MACON, Ga. (Jan. 7, 2025) – After opening with back-to-back home games to begin Southern Conference play, the ETSU men's basketball team hits the road for the first time in 2025 as the Buccaneers take on Mercer Wednesday night in Macon, Ga. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside Hawkins Arena.
 
GAME INFO
DATE: Wednesday, Jan. 8
TIME: 7 p.m.
LOCATION: Hawkins Arena (Macon, Ga.)
TEAMS: ETSU (8-7, 1-1) at Mercer (9-6, 2-0)
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ (Frank Malloy/Dean Keener)
LIVE STATS: ETSUBucs.com
RADIO: WXSM-AM 640 (Jay Sandos)
TWITTER: @ETSU_MBB
 
ABOUT THE BUCS

• ETSU is 8-7 overall and 1-1 in SoCon play
• The Bucs suffered an 81-78 setback last time out against Wofford
• ETSU shot 54 percent from the field (25-46); however, the Bucs were outscored 47-39 in the second half
• The Blue & Gold are playing their first SoCon road game of the season … ETSU is searching for its first road win since defeating Charlotte by 20 back on Nov. 27
• Jaden Seymour was named SoCon Player of the Week on Monday … In two games last week, Seymour averaged 16.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks … Seymour also notched a triple-double (18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists) in the 84-69 win over VMI last Wednesday
• All eight of ETSU's wins have been by double figures, while six of its seven losses have been decided by nine points or less and three by six points or less
• Quimari Peterson leads the Bucs in scoring at 18.2 points per game, while Jaden Seymour is posting 16.5 points per contest
• Peterson leads the SoCon in scoring and Seymour is fifth
• Quimari Peterson is just one of seven Division I players with at least 250 points, 60 rebounds and 60 assists this season … In 15 games this season, Peterson has totaled 273 points, 66 rebounds and 67 assists … The only other players to hit those numbers are Marquette's Kameron Jones, Rutgers' Dylan Harper, Jacksonville State's Jaron Pierre Jr., Long Beach State's Devin Askey, Detroit Mercy's Orlando Lovejoy and Weber State's Blaise Threatt
• John Buggs III is one of 17 Division I players to make at least 50 three-pointers this season … Buggs 13th nationally in made threes (50) and 19th in three-pointers made per game (3.3)
• Jaden Seymour scored his 1,000th career point and 1,000th point as a Buccaneer in the win over USC Upstate on Nov. 22 … Seymour became the 43rd 1,000-point scorer in program history and now is 28th in program history with 1,160 career points … Seymour needs 12 points to pass Hal Morrison for 27th, 21 points to climb past Micah Williams (2006-11) for 26th, 22 points to pass Wes Stallings (1983-86) for 25th and 24 to pass Isiah Brown (2008-12) for 24th … Overall, Seymour has 1,171 points with 11 of those coming during his freshman season at Wichita State.
• With ETSU's nine made threes on Saturday, the Bucs have made at least one three-pointer in 1,174 straight games – the third-longest streak in the country
• ETSU was picked to finish third in the SoCon Preseason Coaches Poll … The Bucs picked up two first-place votes, while reigning champion Samford was pegged number one and Chattanooga was selected second
• Jaden Seymour and Quimari Peterson landed SoCon preseason honors
• The Bucs return 10 players from last year's 2023-24 roster
• ETSU only lost 8% of its scoring and 9% of its minutes played from last year's roster to the transfer portal – the fewest amount of production from any SoCon program 
• Coach Savage and his staff brought in five new players to complete the 2024-25 roster … The five newcomers include four transfers – Curt Lewis (Missouri), John Buggs III (North Texas), Davion Bradford (Wake Forest) and Roosevelt Wheeler (VCU) … In addition, true freshman Brandon Crawford is the fifth Buccaneer newcomer

ABOUT MERCER   

• Mercer has won three straight and sits 9-6 overall and 2-0 in conference play
• The Bears opened with wins over Chattanooga and VMI last week
• Mercer is 5-0 at home this season
• Four players are averaging double figures in scoring with Ahmad Robinson and Tyler Johnson leading the way at 16.3 and 16.2 points per game, respectively … Alex Holt is averaging 12.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per contest, while Angel Montas Jr. is at 10.8 points per game
• Johnson is a transfer from USC Aiken, where he was teammates with Karon Boyd, while Robinson transferred from New Hampshire and Holt transferred from High Point … Montas Jr. played his first two seasons at Fordham
• As a team, Mercer is averaging 82.9 points per game, which ranks second in the SoCon and 39th nationally … The Bears also rank 13th nationally in steals per game (10.2) and 36th in turnovers forced per game (15.5)
• Mercer is led by first-year head coach Ryan Ridder

SERIES HISTORY

• Wednesday marks the 42nd all-time meeting between ETSU and Mercer
• The Bucs lead the series, 28-13 and have won seven of the last nine against the Bears in Macon
• ETSU swept the season series a year ago with a 54-49 win in Macon and an 80-69 win in Johnson City
• In the two games last year, ETSU held Mercer to 59 points per game, along with a 36 percent clip from the field and 24 percent mark from beyond the arc
• Jaden Seymour and Quimari Peterson both averaged 14.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game last year against the Bears
• As a team, ETSU shot 86 percent at the free throw line (31-36) in last year's series 

UP NEXT
The Bucs return home to host The Citadel Saturday at 4 p.m. inside Freedom Hall.
  
For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball tab.