UNC Greensboro Spartans take on the Mercer Bears, look for 11th straight win
UNC Greensboro Spartans (21-6, 12-1 SoCon) at Mercer Bears (8-20, 3-10 SoCon)
Macon, Georgia; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: UNC Greensboro will try to continue its 10-game win streak with a victory against Mercer.
The Bears are 5-9 on their home court. Mercer ranks eighth in the SoCon in rebounding averaging 26.1 rebounds. Ashlee Locke leads the Bears with 6.1 boards.
The Spartans are 12-1 in SoCon play. UNC Greensboro averages 65.6 points while outscoring opponents by 13.1 points per game.
Mercer averages 53.2 points per game, 0.7 more points than the 52.5 UNC Greensboro allows. UNC Greensboro averages 65.6 points per game, 2.1 more than the 63.5 Mercer allows.
The matchup Saturday is the first meeting this season between the two teams in conference play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kayla Smith is shooting 26.7% from beyond the arc with 1.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Bears, while averaging 5.1 points. Ariana Bennett is shooting 47.3% and averaging 12.1 points over the past 10 games.
Jayde Gamble is averaging 12.3 points and 2.4 steals for the Spartans. Nya Smith is averaging 13.7 points over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bears: 2-8, averaging 54.6 points, 26.2 rebounds, 10.6 assists, 5.8 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 38.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.4 points per game.
Spartans: 10-0, averaging 64.8 points, 33.0 rebounds, 10.6 assists, 7.7 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 40.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 54.4 points.
___
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Top 10 injury news of the Lions 2024 season No. 8: Christian Mahogany's delayed debut
Top 10 injury news of the Lions 2024 season No. 8: Christian Mahogany's delayed debut Mahogany had mononucleosis that wiped out over half his rookie season Christian Mahogany among guards in Week 16: 🦁 76.2 PFF grade (T-9th) 🦁 82.5 pass-blocking grade (9th) 🦁 33 pass-blocking snaps 🦁 1 pressure allowed — PFF DET Lions (@PFF_Lions) December 24, 2024 Christian Mahogany was drafted in the 6th-round of the 2024 draft with the hopes he would challenge for a backup role at offensive guard behind the two entrenched starters Graham Glasgow and Kevin Zeitler. However, an unexpected illness delayed his debut in the NFL. Medical history Immediately before training camp started, Mahogany was diagnosed with infectious mononucleosis (aka mono). While mono is rarely a serious issue, it can keep a player out of action for a while due to splenomegaly. See my full article detailing the infection here. Impact on season The mono kept him out all of training camp and landed him on the NFI (non football injury) list to start the season. His practice window did not open until October 8 (week 5). His first appearance in a game wasn't until November 24 (week 12) when he played four special teams snaps. For a rookie to miss all of camp and a large portion of the early season, it seemed a long-shot for him to find an impactful role on the team due to both physical and mental preparedness. Thus, it was surprising that he made an appearance as the primary OG backup on December 5 (week 14) when starting RG Kevin Zeitler left briefly for a suspected eye issue. Two games later on December 22 (week 16) vs the Bears, Mahogany made his big debut when he started and played 100% of offensive snaps due to a Graham Glasgow injury. His performance was impressive - especially since he had missed so much time earlier in the year. Here he is at LG showing nimble feet in that game against the Bears... Very impressed from what I've seen from Lions LG 73 Christian Mahogany. Watch him on this zone run as he gets to the play side LB. Very good quickness and pad level to the second level. I believe he's supposed to block the backside LB but either way, he's impressive! #OnePride — Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) December 23, 2024 Mahogany followed up his regular season performance with another good starting performance in the playoffs when he played the entire game due to a Zeitler hamstring injury. Salary cap implications Going into the 2025 season, there are high hopes that Mahogany can take over a starting OG position. From a financial perspective, a 6th-round starter on the offensive line would be a huge benefit to the Lions salary cap. For comparison: Graham Glasgow signed a 3-year, $20 million contract to start at LG last offseason. Kevin Zeitler signed a 1-year, $6 million contract to start at RG last offseason. This offseason as an unrestricted free agent, he signed a 1-year, $9 million contract with the Titans. Trey Smith, OG of the Kansas City Chiefs, was recently franchise tagged at $23.4 million. Meanwhile, the 2025 cap hit for Mahogany will be less than $1 million as he enters the second year of his 4-year, $4.2 million rookie deal. With players like Aidan Hutchinson, Brian Branch, Jahmyr Gibbs, Jameson Williams, and Sam LaPorta worthy of big extensions, every saved dollar matters. Outlook While the rookie debut was a good beginning, there are some question marks for Mahogany going forward. He only started two games all year so is far from proven yet. Medically, he has a history of a right ACL tear in 2022 and was playing with a right knee brace all last season for unknown reasons. The knee brace raises concerns there is a chronic knee issue that could cause problems over a long 17+ game season. Despite the concerns, there is plenty of optimism for Mahogany going into the next season. He was able to overcome an infection that sidelined him for months to become a quality, fill-in starter down the stretch. Last year's starting RG, Kevin Zeitler, left for the Titans in free agency this offseason opening the door for Mahogany to step through. This door was blown off the hinges when Frank Ragnow retired. During OTA two weeks ago, Mahogany was starting at the LG position with 2nd-round rookie Tate Ratledge at center and Glasgow at RG. Early indications are that Mahogany is in pole position to become a starter in 2025.
