Men’s Basketball Hosts UNCG Saturday

Saturday, February 15

Macon, Ga.

4:30 p.m.

Mercer University

UNCG

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Photo by: Ben Murray

2/14/2020 1:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Mercer Game Notes

The Bears return to Hawkins Arena on Saturday to host UNCG

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – Mercer men's basketball returns to Hawkins Arena on Saturday when they host UNCG in Southern Conference action. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m.

For tickets for Saturday's game, click here.

GAME DAY LINEUP
Date: Feb. 15, 2020 | 4:30 p.m. (ET)
Teams: UNCG (20-6, 10-3 SoCon) at Mercer (13-13, 7-6 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 the all-time series, 8-7
• Current Streak: L3
• Last Meeting: L, 72-63 (Jan. 1, 2020)

OPENING TIPOFF
The Mercer men's basketball team returns to Hawkins Arena to face UNCG on Saturday. The Southern Conference match is set to tipoff at 4:30 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN3, 100.9 The Creek FM and Sportsmic Radio with Rick Cameron on the call.

ABOUT THE SPARTANS
UNCG enters the contest with the Bears with a record of 20-6 on the season and a mark of 10-3 in the Southern Conference… UNCG has won its last three games and is 7-3 on the road this season… The last loss for the Spartans came on Feb. 1 when they were defeated 82-65 by ETSU… The Spartans are averaging 74.8 points per game… The Spartans are shooting 43.7 percent from the floor and 32.4 percent on three-pointers… They are making 8.9 three-pointers per game… Isaiah Miller leads the team in scoring as he averages 18.2 points per game, the most by any player in the Southern Conference… Miller is shooting 44.7 percent from the floor this season and was the SoCon Preseason Player of the Year… Opponents are being held to 61.0 points per game and are being limited to 41.4 percent shooting… Teams are hitting 6.5 three-pointers per game against the Spartans… UNCG is led by ninth-year head coach Wes Miller.

LAST TIME OUT
After trailing by five points at halftime, the Mercer men's basketball team mounted a strong second half to come back and defeat Wofford, 70-68, Wednesday night at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. Maciej Bender led the Bears with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Djordje Dimitrijevic followed with 17 points. The Bears' defensive pressure limited the Terriers to 8-of-31 shooting on three-pointers. This was Wofford's third-lowest percentage of the season.

DIMITRIJEVIC THREE-POINT STREAK
Djordje Dimitrijevic went 3-for-6 on three-pointers against Wofford and now has hit a three-pointer in 23 straight games. This is the longest streak in the SoCon with a three-pointer made in consecutive games. Matt Halvorsen of Western Carolina was tied with Dimitrijevic, but Halvorsen went 0-for-2 against UNCG to snap his streak. Matt Ryan of Chattanooga, who has made a three-pointer in 15 straight games, holds the second-longest streak in the SoCon for made three-pointers.

Player (School) Streak
Djordje Dimitrijevic (Mercer)     23
Matt Ryan (Chattanooga) 15

BEST SOCON FREE THROW SHOOTING TEAM
Mercer enters the weekend as the best free throw shooting team in the Southern Conference. The Bears are making 73.1 percent of their free throws. They have made 313 of their 428 free throws this season. The Bears free throw percentage is the 99th best in the NCAA. Mercer

LAST WIN AGAINST UNCG
The last time the Bears defeated the Spartans was Feb. 17, 2018, as Mercer came away with a 77-74 victory. Jordan Strawberry poured in a season-high 27 points and Ross Cummings tallied 23 to lead Mercer to a thrilling 77-74 comeback victory over UNCG at Hawkins Arena. It was the Bears' fifth straight win and snapped UNCG's five-game winning streak. Mercer faced a nine-point deficit, 49-40, with 13:49 remaining before mounting a comeback to claim the victory. The Bears went on a 21-11 run over the next seven minutes to take the lead, 61-60, on a Cummings' three point basket with 6:26 remaining. Mercer led the rest of the way and won for the first time against the Spartans since 2016, ending a four-game losing skid against UNCG.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES FOR STAIR
Entering his senior season with only two career double-doubles, Ethan Stair has become a double-double machine. 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. His nine double-doubles are second in the Southern Conference and the 44th best in the NCAA. He now has 11 career double-doubles.

