Men’s Basketball Hosts ETSU Saturday

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team returns to the friendly confines of Hawkins Arena on Saturday when they look for a season sweep of ETSU. The Bears and Bucs are set to tip at 4:30 p.m.

GAME DAY LINEUP
Date: Feb. 8, 2020 | 4:30 p.m. (ET)
Teams: ETSU (20-4, 9-2 SoCon) at Mercer (12-12, 6-5 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, 23-9
• Current Streak: W1
• Last Meeting: W, 71-55 (Jan. 29, 2020)

OPENING TIPOFF
The Mercer men's basketball team returns to the friendly confines of Hawkins Arena on Saturday to take on ETSU in Southern Conference action. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. 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 game with Mercer with an overall record of 20-4 and is 9-2 in the Southern Conference… ETSU is tied with Furman for the SoCon lead… This is the fifth straight season the Bucs have won 20 or more games… In the NET rankings of men's college basketball, ETSU is ranked No. 48… ETSU has won its last two games since the loss to Mercer on Jan. 29… On Wednesday, ETSU defeated Chattanooga, 80-64… ETSU is averaging 76.5 points per game this season, the fourth-best mark in the Southern Conference… ETSU is shooting 47.3 percent from the floor and is shooting 34.1 percent on three-pointers…. The Bucs are hitting 7.7 three-pointers per game this season… Tray Boyd and Bo Hodges lead the team averaging 13.5 points per game… Boyd leads the team with 58 made three-pointers this season… Opponents are scoring 62.5 points per game and are getting held to 28.9 percent from behind the three-point line… ETSU has only allowed 70 or more games in five games this season and are 2-3 when they allow 70 or more points… ETSU is led by Steve Forbes, who is in his fifth season at the helm.

LAST time out
The Mercer men's basketball team suffered its first loss since Jan. 11 on Wednesday evening at Furman. The Bears were defeated by the Paladins, 79-57, in Timmons Arena. The Bears struggled out of the gate as they were outscored 8-2 over the first three minutes of the game. Mercer shot a season-low 33.3 percent from the floor in the loss. Kamar Robertson hit a career-high five three-pointers in the loss and led the Bears with 15 points. Stair collected nine rebounds to lead the team.

Dimitrijevic Three-point streak
Two SoCon student-athletes have streaks of 21 games with a made three-pointer. The Bears' Djordje Dimitrijevic and the Catamounts Matt Halvorsen have made a three-pointer in 21 straight games. They are tied for the longest streak in the SoCon with a three-pointer made in consecutive games.

Player (School)                                 Streak
Djordje Dimitrijevic (Mercer)     21
Matt Halvorsen (WCU)                  21

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 73.3 percent of their free throws. They have made 283 of their 386 free throws this season.

NABC TEAM OF THE WEEK
The Mercer men's basketball team was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team of the Week for games played from Jan. 27 to Feb. 2. The Bears are coming off a perfect 2-0 week in the Southern Conference. With the pair of wins, the Bears extended their winning streak to six straight games. The Bears opened the week on Wednesday with a dominant 71-55 win at league-leading ETSU, which entered the matchup with an 18-3 record. Djordje Dimitrijevic led the way for the Bears with 18 points in the game. Mercer shot 64.3 percent in the victory and became the first team to win on ETSU's home floor this season. Then on Saturday, Mercer forced 18 turnovers in a 76-71 home win over The Citadel. The matchup between the Bears and Bulldogs was the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week. Daniel Love led the Bears with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Kamar Robertson and Diego Rivera followed with 13 points apiece. Rivera's 13 points set a career-high.

double-doubles for stair
Entering his senior season with only two career double-doubles, Ethan Stair has become a double-double machine. Last Wednesday, 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.

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 1,070 points in his career and is sitting at No. 33 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           Ethan Stair          1,070
                34           Demetre Rivers 1,065
                35           Seve Moody       1,064

Winning at Hawkins arena
Mercer is 7-4 at Hawkins Arena during the 2019-20 season. The Bears look for their eighth win of the season at home on Saturday. The Bears have won the last three games played at Hawkins Arena. Since the 2016-17 season, the Bears have won 35 games at home. Mercer has not won less than eight games at home since during this span. Mercer has four more home games to increase its win total at Hawkins Arena.

ETSU at the Free throw line
The Bucs have shot the most free throws in the Southern Conference this season. They have attempted 505 free throws, which ranks 34^th in the nation. However, the Bucs are only shooting 66.9 percent from the free throw line.

Collecting the offensive boards
On Wednesday night, 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 this season.

LOoking at the Southern Conference
As we are closing on the final weeks of the 2019-20 regular season, teams in the Southern Conference are still playing for a lot. ETSU and Furman lead the SoCon with a record of 9-2. However, UNCG and Wofford are only a game back as they are 8-3 on the season. Sitting two games out of first place is Western Carolina with a record of 7-4. Mercer currently sits in sixth place with a record of 6-5 on the season are only two games out of third place. The Bears still have two games against Wofford and one against UNCG. Stay tuned to see how the SoCon will finish out this season!

Last meeting between ETSU and Mercer
Earlier this season, the Bucs and Bears met in Johnson City, Tenn. Mercer defeated the Bucs, 71-55, handing ETSU its first loss in Freedom Hall Civic Center. The Bears shot 64.3 percent from the floor, the highest they have shot since Feb. 10, 2018, when they shot over 60 percent at Chattanooga. Mercer played solid defense against the Bucs as they held ETSU without a three-pointer in the second half and limited them to 3-of-22 shooting from behind the arc. The win for the Bears snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Bucs.

SoCon win total
With seven games remaining for the 2019-20 season, the Bears are looking to eclipse their 2018-19 Southern Conference win number. This season the Bears have won six conference games, which ties the number of wins they had last 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 8.9 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 off his career-high. He has nine games with double-figure rebounds.

Closing stretch
With only seven games remaining in the 2019-20 regular season, time is running out to see the Bears play. Mercer has four home games left this season, including hosting ETSU (Feb. 8), UNCG (Feb. 15), Samford (Feb. 19) and Wofford (Feb. 29). The Bears are 7-4 in games played at Hawkins Arena this season.

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)

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. 10th.

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. 12 when they travel to Spartanburg, S.C. to face Wofford in Southern Conference. 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.

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Players Mentioned

Maciej Bender

Djordje Dimitrijevic

Daniel Love

Diego Rivera

Kamar Robertson

Ethan Stair

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