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Western Carolina hosts Mercer following Okojie’s 25-point game

Mercer Bears (18-11, 10-6 SoCon) at Western Carolina Catamounts (12-15, 8-8 SoCon)

Cullowhee, North Carolina; Wednesday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Mercer visits Western Carolina after Baraka Okojie scored 25 points in Mercer’s 89-86 victory over the Samford Bulldogs.

The Catamounts are 8-3 on their home court. Western Carolina has a 2-2 record in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Bears have gone 10-6 against SoCon opponents. Mercer scores 83.3 points while outscoring opponents by 8.0 points per game.

Western Carolina is shooting 44.6% from the field this season, 1.4 percentage points higher than the 43.2% Mercer allows to opponents. Mercer averages 8.9 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.4 fewer makes per game than Western Carolina allows.

The teams square off for the second time in conference play this season. Mercer won the last meeting 88-76 on Jan. 22. Zaire Williams scored 23 points to help lead the Bears to the win.

TOP PERFORMERS: Cord Stansberry is scoring 13.8 points per game and averaging 3.8 rebounds for the Catamounts. Marcus Kell is averaging 13.1 points and 5.3 rebounds over the last 10 games.

Williams averages 2.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Bears, scoring 12.6 points while shooting 35.0% from beyond the arc. Okojie is averaging 22.2 points, 5.1 assists and 1.6 steals over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Catamounts: 6-4, averaging 81.2 points, 33.6 rebounds, 13.1 assists, 5.4 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 45.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.4 points per game.

Bears: 6-4, averaging 79.7 points, 32.6 rebounds, 12.8 assists, 6.2 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.0 points.

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

Hawkeyes are set to play Vanderbilt in a November women’s basketball game in Sioux City, Iowa

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Vanderbilt and Iowa, both ranked in the top 10 late last season, will meet in a women's basketball game early next season in northwest Iowa, the schools announced Tuesday. The neutral-site game is set for Nov. 15 at the Tyson Events Center, which is 290 miles from Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Vanderbilt is 4-0 all-time against the Hawkeyes. This will be the teams' first meeting since 1997. The Commodores are expected to return national scoring leader Mikayla Blakes. She averaged 27 points per game and was Southeastern Conference player of the year. Vanderbilt was ranked as high as No. 5 and finished No. 10 with a 29-5 record after reaching the NCAA Sweet 16.
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