The last time the Paladins faced off against the Bears at Timmons Arena, things didn't go so well, as Furman dropped what was an 82-75 contest in what was the final game in the old, non-refurbished Timmons Arena.
So far in 2025, Furman has posted a 22-13 record, which dates back to its 90-61 road win at Western Carolina at the Ramsey Center on Jan. 1, 2025. The Bears are 15-18 in the calendar year of 2025, which dates back to Jan. 1, 2025, when the Bears captured that memorable 99-94 overtime win over Chattanooga at Hawkins Arena. Little did anyone know at that time that the win would be one of the best in the league all season and marked one of just three league losses the Mocs would suffer during league play in 2024-25.
The Paladins are 6-1 on their home floor this season and 115-20 at Timmons Arena since the start of the 2015-16 season, which includes a 52-10 mark against non-conference foes and an impressive 63-10 record against SoCon foes.
Mercer is the last of those SoCon foes to garner a win inside Timmons Arena when it did so back in March of 2024. The Paladins are 32-5 against SoCon foes over the past five-plus seasons against league foes. Furman's lone loss in the refurbished Timmons Arena came back in the Paladins' official season opener against KenPom No. 141 Troy, which handed the Paladins a 64-61 setback on its home floor.
The Paladins and Bears have been two of the top three teams in the SoCon, along with East Tennessee State, who is also tied with Mercer having posted an identical non-conference record of 8-5.
The Paladins were able to claim both games against the Bears last season, taking down Mercer 79-74 in Macon before coming home and delivering a 96-72 beatdown at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, thanks to a 6-for-6 performance by Tom House from three-point range, as he finished with a career-best 26 points in what was a 24-point home win.
As far as the all-time series is concerned, Furman holds a 29-12 all-time series edge, which includes a 20-5 series edge against the Bears during their time as a league member, including snapping Furman's 18-game winning streak in the series by getting a 79-68 win over the Paladins at Hawkins Arena back on Feb. 7, 2024.
That 2024-25 season sweep by the Paladins help avenge a season sweep by the Bears a year earlier, which marked the second time the Bears have posted a regular-season sweep of the Paladins since joining the SoCon as an official league member prior to the 2014-15 season.That first sweep of the 'Dins came off Mercer's magical run through the Atlantic Sun and opening round upset of Duke in the NCAA Tournament in 2014. The second one would come two years ago in what was by any standard, a very un-Furman-like season under Bob Richey.
It is interesting to note that least one piece of that championship squad back in 2013-14, which finished off the campaign with a 27-9 mark, ASUN Title, and posted that memorable 78-71 opening round upset of the Blue Devils in Raleigh returned to the team during the off-season, but only now as an assistant coach.
Langston Hall was part of that foundation of sustained success originally established under Bob Hoffman. The 6-4 guard starred for the Bears from 2010-14, starting 134 of 138 games during his time with the Orange and Black as a player.
Hall was a three-time All Atlantic Sun selection and finished out his career as the school's all-time leader in assists (633) and three-pointers made (256), while ranking second in steals (177) and eighth in points scored (1,579). As a result of his outstanding playing career for the Bears, Hall had his No. 21 jersey retired and it now hangs from the rafters atop Hawkins Arena.
Previewing Mercer:
Though Mercer would flirt with a conference championship in its first couple of seasons as a league member in the SoCon, the Bears decline was never able to be completely reversed, leading to two coaching changes as a result, with the aforementioned Hoffman and his successor Greg Gary not able to do enough in the years that would follow in the Bears' SoCon membership to maintain their job as head coach.
But things started to turnaround last year under the direction of young, energetic Ryan Ridder, who has navigated the portal with precision in his first two seasons as the head coach. And while the Bears didn't completely turn it all around in Ridder's first year at the helm, they did enough to be a problem for most anyone they faced on a given night.
The reason why Mercer was a problem last season is they had a pair of elite scorers, in Ahmad Robinson and Tyler "Chip" Johnson that could put stress on any team defensively, and that the Bears to be in most games in league play.
