November 13, 2011

Mercer Set to Face No. 25 Mizzou in Big Road Game

 

Pre-Game Notes

 

COLUMBIA, Mo. – After jumping into the frying pan of the 2011-12 season with a Homecoming win on Saturday afternoon, the Mercer men’s basketball team jumps into the fire on Monday evening at No. 25-ranked Missouri. Tip-off at the Mizzou Arena is slated for 7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET.

 

MU head coach Bob Hoffman knows his young Bears team will have their work cut out for them. The Tigers return all five starters from last season’s NCAA tournament team and nine letterwinners overall.

 

“There’s a reason Missouri is ranked 25^th in the nation,” Hoffman said matter-of-factly.  “They are a tremendously quick and athletic team that can create lots of problems for any opponent. Coach (Frank) Haith has done an outstanding job in his first season there.

 

“We will need to have a good effort from all quarters. To take a team like Missouri, we will need to play smart, yet aggressive, on offense. Defensively, we’ve got to be the ones going for every loose ball. Every possession will be important.”

 

SCOUTING MIZZOU:

 

-Haith picked up his first coaching win at Mizzou on Friday evening over Southeast Missouri.

 

-Missouri will be putting its school-record, non-conference 59-game home court winning streak on the line versus Mercer.

 

-In their season opener last Friday, the Tigers broke open a tight game (38-36 at the half) in the second half and scored the 83-68 win over Southeast Missouri in Columbia. Mizzou had four players in double figures: Ricardo Ratliffe (20 pts.), Marcus Denmon (20 pts.), Kim English (19 pts.) and Phil Pressey (10 pts.).Ratliffe and Denmon shared game-high rebound honors with eight boards, apiece.UM shot better than 82 percent (23-27) from the free throw line against the Redhawks.

 

THE SERIES:

Missouri leads the overall series, 3-0. Although, it’s been nearly 15 years since these two teams last meet on the hardwood. On December 19, 1996 the Tigers scored a 90-63 win in Columbia. The entire series actually has a short window, with the first meeting taking place on Dec. 30, 1993 (a 78-50 Mizzou victory) and the second on Dec. 17, 1994 (won by the Tigers, 74-73). All three previous meetings have taken place in Columbia. 

 

GAME NOTES:

 

-In the four trips to Columbia, this will be the first time that Mercer has played in the Mizzou Arena (which opened in 2004). All three of the previous meetings between the schools all took place on the Tigers’ former home floor, The Hearnes Center.

 

-Mercer’s game versus Missouri is a Regional game of the Progressive College Basketball Experience (CBE) Classic. Mizzou will eventually join Notre Dame, Cal and Georgia at the CBE’s championship tourney in Kansas City (Nov. 21-22), while the Bears will be one of two sub-regional sites in the nation (Nov. 21-23) and hosting a round-robin tournament which also involves Sam Houston State, Niagara and South Dakota State.

 

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BEARS:

 

Sophomore Bud Thomas had a career-high of 18 points, while also pulling down nine rebounds in the Bears’ 66-58 win over Emory on Saturday (Nov. 12). Fellow sophomore Daniel Coursey added 13 points and 3 blocks. Redshirt sophomore Jakob Gollon had a great all-around night with 10 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks and 7 assists.

 

BEARS ON THE AIR:

 

Mercer University Athletics has once again renewed its contract with Clear Channel Broadcasting Inc. to serve as the flagship radio network for the University’s men’s basketball games in 2011-12. The broadcaster’s FM station of Peach 96.5 (WPCH) will serve as the flagship station for all broadcasts this season.

All of Mercer’s men's games - home and away - will be broadcast live, including the 2012 A-Sun Basketball Championships (to be played once again this year on the Mercer campus at the University Center).

Rick Cameron, the “Voice of the Bears”, is in his seventh year calling the play-by-play for the Bears. Cameron, who is also Mercer’s senior assistant vice president for marketing communications, returned to the broadcast booth in 2006 after originally doing radio play-by-play in the late 1970’s. Cameron was the longtime public address announcer for both men’s and women’s basketball, as well.

“The Bob Hoffman Report” will also air each week during the season on Tuesday’s at 8:05 a.m. on Fox Sports Radio 1670-AM in middle Georgia (sister station of The Peach) on The Morning Show with Charles Olson and Daniel Shirley.