MACON, Ga. (Jan. 30, 2024) – ETSU men's basketball will close the month of January the same way they opened it – taking on the Mercer Bears. 
 
The Buccaneers eye the series sweep over the Bears as ETSU heads to Macon to face Mercer on Wednesday night inside Hawkins Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. 
 
GAME INFO
DATE: Wednesday, Jan. 31
TIME: 7 p.m. 
LOCATION: Hawkins Arena  
TEAMS: ETSU (10-11, 2-6) at Mercer (9-12, 2-6)  
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ 
LIVE STATS: MercerBears.com
RADIO: WXSM-AM 640 | 104.9 NASH ICON (Jay Sandos)
TWITTER: @ETSU_MBB
 
ABOUT THE BUCS

• ETSU enters Wednesday's game with an overall record of 10-11 and a 2-6 mark in league play 
• The Bucs took league-leader Samford to the limit last time out as ETSU dropped a 75-72 decision to the Bulldogs Saturday inside Freedom Hall 
• Gabe Sisk, one of five Bucs to score in double figures, netted a career-high 15 points 
• Karon Boyd returned to action after missing the last five games as he totaled eight points, seven rebounds and four assists … Boyd led all players by being a plus-13 in 31 minutes of play 
• As a team, ETSU leads the SoCon with 95 total blocks, averaging 4.5 per contest 
• Jadyn Parker, who has registered back-to-back double-doubles, ranks second in the conference with 41 blocks … Parker needs eight more blocks to move into a tie with Isiah Brown (2009-10) for 10^th-most in single-season history 
• As a team, ETSU is averaging 71.7 points per game and allowing 70.7
• Since Feb. 16, 1987 in a game against Davidson, the Bucs have made at least one 3-pointer in 1,145 consecutive games ... ETSU was 0-for-8 in that 1987 game ... With Western Kentucky going 0-for-21 from beyond the arc on Nov. 9 at Wichita State, the Bucs now have the third-longest streak in the country behind Duke and UNLV … UNLV tops the list with 1,212 games
• The 2023-24 Buccaneer roster features 15 players ... ETSU's roster consists of one graduate player, two redshirt juniors, four juniors, one redshirt sophomore, three sophomores and four freshmen … Three players hail from North Carolina and Indiana, and one each from Tennessee, Iowa, West Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Kentucky, Virginia and Maryland
• The Bucs return four players from last year's roster who logged minutes, including starters Jaden Seymour and Allen Strothers, along with Justice Smith and Braden Ilic … Overall, ETSU only returns 29 percent of its scoring, 37 percent of its rebounding and 38 percent of its minutes played in 2022-23 … Seymour totaled 253 points, 218 rebounds and 1,793 minutes, Smith posted 237 points, 111 rebounds and 683 minutes, while Allen Strothers recorded 109 points, 51 rebounds and 776 minutes and Braden Ilic added for 46 points, 33 rebounds and 199 minutes
• After losing three starters and eight players from last year's team, head coach Brooks Savage and his staff brought in 11 new guys for the 2023-24 season … Seven of the Bucs are transfers – Ebby Asamoah (Delaware), Karon Boyd (USC Aiken), DJ Hughes (Butler), Jadyn Parker (North Florida), Quimari Peterson (John A. Logan), Tyler Rice (William & Mary) and Timmy Fasehun (Gulf Coast State College) … Four Bucs are true freshmen – Maki Johnson (Huntington Prep), Gabe Sisk (Ballard HS), Jaxson Jones (The Skill Factory) and David Meriwether (Lawrence North HS)

ABOUT MERCER

• Mercer sits at 9-12 overall and 2-6 in SoCon play
• The Bears are coming off a key road win at UNCG on Saturday where Mercer defeated the Spartans, 70-64
• Mercer is led by Jalyn McCreary as he's averaging 14.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per contest … McCreary – who didn't play in the game back on Jan. 3 in Johnson City – is shooting 52 percent from the field 
• Jake Davis is Mercer's top three-point threat as he leads the team with 40 triples, while he and Jah Quinones are tied with McCreary for the team-leading in rebounds at 4.7 per contest
• As a team, Mercer is averaging 69.8 points per game and allowing 70.9
• The Bears rank third in the SoCon with 7.1 steals per game 

SERIES HISTORY 

• Wednesday marks the 41st all-time meeting with ETSU holding a 27-13 series lead 
• The Bucs defeated Mercer 80-69 back on Jan. 3 in Johnson City
• Jadyn Parker finished with a double-double (10 points/12 rebounds) and Quimari Peterson poured in 22 points, five rebounds and three assists 
• ETSU has won six of the last eight meetings in Macon; however, the Bears have won the last two 
• Three of the games in the series have gone to overtime with the Bucs winning two of them

UP NEXT 
ETSU opens a three-game home stand beginning Saturday when the Bucs host The Citadel at 4 p.m. inside Freedom Hall. Prior to the men's game, the ETSU women's basketball team hosts Wofford at 1:30 p.m.
  
For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball tab.