Photo By Ignacio Murillo | The Daily Mississippian
Ole Miss wraps up its pre-Christmas schedule with the Mercer Bears (7-4), the favorites to win the Atlantic Sun, on Sunday.
Ole Miss (8-2) is riding a two-game winning streak as they have knocked off Middle Tennessee State and Louisiana-Monroe since classes ended. Despite the two victories, Ole Miss has struggled mightily to keep teams off of the offensive boards.
Both Middle Tennessee State and Louisiana-Monroe grabbed at least 20 offensive rebounds. In the last three seasons, only three different times has an opponent grabbed 20 offensive rebounds and all three teams were in the SEC.
The Rebels have given up 41 offensive rebounds in the last two, while having grabbed just 44 defensive rebounds. Essentially, opponents are getting second chance opportunities on half of their missed shots. For the season, Ole Miss is grabbing 65.9 percent of available defensive rebounds, fourth lowest in the SEC.
Mercer comes in leading the Atlantic Sun in offensive rebounding percentage – grabbing 34.4 percent of possible offensive rebounds.
Offensively, Marshall Henderson continues to launch threes, and he shouldn’t stop. Against Louisiana-Monroe Henderson went 6 of 13 on threes, leading to 26 points. In the last three games, Henderson is 20 of 45 (44 percent) on threes.
It has been inside the three-point line where Henderson has struggled. He’s shot 1 of 9 on two pointers in the last three games. For the year, Henderson is 8 of 32 inside the arc. He is 39 percent on threes but 25 percent on twos; 76 percent of his field goal attempts have been threes, up from 72 percent last season.
LaDarius White – who has started the last two games – has finally started producing on offense. Through the first seven games, White was averaging 5.6 points and had gone to the free throw line just six times.
In the last three, White is averaging 12.3 points per game and has gotten to the free throw line five times per game. His extra trips to line are due to his added aggression. White is attacking the basket and being rewarded with fouls.
Mercer leads the Atlantic Sun – the conference of Dunk City, Florida Gulf Coast – in both offensive rating and defensive rating. The Bears score the most points per game in the Atlantic Sun, 82.8; they do it at a fairly slow pace, averaging 68.7 possessions per game.
Everything starts with Mercer’s point guard Langston Hall, who leads the team with 15.2 points per game and 5.5 assists per game. Hall has done a lot of damage from beyond the arc, as he has knocked down 39 percent of his threes, while shooting 5.5 per game.
In the frontcourt, Daniel Coursey is averaging 11.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and two blocks per game.
Hall’s assists have helped Mercer to top the Atlantic Sun in assist percentage, as 62.1 percent of Mercer’s made field goals have been assisted. With his shot blocking, Coursey has led Mercer to the top block percentage in the conference at 11.9 percent.
Aside from Hall and Coursey, three other Bears average over nine points per game.
Mercer is one of the better free throw shooting teams in the country. They shoot 74.7 percent from the line, best in the Atlantic Sun and 34th in Division I. Hall gets to the line 4.2 times per game and makes 89 percent of them.
Mercer opened the season at Texas and lost 76-73. They also fell a Oklahoma by 14. Their best win is a 77-74 double-overtime victory over Seton Hall. Mercer has won three overtime games this season; they beat Valparaiso in triple overtime and Denver in a single overtime.
The game will tip at 3 p.m. and is Dollar Day at Tad Smith Coliseum, as admission, hot dogs, soda and popcorn are all $1. It will also be televised by CSS.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss men’s basketball, follow @Tyler_RSR and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
— Tyler Bischoff
tfbischo@go.olemiss.edu