Last season, for instance, the Bears knocked off eventual league regular-season champion Chattanooga, handing the Mocs a 99-94 overtime loss, which is one of just three the Mocs would suffer throughout the entire league campaign in 2024-25. The Bears also had a really good glue guy, in Brady Shoulders, and like Furman's own Ben Vander Wal, was a guy that did all the little things that enabled teams to be successful.
While Robinson and Johnson have both moved on, Shoulders has remained as one of the team's primary leaders. Once again Ridder has gone out and brought in an even better portal haul this time around. This Mercer team has a lot more than two scorers and based on what we saw in the non-conference, the Bears might just have the best starting five in the league.
The Bears finished the non-conference slate with an 8-5 slate and a KenPom of 160, which is third in the league behind both Furman (154) and ETSU (136), however, the NET rankings have Mercer ranked as the highest ranked team in the SoCon, ranking the Bears at 135, while ETSU ranks 149 and Furman ranks 159.
As a team, the Bears enter Wednesday afternoon's matinee' clash with the Paladins averaging 83.7 PPG, which tops overall in the SoCon, which is just ahead of Furman, which averages 78.6 PPG.
The Bears, who come to Greenville with an 8-5 overall record, have that scoring average per game influenced a lot by having won their last warm-up game against non-Division I competition, 122-49, on Sunday afternoon against Baptist.
As you might expect, then, the Bears have shot the ball pretty well from both two-point and three-point range so far this season, connecting at a 45.1% overall as a team, while shooting the ball at a 32.4% from long-range this season, ranking fourth and fifth in those respective categories in the SoCon. In terms of free throw shooting, the Bears are connecting at a 69.7% clip to rank fifth in the SoCon this season, while ranking fourth in the league in free throws made (189) and also fourth in free throws attempted (271) this season.
Defensively, the Bears are allowing 73.7 PPG, which ranks the Bears fifth overall in the SoCon this season, while opponents are shooting 41.4% from the field and 29.9% from three-point range, ranking second and first in the league, respectively, in those two categories.
The Bears have connected on 121 three-pointers through the first 13 games this season, including having made 15 in their most-recent lopsided win over Baptist, ranking fifth overall in the SoCon in that category.
As far as common opponents are concerned in non-conference play, both Furman and Mercer claimed road wins at a good Elon team, with the Bears taking a 91-84 win over the Phoenix before Furman followed that up with a 97-88 win at the Schar Center a few nights later.
Mercer delivered some impressive showings against power conference foes, putting forth a respectable performance at No. 17 Tennessee before eventually falling 76-61 to the Vols, while leading for a good portion of the game before dropping a 70-63 game just up the road at Clemson.
The Bears also played well in an 84-78 loss at Washington State. Mercer's worst loss at the hands of a power conference foe came against Central Florida, which saw the Knights post an 18-point, 81-63 win over the Bears just a couple of weeks back.
Other than the win over Elon, one could point to the 92-77 home win over KenPom No.136 Lipscomb as another of the top wins for the Bears. Mercer also owns wins over KenPom No. 331 Georgia State (W, 78-67), KenPom No. 272 Eastern Kentucky (W, 91-84), KenPom No. 248 Appalachian State (W, 75-67), while having knocked off non-Division I foes LaGrange (W, 101-62), Ogelthorpe (W, 100-50) and Baptist (W, 122-49).
Unless you count Washington State as a non-power conference foe, the Bears have just one loss to a mid-major program this season, and that came in a rather lopsided fashion, as the Bears were a 105-69 loser at KenPom No. 126 Winthrop back on Nov. 15, 2025.
For the Bears, it all starts with their backcourt and in particular, Baraka Okojie (17.6 PPG, 5.6 APG), who has established himself as an elite point guard in the Southern Conference so far this season, and along with Furman's own Alex Wilkins, has likely been the top point guard in the Southern Conference this season.
