Mercer University
South Carolina
Mercer Visits South Carolina Thursday Night
11/20/2024 11:06:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Tip-Off is at 7 p.m. from Colonial Life Arena
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| ABOUT THE GAME | |
| Date: Thursday, November 21 Time: 7 p.m. Location: Columbia, S.C. I Colonial Life Arena TV: SECN+ Live Statistics: MercerStats.com Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB |
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SERIES HISTORY Thursday's game will be the seventh all-time meeting between Mercer and South Carolina. The Gamecocks lead the series, 4-2. The two teams haven't met since 2001 in Columbia when the Gamecocks won, 88-52. |
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LAST TIME OUT Tyler Johnson scored a season high 26 points while shooting 56 percent from the field but it wasn't enough as Mercer dropped a 75-66 decision to South Alabama Saturday from the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Alabama. After trailing by as many as 18 points in the second half, the Bears made it a one-possession game, cutting the deficit to just two at 68-66 with just over two minutes to go in the game. However, South Alabama was able to get stops defensively and made its free throws down the stretch to hold off the Bears. |
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NEED TO KNOW Defensively Mercer has been aggressive in getting in passing lanes and forcing turnovers as the Bears rank third in the country in steals per game at 14.0 per game. |
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SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA South Carolina is led by third-year head coach Lamont Paris. Paris, the 2024 SEC Coach of the Year and one of four finalists for the Naismith National Coach of the Year, helped engineer the greatest single-season turnaround in program history for the Gamecocks in 2023-24 as the team improved its win total by 15 games. The Gamecocks 26 wins in 2023-24 tied for the most single-season victories in program history with the 2016-17 season. South Carolina is 2-2 on the season and is coming off a 87-71 loss at Indiana on Saturday. The Gamecocks are averaging 77.0 points per game and allowing 69.8 points per game. South Carolina has struggled a bit from three-point range in the early portion of its season as they are making just 29.0 percent of their threes. They make the second fewest three-pointers per game in the SEC at just 6.8 threes per game. South Carolina has three players averaging double figures in scoring led by sophomore forward Collin Murray-Boyles' 15.8 points per game. He's also been an efficient scorer at 59.0 percent from the field. Murray-Broyles also leads the team in rebounding at 9.5 rebounds per game which is fifth most in the SEC. |
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