Feb. 16, 2005
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ORLANDO - The UCF men's basketball team opens a busy homestand on Thursday, hosting Mercer at UCF Arena. Tip off for the Atlantic Sun matchup is slated for 7:30 p.m. The game is the second half of a doubleheader with the Golden Knight women's squad, which plays Gardner-Webb to start the evening.
UCF (16-8, 9-7 A-Sun) enters the contest in a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference. The Bears (13-10, 8-8) are in the hunt for one of the eight spots in the league championship.
The Golden Knights will be playing the first of three games in five days - all at home. The team hosts Georgia State on Saturday and South Dakota State on Monday.
ABOUT UCF The Golden Knights, playing at home for the first time since Jan. 31, will be looking to return to its winning ways against Mercer. Prior to losing at Jacksonville on Feb. 12, UCF had won four consecutive contests. Josh Peppers is pacing the team in scoring, averaging 12.7 points per game. Gary Johnson (12.6) and Anthony Williams (12.3) are also averaging double-digits in scoring. Williams is UCF's top rebounder at 6.3 per outing. Johnson has registered 88 assists and 49 steals to pace the squad in both categories.
UCF will have the services of Marcus Johnson, who sat out the Jacksonville contest due to a one-game suspension following an ejection at Stetson on Feb. 10. Only eight Golden Knights saw time against the Dolphins.
Overall, the Golden Knights are averaging 69.6 points a game, while allowing an Atlantic Sun-low 66. UCF is shooting 45.8 percent from the field and 68.9 percent from the free-throw line.
ABOUT MERCER Mercer has dropped two-straight contests. The Bears are coming off of a 65-63 loss at home to Belmont on Feb. 13. Senior forward Wesley Duke scored 14 points and added 12 rebounds in the losing effort.
Sophomore guard Jacob Skogen is the fifth-leading scorer in the A-Sun at 15.1 points per game. He is one of four Mercer players averaging double-figures in scoring, joining senior guard James Odoms (15.0), junior forward Will Emerson (14.6) and Duke (11.3) Duke and Emerson are both grabbing 7.7 boards per contest to rank fourth in the league. Junior guard Damitrius Coleman is first in the nation in assists (8.30) and eighth in steals (3.04) per game. He leads the league in both categories.
As a team, Mercer is tops in the league in scoring, averaging 80 points each contest, but 10th in scoring defense (77.9). The squad is shooting 44.4 percent from the floor and 64.4 from the line.
SERIES HISTORY UCF leads the all-time series, 15-13, and has won three of the last four meetings. In Orlando, the teams have split the series, with each side taking seven games.
Earlier this season, the Bears claimed an 80-71 contest at home on Jan. 5. Josh Peppers led UCF with 15 points in the loss. Gary Johnson added 14 points, five rebounds and four assists. Ross Alaqua hit six shots from three-point range on his way to a game-high 26 points for Mercer. Will Emerson (16 points, 13 boards) and Wesley Duke (11 points, 10 rebounds) both notched double-doubles.
Under head coach Kirk Speraw, UCF is 14-9 against the Bears. Mercer's Mark Slonaker holds a 6-9 record versus the Golden Knights.
UCF LAST TIME OUT Anthony Williams scored 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but Jacksonville's Jesse Kimbrough hit a free throw with three seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Dolphins past visiting UCF, 83-82, on Feb. 12.
After David Lee sank a foul shot with 32 seconds remaining in the extra session, the Dolphins led by two, but Williams scored on a tip-in to knot the contest at 82. Kimbrough was fouled in the act of shooting on the ensuing possession. He missed his first attempt at the line, but then hit the second shot. An attempt from halfcourt as time expired from Josh Peppers hit the rim, but fell short.
Williams was 10-of-15 from the field and made all 11 of his attempts from the charity stripe, tying a school record for free-throw percentage. Peppers finished with 14 points, six boards and six assists. With six seconds on the clock in regulation, a basket by Brad Larson put Jacksonville up, 72-70. After a UCF timeout, Justin Rose took the inbounds pass from Will Bakanowsky and went the length of the floor, hitting a layup with one second to go to force the game into overtime.
ON THE AIR UCF-Mercer will be broadcast live on on the UCF ISP Sports Network and its flagship station, 740-THE TEAM (AM). Marc Daniels will call all of the action from courtside.
TICKET INFORMATION Tickets for the game are still available. For more information, or to order tickets, please call (407) UCF-GOLD. Children under five and UCF students will a valid school ID are admitted free.