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Mercer Bears: NCAA Tournament Profile
- Updated: March 11, 2014
Hall leads the balanced Bears, who are a legit threat to make a deep NCAA run. (MercerCluster.com)
Mercer Bears (26-8, 14-4 A-Sun)-While Florida Gulf Coast was running, dunking and charming the nation during their unforgettable run to the Sweet 16 last year, league champion Mercer was sitting home thinking, “that could have been us.”
The Bears won the Atlantic Sun regular season title last season, but fell to FGCU in the conference tournament final. This year, Mercer strolled into Dunk City and captured their first NCAA bid since 1985.
This is a team that could make some tournament noise. Mercer owns wins over Seton Hall and Ole Miss, and lost to Texas by 3 in the season opener. They are one of the most efficient offensive teams in the country, as evidenced by some of the key numbers below. Mercer shoots the ball incredibly well, is a dangerous three-point shooting team, and rebounds well.
The Bears don’t really have a standout player–6-4 senior Langston Hall leads them in ppg at 14.7–but rather have six players who average at least 7 points per game. They share the ball as well as any team in the country and are an unselfish and capable group. 12 guys average at least 9 minutes per game, which is very rare. Hall also averages 5.6 assists per game.
6-5 guard Ike Nwamu (8.1 ppg, 43% 3-pt FG) and 6-2 senior Anthony White Jr. (8.3 ppg, 42% FG) are big-time threats from the outside.
KEY STATS:
Points per Possession 31st (1.1)
Field Goal Percentage 30th (47.5%)
Assists Per Game 10th (16.4)
Rebounds Per Game 37th (38.0)
Rebound Percentage 51st (54%)
Three Point FG Percentage 35th (38.5%)
