December 26, 2011

Men's Basketball Resumes Life on the Road at Tulsa on Wednesday

TULSA, Okla. – Mercer men’s basketball team will resume its “road warrior” status when it travels to the University of Tulsa on Wednesday evening (8:30 p.m. Central/9:30 p.m. Eastern). After playing three games in five days prior to a four-day break for Christmas, this will be the Bears’ fourth-straight game away from home.

Mercer also shares the best overall record in the Atlantic Sun Conference (along with USC Upstate and Belmont) at 8-5 in 2011-12.

After an overtime loss at Seton Hall on Dec. 18 and a second-half collapse that denied the Bears any chance for a win at Georgia two days later, MU dispatched Georgia Tech last Thursday (Dec. 22) to gain a head of steam heading into Christmas.

At a time of the year when UPS was at its busiest, Mercer head coach Bob Hoffman found out what “Brown” can do for him…sophomore center Monty Brown, that is. The Liberty Mounds, Okla., native had a career-high 13 points off the Mercer bench in just 12 minutes of court time in the big win over Tech. Brown hit four-of-six from the field and was five-of-eight from the free throw line, including eight first-half points.

Brown led a quartet of Bears in double-digit scoring. Fellow sophomore Bud Thomas had a well-balanced effort of 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists and three steals against the Yellow Jackets. Daniel Coursey and Jakob Gollon both added 10 points.

Coursey blocked three Tech shot attempts to raise his season total to 29 rejections.

On the year, sophomore point guard Langston Hall tops the MU team in scoring at 13.1 p.p.g.  Hall is also the Bears’ top assist man with 3.9 “helps” per game. Senior Justin Cecil is at 10.8 p.p.g., followed by Jakob Gollon at 10.4.

Goillon leads Mercer in rebounds at 5.8 caroms per game.

THE SERIES:

This will be the first-ever meeting between Mercer and Tulsa in men’s basketball.

SCOUTING TULSA:

Tulsa is 5-7 overall and has not played in more than a week. UT opened the season with three-consecutive wins but, since that time, the Golden Hurricane have dropped six of their last eight contests.

Five of Tulsa’s seven losses have been by four points or less, including setbacks to Northwestern, Oklahoma State and Arizona State. Only Wichita State and #21-ranked Ceighton have beaten the Golden Hurricane by more than four points this season.

UT averages a stingy 64.9 points allowed on defense and is out-rebounding its opponents by 6.6 boards per game.

Tulsa also averages 5.2 blocked shots per game.

On offense, the Golden Hurricane averages 6.1 three-point baskets made per game and sports a scoring average of 65.8 p.p.g. as a team. Tulsa shoots better than 43 percent from the field and 36 percent from three-point range.

A trio of Golden Hurricane players average in double-figure scoring, led by Jordan Clarkson’s 15.3 p.p.g. Scottie Haralson and Steven Idlet average 12.2 and 10.3 p.p.g., respectively.

Kodi Maduka (6.4 rebounds per game) and D.J. Magley (6.3 rebounds per game) top Tulsa on the glass.

Doug Wojcik (128-85) is in his seventh season as Tulsa’s head coach.

The Golden Hurricane is coming off of an 83-64 loss at home to #21 Creighton on December 19. Jordan Clarkson tallied 14 points to pace UT, while Tim Peete chipped in 12. Peete also had team highs with four assists and five steals.

GAME NOTES:

- Both Mercer and Tulsa rank among the nation’s best shot-blocking teams, averaging 5.2 and 5.0 blocks per game, respectively, as a team.

- The Bears and Golden Hurricane both enter the game with similar numbers in other areas, as well. In scoring offense, MU is at 65.4 p.p.g., while Tulsa is at 64.9 p.p.g. Both teams also average better than 15 turnovers per game (Mercer at 15.2 t.p.g. and UT at 15.3 t.p.g.). From the field, Tulsa shoots .433 percent and MU .441 percent.

- With the game at Tulsa, it marks the second straight year during which the Bears have taken on a member of the Conference-USA. Last season, Mercer lost at UTEP (87-74 on 11/14/10) as a part of the Legend’s Classic tournament.

 

- In the RealTime RPI.com ranking for games through Dec. 24, Mercer moved up to #101 with a strength of schedule rating of #167. Tulsa has an RPI index of #191 and a strength of schedule rank at #112.

- Heading back to the state of Oklahoma is a personal homecoming for MU head coach Bob Hoffman. He is a native of Oklahoma City and was an assistant coach at Oklahoma for two seasons (2004-06). Hoffman was also the head coach at Oklahoma Baptist from 1990-99, earning 6 NAIA tourney appearances (including two national runners-up). Hoffman was also the head coach of the women’s basketball team at Southern Nazarene...where he won an NAIA national championship in 1988-89. He is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist (1979), where he was a 1,000 point scorer.

- Two Bears’ team members also hail from the state of Oklahoma: Marquisse Jackson (r-Jr./Bartlesville, Okla.) and Monty Brown (So./Liberty Mounds, Okla.). 

- MU’s battle versus Tulsa is the last of five first-time opponents seen by the Bears in 2011-12 (with a 2-2 record coming in). All three teams in the CBE Classic sub-regionals in Macon (Nov. 21-23) – Sam Houston State (w. 60-38), Niagara (w. 74-55) and South Dakota State (l. 61-74) – had never played Mercer in men’s basketball prior.  Additionally, MU played its inaugural meeting versus Seton Hall on Dec. 18 (lost in OT).