January 27, 2011

Mercer Looking for Second-Consecutive Victory on the Road

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Mercer University's men's basketball team would like nothing more than to continue the momentum it picked up with last Tuesday's road win and keep the ball rolling on Saturday when the team takes on USC Upstate at the G.B. Hodge Center. The game, with a 2 p.m. tip-off, will be the second of three-successive road contests for the Bears (7-14, 4-6 A-Sun), which began with a 78-70 win at Kennesaw State earlier in the week.

The last time these teams met back on January 5 in Macon, the Bears used the opportunity to snap a four-game losing streak at the time thanks to their 70-59 win. This time, Mercer will be looking to earn its second-straight win, while the Spartans are currently on a 12-game slide and have not won at home since upsetting the A-Sun's current second-place team – East Tennessee State – 60-59 back on December 5.

Mercer's game at KSU was also just the team's second game playing minus leading scorer and assist man, Jeff Smith, who suffered a knee injury a little over a week ago at the end of the overtime win versus Jacksonville. In each of the games since Jeff Smith's injury a different Bear reserve as stepped forward with a big game. In the loss to North Florida it was Chris Smith.

At Kennesaw Tuesday evening, it was Justin Cecil. Cecil, a junior transfer who started the first nine games of the season before being shuttled out of his starting role, came off the Bears' bench to score 13 points – 10 in the second half alone as MU broke a 36-36 halftime deadlock – by going 3-for-5 from the field (all from three-point range) and was 4-for-4 from the free throw stripe.

Senior forward Brandon Moore led Mercer with 22 points, equaling his career high point game (he also had 22 at Belmont on Dec. 2, 2010). Moore is averaging 12.1 points per game and a team-leading 6.6 rebounds per contest. He is second among the regulars in field goal percentage at 48.6 percent on the year.

Fellow senior Brian Mills has upped his season scoring average to 14.6 p.p.g., thanks in large part to his Tuesday effort of 21 points against the Owls (to go along with a team-high nine rebounds). Mills leads MU in shooting at 49.6 percent from the floor, while ranking second in rebounds at 5.9 boards per game.

Senior Mark Hall (6.0 p.p.g.) drained a trio of baskets from beyond the arc and also passed off for four assists at KSU.

SCOUTING USC UPSTATE:

Torrey Craig is the only Upstate player averaging in double-figure scoring at 14.1 points per game. He also tops the Spartans in rebounds at 6.9 caroms per contest.

The balanced Upstate team has five players averaging 5.0 p.p.g. or better.

Babatunde Olumuyiwa averages 7.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. He is also one of the top shooters in the A-Sun at 60.4 percent from the floor.

In its last game, Upstate fell at East Tennessee State University, 67-52, despite out-rebounding the A-Sun's second place team by a 39-30 margin. Olumuyiwa and Carter Cook each scored 11 points to pace the Spartans' offense. Each also pulled in seven rebounds in the loss.

LAST MEETING:

In Macon back on January 5, Mercer jumped out to a 30-23 halftime lead and never looked back in scoring a 70-59 win over USC Upsate. The Bears led by as much as 25 points with 5:23 remaining in the game and had to withstand a furious comeback bid by the Spartans down the stretch.

In that last encounter at the University Center, Brian Mills tallied a career-high 30 points by making good on 11-of-17 shots from the field and also grabbing 12 rebounds for Mercer.

Jeff Smith had 14 points and Brandon Moore added 12 for MU.

Upstate was led by Babatunde Olumuyiwa's 13 points. Torrey Craig and Josh Chavis had 12 points each, while Ricardo Glenn finished off the quartet of double-digit scorers for the Spartans with 10 points.

GAME NOTES:

*This is the seventh meeting between USC Upstate and the Bears, with Mercer holding a 4-2 advantage in the all-time series. MU has won the last three meetings (with Upstate's last victory in the series coming on 2/26/09 in Spartanburg, S.C., a 93-90 overtime game).

*On Mercer's last trip to USC Upstate's home floor (on 1/14/10) - the Hodge Center - the Bears and Spartans battled down to the wire. Upstate had a potential game-tying three-point attempt as the clock expired for MU's 60-57 win.

*Brian Mills' 21 points at Kennesaw was his 16th double-figure scoring game in 21 contests this season, including hitting that mark in 13 of the team's last 14 games. He has five 20-point games in his career - all this season - as well as 38 career double-digit scoring games.

*Mercer's eight turnovers at Kennesaw State last Tuesday is its lowest total since making just seven miscues in its win over Belmont (3/4/10) in the first round last year's A-Sun tournament. It is also the only game this season in which MU has had a single-digit turnover tally.

*This is the Bears' third road swing of three games (or more) in a row away from the University Center this season.