Mercer hosts Jones and Western Carolina

Mercer Bears (7-9, 0-3 SoCon) at Western Carolina Catamounts (9-7, 2-1 SoCon)

Cullowhee, North Carolina; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Western Carolina -1; over/under is 138

BOTTOM LINE: Western Carolina hosts the Mercer Bears after Russell Jones scored 21 points in Western Carolina's 71-60 win over the East Tennessee State Buccaneers.

The Catamounts have gone 4-3 in home games. Western Carolina is the SoCon leader with 35.8 rebounds per game led by Tyzhaun Claude averaging 8.2.

The Bears are 0-3 in SoCon play. Mercer ranks third in the SoCon shooting 37.2% from 3-point range.

The Catamounts and Bears match up Saturday for the first time in SoCon play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Tre Jackson averages 3.8 made 3-pointers per game for the Catamounts, scoring 14.3 points while shooting 45.2% from beyond the arc. Claude is averaging 14.4 points and 8.2 rebounds over the past 10 games for Western Carolina.

Luis Hurtado is averaging 9.4 points and 4.9 assists for the Bears. Jalyn McCreary is averaging 15.9 points and 5.8 rebounds over the last 10 games for Mercer.

LAST 10 GAMES: Catamounts: 5-5, averaging 73.2 points, 34.6 rebounds, 12.0 assists, 6.4 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 42.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.4 points per game.

Bears: 4-6, averaging 67.8 points, 30.6 rebounds, 13.8 assists, 4.7 steals and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 48.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.5 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.