Game #18 - at Mercer

In the eighteenth game of the season for Western Carolina, the Catamounts travel to Macon to face the home-standing Mercer Bears for their second game of the season.  Since the game in Cullowhee, the Bears have won two games, and the Catamounts are on a two-game slide.



Game #18 - Mercer Bears

When: Wednesday, January 22, 2020, at 7:00 pm
Where: Hawkins Arena, Macon, GA
Radio: Catamount Sports Network
-announcer: Daniel Hooker
TV/video: ESPN+
-announcer:
Live Stats: Mercer Live Stats
Fan Message Board: MU Bear Down
The Series: The series between Western and the Mercer started back in 1978 and Western owns a 9-9 overall record against the Bears. Western owns a 6-5 record in conference play since 2015 when the Bears joined the Southern Conference.
Mercer's  2019-20 record: 8-11 overall, 5-4 away, 2-4 SoCon

Since the two teams met on January 11th in Cullowhee, the two teams have gone in 180-degree different directions, with the Bears winning two SoCon games, while the Cats dropped two SoCon games. Of course, the Bears played teams in the lower third record-wise of the conference, while the Cats played the #1 team in the conference in their two losses.

The Bears rank ninth in the conference in scoring offense, posting an average of  72.2 ppg, while giving up an average of 72.1 ppg.  The Cats rank #2 in scoring with 81.2 ppg and are giving up 74.2 ppg.  The Bears currently have two players scoring in double figures, Djordje Dimitrijevic with 17.3 ppg, and Ethan Stair with 16.5 ppg.

Head Coach Greg Gary, in his first season at the helm of the Bears, had only two starters return from last season's 11-20 team. Not only did the Bears lose two seniors from last season, but they also lost 5 freshmen and one sophomore from that roster, possibly due to the coaching change. While much is made of building a team with transfers for ETSU, the Bears have 3 of 5 transfers as starters, and a total of 5 transfers on the roster.

Mercer’s Djordje Dimitrijevic was named the SoCon Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for games from Jan. 14-20.  Dimitrijevic averaged 25.5 points per game in leading the Bears to their first two league wins.  Dimitrijevic scored 26 points against VMI on Jan. 15, going 9-for-15 from the floor and hitting a career-high six 3-pointers, five in the second half, as the Bears rallied for their first SoCon win of the season, 73-62. The senior guard added two rebounds, an assist, and a steal to help Mercer to the comeback win, shooting 60 percent for the game, including 54.5 percent from 3-point range (6-for-11) as the Bears overcame an 11-point halftime deficit. Three days later at Samford, Dimitrijevic scored 25 points, going 8-for-13 from the floor (61.5 percent) and matching his career-high in made 3s with a 6-for-8 effort (75.0 percent) from beyond the arc. He added five rebounds, five assists, and three steals as the Bears rolled to a 90-75 win and picked up consecutive victories for the first time since mid-November. For the week, Dimitrijevic shot 60.7 percent from the floor (17-for-28), 63.2 percent from 3-point range (12-for-19) and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line (83.3 percent), averaging 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game.


Mercer Probable Starters:
Jeff Gary G R-So. 6-4 180 Austin, Texas / UNCW
Djordje Dimitrijevic G Sr. 6-2 180 Grdelica, Serbia / Western Nebraska
Daniel Love G So. 6-3 170 Orlando, Fla. / Dr. Phillips HS
Ethan Stair G R-Sr. 6-4 205 Hazel Green, Ala. / Hazel Green HS
Maciej Bender F Jr. 6-11 245 Warsaw, Poland / West Virginia