STAIR CLIMBING UP THE SCORING RANKINGS
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 1,100 points in his career and is sitting at No. 30 in program history. In the win at Wofford on Wednesday, Stair passed Jerry Thurston to move into the 30^th spot on the all-time leading scorers list for Mercer. Below are the players he is looking to catch over the next few 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 scorer in Mercer history.

1,000 Point Scorers (No. 26-31)
                Rk.         Name Pts
                26.          Chris Moore 1,120
                27.          Kenny Daugherty 1,118
                28.          Shaddean Aaron               1,115
                29.          Stephon Jelks 1,113
                30.          Ethan Stair 1,100
                31.          Jerry Thurston                   1,099

STAIR CLOSING IN O TOP TEN REBOUNDING SEASON
Senior Ethan Stair has collected 229 rebounds during the 2019-20 season. He is 35 rebounds shy of tying Benton Wade and Woodrow Richardson for ninth single-season Mercer Basketball history.

COLLECTING THE OFFENSIVE BOARDS
Against Furman, the Bears collected 20 offensive rebounds. This is the most in a single game this season. Mercer has collected 10 or more offensive rebounds 12 times this season. They have accomplished this feat in the last two games of the season. For the season, Ethan Stair has collected 45 offensive boards to lead the Bears, while Maciej Bender follows with 44. Eight different Bears have collected at least 10 or more offensive rebounds in 2019-20.

THREE-POINT SHOOTING
This season, seniors Ethan Stair and Djordje Dimitrijevic have each hit six three-pointers in a contest. Stair accomplished this feat at Georgia Southern (11/19), while Dimitrijevic did this twice, against VMI (1/15) and Samford (1/18). The school record for most three-pointers hit in a game is nine, which was accomplished by Bud Thomas against Lipscomb during the 2013-14 season.

LAST MEETING BETWEEN UNCG AND MERCER
The last time the Bears took to the court to face UNCG was Jan. 1. Against the seventh-ranked team in the College Insider MidMajor Top 25, the Bears found themselves down by 18 points, 43-25, at halftime. However, a strong second half, Mercer mounted a comeback and trimmed the Spartans lead down to three, on multiple times, but could not complete the comeback and were defeated 72-63. The Bears shot 53.2 percent from the floor, the second-highest percentage of the season. Ethan Stair led the Bears with 18 points and Djordje Dimititrijevic followed with 17 points. Mercer outrebounded the Spartans 35-31 in the contest. Mercer was six-of-ten on three-pointers.

SURPASSING LAST SOCON WIN TOTAL
On Wednesday night with the win over Wofford, the Bears' surpassed their SoCon win total from the 2018-19 season. Mercer has won seven games in the Southern Conference this season, increasing its total by one from last season. Mercer has five games remaining this season. Since the season 2016-17 season, the most Southern Conference the Bears' have compiled in a season was 11 during the 2017-18 season.

STAIR LEADS THE BEARS IN REBOUNDING
Senior Ethan Stair leads the Bears in rebounding this season. He is averaging 8.9 rebounds per game. His 8.8 average per game is second in the Southern Conference. Stair has 13 games this season with nine or more rebounds. He set his career-high with 16 rebounds against UNCW on Dec. 16, 2019. At ETSU on Jan. 29, Stair finished one rebound shy of his career-high. He has nine games with double-figure rebounds. Stair has collected a career-high 229 rebounds this season.

ONE OF THE TOP DEFENSES IN THE SOCON
With 26 games played, the Spartans defense ranks first in the Southern Conference in holding opponents to the worst shooting percentage in the league. Opponents are shooting 41.4 percent on the Spartans this season. Even though UNCG is holding opponents to shoot 41.4 percent, the last meeting between the Bears and Spartans, Mercer shot 53.2 percent from the floor.

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)
Greg Parham (VMI) 36                           The Citadel (2/8/20)
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)
Jordan Lyons (Furman) 33                           at Western Carolina (2/8/20)

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. 17th.

SOCON CHAMPIONSHIPS
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. 19 when they host Samford at Hawkins Arena. Tipoff 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.