If there were a Player of the Year award given out by the SoCon's league office, it would likely go to Okojie for his play through the first part of the season in non-conference play, as he's been the top player in the league. Okojie's 17.6 PPG ranks him third overall in the SoCon in scoring, while his 5.6 APG continues to lead the league.
Okojie, who played at both George Mason and Memphis prior to his arrival in Macon, has started all 12 games for the Bears and scored in double figures in all 12 outings he's appeared in this season for Mercer. Okojie has scored 20 or more points in a game on three occasions so far in 2025-26.
He scored a season-high 29 points in the impressive road triumph at Elon last season, as he connected on 5-of-11 shots from the field and was 1-of-2 from three-point range in that Mercer win, while also dishing out 10 assists, completing his second double-double performance of the season for the Bears. His only other double-double performance came that 15-point home win over Lipscomb, as he posted 16 points to go along with a season-high 12 assists.
It could be argued that his 20 points and six assists in a regionally televised game at Clemson might be his top performance of the season, as his effort kept the Bears in the game and gave them a chance to pull the big-time road upset. In fact, Okojie's 17 first-half points against the Tigers actually staked the Bear to a 39-33 halftime lead over Clemson.
In that game, Okojie logged a season-high 37 minutes against the Tigers, finishing his afternoon connecting on 8-of-17 from the field, as well as connecting on 1-of-4 from long-range in the loss. The 17 shot attempts also represented the second-most in a game for the 6-3 junior point guard this season.
The only game which saw Okojie attempt more shots from the field was in the recent six-point road loss at Washington State, which saw him attempt 20 shots from the field, as he completed the game going 10-of-20 from the field to finish with 24 points.
Overall, Okojie is connecting at a 40.9% clip (65-of-159) from the field this season, while shooting at just a 28.6% (12-of-42) from three-point land this season. Additionally, Okojie has 67 total assists to go with 39 turnovers in the 12 games he's played in this season.
Set to join him as a part of that talented backcourt for the Bears on Wednesday will be both Zaire Williams (12.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG) and Quinton Perkins II (10.2 PPG, 1.8 RPG), helping form a maybe the best trio of starting guards in the SoCon.
While Okojie is the straw that stirs the drink for Mercer, it could be argued that both Williams and Perkins II are just important when it comes to the success the Bears have already had in the non-conference, as well as the success moving forward in league play this season.
Williams came into the Mercer program from Wagner, where he starred for the Seahawks for three seasons and made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2024. He's one of the top perimeter threats in the SoCon, and he's been a big part of the offensive production for the Bears this season, entering Wednesday afternoon's league opener averaging 12.2 PPG.
Williams is an assassin when it comes to being a shooter from long-range, although he's seen his percentage has taken a bit of a hit as of late. Williams has connected on 32.4% (26-of-81) from three-point range this season and is coming off a 19-point effort the last time out against Baptist. It was his second-best scoring performance of the season, which was bested only by his 21-point effort, which came in the 75-67 win over Appalachian State back in late November.
During his final season at Wagner, he garnered Third-Team All-NEC honors, while ending up as a member of that league's All-Defensive Team. As Mercer head coach Ridder said during media day in his Field of 68 interview, Williams gives the Bears a "toughness" that they lacked in some ways last season.
Perkins came to Mercer from one of the top JUCO programs in the country, arriving in Macon from Indian Hills CC, which also produced former Chattanooga great and 1997 NBA Lottery Pick Johnny Taylor, who starred in the SoCon from 1995-97. Perkins is a 6-1 guard and gives the Bears an extra ball-handler on the floor.
He has started 11 of the 13 Mercer games this season, missing starts in the opener against Tennessee and also did not start the game against Washington State. Like Williams, Perkins II is known as a three-point specialist, leading the team in both three-point field goals made (27), as well as ranking second three-point field goal percentage (37.0%/27-of-73).
Perkins' best performance of the season came with a 20-point effort in a win at Eastern Kentucky earlier this season, while he's scored in double figures seven times in the first 13 games of the season, as he posted 10 points the last time out against Baptist. At 83.3% (15-of-18) from the free throw line this season, Perkins II also ranks as one of the team's top performers at the charity stripe.
