over ETSU, Stair picked up his ninth double-double of the season as he scored 11 points and collected a team-high 15 rebounds in the victory. This is his second double-double in three games. His nine double-doubles are second in the Southern Conference and are 26th best in the NCAA.

STAIR LEADS BEARS IN REBOUNDING
Senior Ethan Stair leads the Bears in rebounding this season. He is averaging 9.1 rebounds per game. His 9.1 average per game is second in the Southern Conference. Carlos Dotson (WCU) leads the league averaging 9.2 rebounds per game.

LAST MEETING BETWEEN THE CITADEL AND MERCER
The last meeting between the Bulldogs and Bears came on Feb. 9, 2019, at Hawkins Arena. The Bears came up short in a 67-61 loss to The Citadel. Stair tallied 19 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the defeat. He was the only Bear to hit for double figures, as the Bears shot just 35.5 percent from the field, 28 percent from three-point range and 44 percent from the free throw line. Graduate transfer Lew Stallworth led The Citadel with 27 points while Hayden Brown turned in a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

SHOOTING OVER 60 PERCENT FROM THE FLOOR
In the win over ETSU on Wednesday night, the Bears shot 64.3 percent (27-of-42) from the floor. This is the best single game shooting percentage of the season. The last time Mercer shot over 60 percent in a contest was on Feb. 10, 2018, when Mercer shot 65.1 percent (28-of-43) in a win at Chattanooga.

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 1,053 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          1,053

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 Wednesday, Feb. 5, when they travel to Greenville, S.C. to face Furman. Tipoff from Timmons Arena is set for 7 p.m.

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.