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01/02 03:43 CST Mercer visits East Tennessee State after Okojie's 22-point showing Mercer visits East Tennessee State after Okojie's 22-point showing By The Associated Press Mercer Bears (8-6, 0-1 SoCon) at East Tennessee State Buccaneers (9-5, 1-0 SoCon) Johnson City, Tennessee; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Mercer faces East Tennessee State after Baraka Okojie scored 22 points in Mercer's 74-72 loss to the Furman Paladins. The Buccaneers are 7-1 in home games. East Tennessee State has a 4-3 record against teams above .500. The Bears are 0-1 against SoCon opponents. Mercer is fourth in the SoCon with 14.9 assists per game led by Okojie averaging 5.4. East Tennessee State makes 48.8% of its shots from the field this season, which is 7.3 percentage points higher than Mercer has allowed to its opponents (41.5%). Mercer averages 16.7 more points per game (82.9) than East Tennessee State gives up (66.2). The matchup Saturday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams in conference play. TOP PERFORMERS: Jaylen Smith averages 1.8 made 3-pointers per game for the Buccaneers, scoring 10.1 points while shooting 32.5% from beyond the arc. Brian Taylor II is shooting 49.5% and averaging 14.1 points over the last 10 games. Armani Mighty is averaging 12.9 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks for the Bears. Okojie is averaging 17.2 points over the last 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Buccaneers: 6-4, averaging 77.6 points, 32.1 rebounds, 15.5 assists, 8.9 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 48.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.2 points per game. Bears: 6-4, averaging 83.7 points, 38.3 rebounds, 15.4 assists, 9.4 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.9 points. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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