Mercer Bears
Record: 26-8
Head coach: Bob Hoffman (6th season)
Season summary: After a 29-year drought, the Bears are back in the NCAA tournament to take on Duke. Langston Hall leads Mercer in points and assists per game with 14.7 and 5.6 respectively, and is the only player on the team to average double-digit scoring. The Bears finished 14-4 in the Atlantic Sun Conference and were able to secure a bid to the Big Dance after exacting revenge on last year’s NCAA tournament fan-favorite Florida Gulf Coast in the Atlantic Sun tournament championship game, after losing their final regular season meeting with Dunk City. Mercer has never made it past the Round of 64 and will have the daunting task of defeating Duke in Raleigh if it hopes to make it to the Round of 32 for the first time in program history.
How they make a run: The Bears have all three of their leading seniors—Hall, Daniel Coursey and Bud Thomas—explode in every game they play and bolster their 25th-ranked scoring attack. Mercer averages 79.3 points per game.
How they falter: Mercer fails to slow down Jabari Parker, Rodney Hood and the rest Duke's weapons and cedes to the more talented Blue Devil offense.Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
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