Mercer 67, Mocs 56

FOUR FACTORS (plus two)

eFG%
Mocs- 46.9%
Mercer- 51.0%
Advantage- Mercer

TO%
Mocs- 26.1%
Mercer- 19.5%
Advantage- Mercer

OR%
Mocs- 25.0%
Mercer- 27.3%
Advantage- Mercer

FTRate
Mocs- 40.8%
Mercer- 34.7%
Advantage- Mocs

FT%
Mocs- 50.0%
Mercer- 63.0%
Advantage- Mercer

3PtRate
Mocs- 42.9%
Mercer- 53.1%

PLAYER RANKER

Overall
1) Omar Wattad 27.8
2) Ricky Taylor 15.5
3) Chris Early 12.8
3) Keegan Bell 12.8
5) Drazen Zlovaric 12.0
6) Dontay Hampton 8.5
7) Z Mason 4.3
8) Jahmaal Burroughs 0.7
9) Lance Stokes 0.0
10) Rico White -1.1

Per 40
1) Omar Wattad 32.7
2) Ricky Taylor 27.0
3) Chris Early 23.2
4) Dontay Hampton 16.1
5) Z Mason 14.3
6) Keegan Bell 14.2
7) Drazen Zlovaric 14.1
8) Jahmal Burroughs 4.7
9) Lance Stokes 0.0
10) Rico White -7.3

ANALYSIS

Things started off so well to end so badly. The Mocs jumped out to a 17-4 lead and I, for one, thought, "Yes! The Mocs carried over their good performance against Charleston and are had a week off and are going to play their best game yet! This is great." Not so much.

After falling behind by 17, I realized that the Mocs had been outscored by thirty since that time.

What was the killer for the Mocs? Was it the nearly nine  minute scoreless drought that spanned the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half? Was it making just 5 of 14 free throws in the second half, including several front ends of 1 and 1s? Or was it jumping out to the early lead with hot shooting which lead to the Mocs taking quick shots from the outside for much of the remainder of the first half? That meant that once the shots quit falling, the Mocs quickly let Mercer back into the game.

Make no mistake. Mercer is a good basketball team. They nearly beat Belmont last weekend. They hammered the Mocs last night for much of the game. Every time the Mocs tried to get something going in their comeback attempt, they would miss a key free throw that would slow their momentum.

The fact is that the Mocs continued to show some positive qualities though. Last year, after the Mocs fell behind by 17, they would have let the final score balloon to 25. This year's team kept on fighting and got back into the game, where there was a chance of a miracle happening in the final two minutes. This is good. Last year's lacked the willpower to fight back in a lot of ways. This year's team does not.

So far that has not translated into wins.

This team is a pretty good (but not great) defensive team. Their problem is that in virtually every game, they have a long stretch where they just can't put the ball in the basket to save their life. Until they start putting the ball into the basket more consistently, they are going to continue to struggle. The problem is that between now and the Dr Pepper Classic, we really won't learn too much. Hiwassee, and Spalding should be dominant wins for the Mocs, while Kentucky should be a blowout loss. There is nothing to really be learned in any of those games.

Longwood on December 28 will teach us a lot, as will whoever the opponent is the next night (either Hampton or Utah Valley).

Omar Wattad played his best game of the year to date. Chris Early and Keegan Bell (two players that have to shoot well apparently for the Mocs to be close to effective offensively) combined for nine points, though they both made their presence felt in other ways. Stokes was not impressive on the offensive end. Rico White had his worst game in a while and did not seem to have the influence that he has been having on a game.

On top of all that, Mercer got a bunch of key offensive rebounds it seemed like, but it was slightly less critical than in recent games. So maybe that is slightly under control at this point.

Got to wait a long 18 days to find out where this team really is. The next three games will not teach us much, but will basically be extra practices to get ready for the remainder of the season, of which no game will be a given either way. Now's the time to go back to work and figure out where they are. This is a huge eighteen days- and one that we the fans will know very little about where things really are. So it's time to exhibit some patience and hope for the best in the Dr Pepper Classic.

GO MOCS!