Under the Radar Game of the Day: Mercer at Chattanooga, 7:00 PM Eastern, socondigitalnetwork.com
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After a thrilling overtime game last night between Alabama State and Grambling (what? did some other game go into a few overtimes too?), the UTR Game of the Day heads down to Chattanooga, Tennessee as the Mercer Bears are in town to take on the hometown Mocs. The visiting Bears enter play today with a record of 11-3, including being 1-0 in early SoCon play. Their wins on the season include a few major conference teams, including a home court win over George Mason, neutral court win over Tulane, and a win in Little Rock over Arkansas. The Bears feature a balanced scoring attack. In the Arkansas win, Stephon Jelks led the way with an impressive 20 points and 15 rebounds, while Jestin Lewis added another 20 points and 9 boards. Phillip Leonard was the top player in their last game, a win over Samford, with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Although we did not expect much from this Mercer team heading into the season, they have once again outperformed expectations to this point, proving that Bob Hoffman may just be one of the most under-rated coaches in the entire country.
The Bears have a huge test on their hands tonight as they battle the SoCon favorites in Chattanooga. The Mocs are currently 12-2 on the season and have already picked up road wins at Georgia, Illinois and Dayton. Their two losses were at Iowa State (certainly understandable) and a tough loss at Louisiana-Monroe. However, with the three key wins on their profile, we believe that if they are able to dominate conference play, they will get a very serious look from the NCAA Tournament selection committee, even if they slip up in the conference tournament. Although the Mocs have lost their top player, Casey Jones, to injury, they have not lost a step. In fact, they are 6-0 without Jones including the win at Dayton. KJ Bates (15 points against Dayton) and Tre’ McLean (18 points and 9 rebounds against The Citadel) have helped to pick up the load offensively. The Mocs will looks to them and their teammates to help once again tonight as a win will clearly establish Chattanooga as the team to beat in the Southern Conference whiles a loss will make us here at HoopsHD and the rest of the SoCon much more aware of this Mercer team.