December 29, 2010

Bears at Home Thursday vs. Charlotte and Travel to Georgia Tech Friday to Close Out 2010

Charlotte Pre-Game Notes

Georgia Tech Pre-Game Notes

MACON, Ga. – Mercer University's men's basketball squad will close out the calendar year for 2010 with back-to-back games versus Charlotte at home on Thursday (Dec. 30/2 p.m.) and at Georgia Tech on Friday (Dec. 31/1 p.m.) for a New Year's Eve Day game in Atlanta.

These will also be the final non-Atlantic Sun Conference games of the regular season for the Bears (3-8 overall). Charlotte is 6-6 overall, while the Yellow Jackets are 6-5 on the year.

Mercer is coming off of a tough loss, 56-53, at home to Georgia a week ago. In that game, the Bears took the lead with 7:33 left in the first half and did not trail again until 4:53 left in the game (a span of 22:40 minutes on the game clock). MU led by as many as 11 points with 8:32 left to play.

MU's Brian Mills led all scorers with 21 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Mills hit 8-of-14 from the field in equaling his career-scoring best. On the year, the senior is averaging 12.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.

Fellow senior Brandon Moore – returning to the lineup after being knocked out of the game two weeks ago versus Lipscomb after receiving a blow to the head – was the only other Bear in double figures with 10 points against UGA.  Moore also had a pair of blocked shots.  On the year, Moore is scoring at a clip of 11.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest.

Senior guard Jeff Smith leads all Mercer scorers with an average of 14.1 points per game, while also averaging 3.5 assists per contest, as well.

SCOUTING CHARLOTTE:

The 49ers are guided by first-year head coach Alan Major. Sophomore guard Jamar Briscoe leads the 49ers in scoring at 14.3 p.p.g. (Briscoe sat out last season after transferring to Charlotte from N.C. Central, where he was the nation's second-leading freshman scorer in 2008-09). Three of the 49ers' leading scorers from last year's win over Mercer - Green (12.7 p.p.g.), Braswell (9.3 p.p.g.) and Jones (6.5 p.p.g.) - all return to the fold for Major.

In Charlotte's last game, Green had 16 points - including four treys - as the 49ers topped Wright State, 57-53, for their second-consecutive win.

CHARLOTTE GAME NOTES:

 

*Charlotte leads the series between the schools, 1-0, with the lone meeting coming last December 29, 2009 in Charlotte. In that meeting, the 49ers bench out-scored the Bears by a 20-13 margin on the way to the 91-80 win. Shamari Spears and Derrio Green each poured in 23 points to lead a quartet of 49ers in double figures. Chris Braswell added 14 points and Phil Jones contributed 11. Charlotte held a commanding advantage in rebounds, 47-33 (led by 14 caroms from Braswell).

*The first and only meeting also proved to be memorable in Bears' history. Then senior guard James Florence canned a three-point basket at the 18:11 juncture of the second half to pass former NBA standout (and current New Jersey Nets assistant coach) Sam Mitchell and become Mercer's all-time scoring leader with his 1,987th point. Florence, who finished with 22 points versus the 49ers, also became the first MU player to reach the 2,000 point plateau in that game.

*The only common opponent thus far between Mercer and the 49ers is Gardner-Webb University. Charlotte dropped a 78-70 decision to G-WU in its season opener back on November 12, while Mercer was topped 78-65 on November 28 in the Legends Classic subregional at Williamsburg, Va.

*Charlotte defeated then No. 7-ranked Tennessee, 49-48, on December 17 (the second loss in a three-game skid by the Vols). Tennessee snapped the losing skein on December 23 versus Belmont University (Mercer's A-Sun Conference mates), 66-65, thanks to a last-possession basket.

SCOUTING GEORGIA TECH:

GT is currently 6-5 overall and coming off of a loss at Siena on December 22. The Yellow Jackets had a scheduled home game on December 26 canceled when Fordham was unable to travel to Atlanta due to the recent winter storm.

Georgia Tech is led by Iman Shumpert, who is averaging 14.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game to head a trio of GT layers in double-digit scoring. Shumpert also gives out an average of nearly 3.3 assists per game, as well.

Brian Oliver's 12.2 p.p.g. and Glen Rice, Jr.'s 10.5 p.p.g. round out Tech's leading offensive threats. Oliver and Rice, Jr. average 5.4 and 4.8 rebounds per game, respectively.

Rice, Jr. had 15 points and nine boards in the loss to Siena, while Shumpert contributed 10 points.

GEORGIA TECH GAME NOTES:

 

*This will be the 44^th meeting between the Bears and Yellow Jackets, with GT holding the upper hand in the previous meetings, 27-16, and has won the last eight meetings between the schools. Included in that is last season's 85-74 decision in Atlanta, despite MU's James Florence going off for a career-high 40 points in the loss.

*MU has not topped Georgia Tech since the 1973-74 season (1/28/74), when the Bears scored a 102-85 win in Atlanta.

*The first-ever meeting between Mercer and GT took place on January 8, 1909, a 28-7 Tech victory.

*MU and the Yellow Jackets have two common foes this season, thus far: UTEP and Georgia. Georgia Tech defeated UTEP by a 71-61 margin and got nipped by the Bulldogs, 73-72. Mercer lost to both schools, falling at UTEP, 87-74, and dropping a 56-53 tally to Georgia in Macon on December 23. GT was handily defeated by MU's A-Sun Conference mate Kennesaw State, 80-63, back on November 15 (the Bears do not see KSU until January 25).