Sharkey, Samford host Mercer

Mercer (7-11, 1-4) vs. Samford (8-11, 2-3)

Pete Hanna Center, Homewood, Alabama; Saturday, 3 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Two senior guards will be on display as Ethan Stair and Mercer will take on Josh Sharkey and Samford. Stair has scored 22 percent of the team’s points this season and is averaging 12 over his last five games. Sharkey is averaging 21.2 points and 5.4 assists over the last five games.

SAVVY SENIORS: Samford’s Sharkey, Brandon Austin and Jalen Dupree have combined to score 53 percent of all Bulldogs points this season, though their production has dropped to 42 percent over the last five games.

CLAMPING DOWN: The Bears have allowed only 69.4 points per game across five conference games, an improvement from the 74.5 per game they allowed in non-conference play.

KEY CONTRIBUTIONS: Sharkey has either made or assisted on 53 percent of all Samford field goals over the last five games. The senior guard has accounted for 38 field goals and 27 assists in those games.

WINLESS WHEN: The Bulldogs are 0-6 when they score 67 points or fewer and 8-5 when they exceed 67 points. The Bears are 0-9 when they fail to score more than 71 points and 7-2 on the season, otherwise.

ASSIST RATIOS: The Bears have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Bulldogs. Samford has an assist on 22 of 67 field goals (32.8 percent) across its previous three outings while Mercer has assists on 32 of 74 field goals (43.2 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: Samford is ranked second in the SoCon with an average of 74.9 possessions per game.