Georgia out to continue momentum, faces Mercer

Georgia already had one big highlight this week.

The Bulldogs would like to keep the good times rolling when Mercer visits for Friday night's game in Athens, Ga.

It will be a challenging turnaround for Georgia, which had a late-night victory Wednesday at Florida State.

Georgia came back from a 17-point deficit in the second half to win 68-66 on Justin Hill's jumper with 1.5 seconds left.

"That is the epitome of a major response," Georgia coach Mike White said. "For us to come in here and get that one the way that we did speaks volumes about the resiliency, mental toughness, the resolve, the connectivity of a team with nine new players."

It wasn't just Hill's shot that marked the team's accomplishment for the Bulldogs (4-3). Freshman Silas Demary Jr. posted a season-high 15 points.

Mercer (2-4) has had nearly a week off since falling to Western Michigan 72-66 in a neutral-site game in the Emerald Coast Classic at Niceville, Fla.

The Bears got a taste of competition with a Southeastern Conference opponent with a 98-67 loss at Alabama on Nov. 17. Coach Greg Gary said keeping to the game plan is essential when things start to go awry.

"Do what we've worked on as far as the scouting report," Gary said.

Opponents have shot 47.9 percent against Mercer. There are times when defensive breakdowns have been pronounced.

"We did a terrible job of our ball-screen coverage," Gary said of the Alabama game.

The Bears' two victories have come against Chicago State and Tennessee State by a combined six points.

Jalyn McCreary with 13.5 points per game and Robby Carmody, a transfer from Notre Dame, with 12.2 points per game are Mercer's leading scorers. In order to pull off an upset Friday, the Bears might need better 3-point shooting than the season average of 31.7 percent.

Mercer has been outrebounded by 5.8 boards per game.

Georgia leads the series with Mercer by 55-23, winning the past 18 meetings. The most-recent clash came on Dec. 27, 2014 with the Bulldogs winning 86-77 in three overtimes.

This is the beginning of Georgia's six-game homestand. For Mercer, this will be the final road game until January.

—Field Level Media