SPARTAN ESSENTIALS
Who: Mercer (9-7, 2-1)
Where: Hawkins Arena | Macon, Ga.
When: Saturday, January 15, 2022 | 2 p.m. 
Watch (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Listen
Game Notes: UNCG | Mercer

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The cool thing about research is a rare gem will be discovered.
 
Prior to its game against The Citadel, the UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's basketball team held four straight opponents below 60 points, a stretch of difficult defensive excellence. It was the first time -- according to UNCG results and records on file, which date back to the start of the 1967 season -- that a UNCG men's basketball team has held a team below 60 points in four straight contests.
 
We can confirm that it is the first time UNCG held four straight opponents under 60 points in its Division I era as a program.
 
Amazing.
 
That stretch of defensive brilliance is even more impressive considering that UNCG started Southern Conference competition against the top three scoring offenses in VMI, Furman, and The Citadel.
 
They also held four straight teams at least 20 points below their season scoring averages, which is hard to do considering the type of talent UNCG is competing against every single night.
 
However, 1967 is still a long time ago – 55 years to be exact.
 
The Super Bowl was another football game. Vince Lombardi was still living. A postage stamp was five cents and Lyndon B. Johnson was president. Faith Hill, Jamie Foxx, and Deion Sanders, among others, were born in 1967.
 
Fast forward to the present.
 
UNCG finishes its two-game road trip south when it visits Mercer in a Saturday matinee.
 
This is the first meeting between the Spartans and Bears since the Southern Conference tournament championship game – won by UNCG – last March.
 
For UNCG this contest concludes a tough stretch of four games in seven days in four different states.
 
Last Time Out

• UNCG had four players in double figures during a tough 74-69 loss to The Citadel.
• Mercer got 30 points, including eight 3-pointers, from Jalen Johnson in a 97-91 win over VMI.

 
A Look At UNCG

• UNCG got 29 points from its bench against The Citadel.
• Kaleb Hunter has scored in double figures in two of UNCG's last three games.
• Bas Leyte has scored 34 points in UNCG's last three games on 57.6 percent shooting (15-for-26).
• Leyte is averaging 9.1 points per contest, which is second on the Spartans.
• Leyte has eight games with at least six rebounds this season.
• De'Monte Buckingham is UNCG's leading scorer (13.1 points per game).
• Buckingham is third in the Southern Conference in defensive rebounding (6.0), fifth in rebounding (7.7), and sixth in 3-point field goal percentage (43.1).
• Kobe and Keyshaun Langley combined for 10 of UNCG's season-high-tying 15 assists against The Citadel.
• Kobe Langley is 10th in the SoCon in assists per game (3.1).
• UNCG is second in the SoCon in scoring defense (63.2 points per game) and third in field goal percentage defense (39.6).
• The Spartans lead the conference in rebounding margin (+9.1).

 
A Look At Mercer

• Felipe Haase had 28 points, five rebounds, and four assists against VMI.
• Mercer made 17 3-pointers in its win over VMI.
• The Bears are second in the SoCon in free throw percentage (77.2).
• Hasse is sixth in the SoCon in scoring (15.8 points per game) and Johnson is 12th (15.1).
• Hasse is also fourth in the conference in field goal percentage (53.3).
• James Glisson III is fourth in the SoCon in free throw percentage (86.7) and Hasse is fifth (86.0).
• Hasse and Kamar Robinson have combined for 50 steals.
• Hasse leads the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (49.4) and Johnson is third (45.9).
• They have combined to make 86 3-pointers.
• Mercer is last in the SoCon in rebounding margin (-1.4).

 
Series History

• UNCG leads 11-8.
• UNCG won all three meetings last year against Mercer.
• The Spartans claimed a 77-74 win over the Bears in their last visit to Hawkins Arena on Feb. 13, 2021.

 
Up Next

• UNCG returns home to meet Chattanooga on Thursday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m.