Western Carolina Catamounts (11-20, 5-13 SoCon) vs. Mercer Bears (15-16, 8-10 SoCon)
Asheville, North Carolina; Friday, 7:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: The Mercer Bears take on the Western Carolina Catamounts in the SoCon Tournament.
The Bears have gone 10-4 at home. Mercer is ninth in the SoCon scoring 70.3 points while shooting 45.1% from the field.
The Catamounts are 5-13 in SoCon play. Western Carolina is 2-2 in one-possession games.
The teams square off for the third time this season. Western Carolina won the last matchup 69-65 on Feb. 19. Marlow Gilmore scored 19 to help lead Western Carolina to the victory, and Jalen Johnson scored 16 points for Mercer.
TOP PERFORMERS: Felipe Haase is scoring 14.9 points per game with 5.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists for the Bears. Johnson is averaging 10 points and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 38.9% over the last 10 games for Mercer.
Nick Robinson averages 1.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Catamounts, scoring 14.8 points while shooting 32% from beyond the arc. Gilmore is averaging 7.9 points and 5.1 rebounds over the last 10 games for Western Carolina.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bears: 3-7, averaging 69.2 points, 28 rebounds, 13.2 assists, 4.8 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 46.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.4 points per game.
Catamounts: 3-7, averaging 63.6 points, 30.6 rebounds, 10.7 assists, four steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 39.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73 points.
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