USA Today
4 hours ago
- USA Today
Cowboys DC Matt Eberflus gives surprising reason for why he returned to Dallas in 2025
Cowboys DC Matt Eberflus gives surprising reason for why he returned to Dallas in 2025 As the NFL coaching carousel hit high gear in early 2025, it was clear Matt Eberflus was going to have options. He had been fired as the Bears head coach just a few months earlier, and his 14-32 overall record in Chicago made it unlikely he'd get many looks for another top job so soon. A return to a defensive coordinator position, however, seemed probable. He'd done the job previously in Indianapolis, taking the Colts from one of the worst defenses in football to top-10 status in short order. And before that, he had served for seven seasons in Dallas, first as linebackers coach and then adding passing game coordinator to his duties. But for all the defensive stars Eberflus has helped to launch over the years- from DeMarcus Ware and Sean Lee to Shaq Leonard and Kenny Moore- it was actually a player on the other side of the ball that finally cemented his decision to return to the Cowboys for a second stint on their sidelines. "Really, to me, it was Dak Prescott," the 55-year-old coordinator told Matt Mosely and Ed Werder on The Doomsday Podcast. "When he was a rookie, we drafted him here, and what did he go, 9-1 the first 10 games?" He did indeed. The 2016 Cowboys made it to 11-1 over Prescott's first 12 games before stumbling twice in the final four weeks to finish 13-3 and with the NFC East crown. But even more than the stellar promise showed by the young Mississippi State passer on the gridiron, it was what Prescott displayed off the field, in the locker room, and in the community that apparently made a lasting impression on Eberflus. And while he acknowledged a close relationship with the Jones family as a big factor in his return, it was the chance to come back and be around a Prescott-led team once again that eventually swayed Eberflus away from other job opportunities. "I know what's inside his heart and what kind of man he is and what kind of leader he is," Eberflus explained of Prescott. "So to me, that was a slam-dunk." Eberflus may have been ready to join the Cowboys staff, but interestingly, Brian Schottenheimer had not yet won the head coaching job. It didn't take much input from other trusted voices in longtime coaching circles, though, to convince Eberflus that the Cowboys' ship would be in good hands under Schotty's command. "I was asking around about him because I knew he was up for the job," Eberflus recalled. "I've got a really good couple of friends that are really good friends with him, and they just said, 'Love him. What a great football mind. What a great guy. He's going to be a great leader.' And so I was all in at that point." Eberflus says he's tried to help Schottenheimer adjust to all the newness of an NFL head coaching job, looking out for what he calls "things as a head coach that you don't know that are involved in the job until you become a head coach." It's a "see-something-say-something" mindset that he says all the Cowboys assistants have adopted as the staff embarks on this first season together. The newness, the talent, the friendly competitions, lining his unit up against Prescott in practice and then being on the same team with him afterward: it's all brought about an energy that Eberflus already says is different from other places he's coached. And maybe that will help bring about a result that's different from where Eberflus- and Prescott- and the Cowboys- have found themselves in recent years. Follow Cowboys Wire on Facebook to join in on the conversation with fellow fans!
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Why Chicago?': Lions GM Brad Holmes hoped Ben Johnson wouldn't choose Bears
Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes said he was at least hopeful that former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson wouldn't leave for the Chicago Bears job. "Why Chicago?" were among the thoughts Holmes shared with "Green Light" podcast host Chris Long in an interview posted Thursday. "I knew he had interviewed for Chicago but he interviewed for a lot of the other positions too so I really didn't know which way he was going to go." Advertisement Johnson had the opportunity to land with several teams including the Las Vegas Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars, and New England Patriots. Holmes said he didn't know Johnson was going to land in Chicago until he'd accepted the job. "I was thinking Chicago probably would've been the last destination, or I was probably hoping that," Holmes said. "I was happy for him. He's a hell of a coach..." Johnson had been with the Lions since 2019, including the last three seasons as offensive coordinator of one of the more dynamic units in the NFL. Long asked Holmes if the team is having to "change the locks" and rebuild the offense with new OC John Morton in a way to make it different enough from what they were running under Johnson.] "That really comes from Dan [Campbell], he's looking to evolve it regardless," Holmes said. "I don't see a lot of wholesale change, but there's going to be some evolution there just because that's how Dan is regardless." Advertisement The Lions host the Bears in Week 2 and will travel to Chicago in the season finale on Jan. 4. This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: 'Why Chicago?': Lions GM hoped Ben Johnson wouldn't choose Bears