Rounding out the projected starting five heading into Wednesday's league opener will be both Brady Shoulders (8.3 PPG, 7.4 RPG) and 6-10 center Armani Mighty (13.2 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 24 blks). Mighty has been arguably the best big man in the SoCon this season, while Shoulders has been a player that has been that "glue guy" that has seemingly done all the little things that show up in wins, but not always on the stats sheet.
Shoulders is another guy that gives the Bears a toughness and an edge, and he's been a player that has played through pain and some injuries at times last year in his first at Mercer. Shoulders followed Ridder to Macon after sitting out the 2023-24 season at UT-Martin, which was his freshman season.
The 6-5 wing guard started 24 of 33 games in his first season at Mercer in 2024-25, and then this season, Shoulders has started in all 13 games. As I alluded to above, he's definitely been Mercer's version of Ben Vander Wal early in his career with the Bears. Shoulders has found his way into double figures on five occasions this season.
Shoulders had his best outing of the season in the loss at Central Florida, as he contributed 14 points in that road setback earlier this month. Shoulders isn't a great shooter, connecting on just 39.8% (33-of-83) from the field so far this season and is not a great shooter from long range either, having connected on just 26.7% (8-of-30) from three-point range this season. Shoulders is also not particularly a great free throw shooter, connecting at a 65% clip this season.
Rounding out the projected starters for the Bears entering Wednesday afternoon's contest might be the player that gives the Paladins the most headaches, in 6-10 Armani Mighty. The big man has been trouble for most foes already this season, but Furman not having Cooper Bowser around for this one, it might be even tougher.
Like Bowser, Mighty has been one of the top leaders in the SoCon in field goal percentage this season, as he currently ranks third in all of college basketball connecting at a 69.0% clip so far this season. Mighty played at Boston College and then sat out a year at Central Michigan before eventually making his way to Macon to play for the Bears.
Mighty has been mighty good in his limited action in his career with Mercer. It will be especially tough for Furman to defend him without Cooper Bowser in the middle. He has scored in double figures in all but two games for the Bears this season, including last time out against Baptist, in which he only finished with eight points, as well as only posting eight points in the loss Winthrop. '
Mighty's best game so far this season came against Elon in a Mercer road win, as the redshirt junior from Toronto posted 22 points and 13 rebounds in the win over the Phoenix. His six double-doubles this season ranks him second in the SoCon this season.
As far as contributors off the bench for the Bears, look for wing guard Tristan Gross (5.1 PPG, 2.3 RPG), forward Connor Serven (6.3 PPG, 3.6 RPG) and guard Kyle Cuffe Jr. (7.5 PPG, 2.2 RPG). Gross, a 6-6 transfer from Stetson, has proven to be a solid addition to the Bears roster this season, as he is coming off one of his top performances of the season against Baptist, finishing with 10 points and four boards in the 122-49 rout. He also posted 10 points in wins over LaGrange and Georgia State earlier this season.
Serven is a player that has seen starting minutes this season for the Bears, and the 6-8 graduate transfer from Virginia Tech has started three games this season, including a recent outing against Washinton State, as he played 28 minutes in the 84-78 loss to the Cougars. He also has starts against Oglethorpe and the season-opener at Tennessee.
It appears that Serven starts against teams with pretty good size in the front court, so without Furman having Bowser today, it will be interesting to see how coach Ridder goes about utilizing him. He recorded his best performance of his career against the Cougars, finishing with 15 points on a 6-for-10 performance from the field, which included going 2-of-3 from long range.
The final piece of what looks like an eight-man rotation for the Bears is Syracuse transfer Kyle Cuffe Jr., who has seen action in all 13 games for the Bears this season, which includes starting once. He has found his way into double figures on five occasions this season for Mercer, including scoring 11 points the last time out against Baptist.
His top performance this season came in the lopsided loss at Winthrop, posting 17 points on a 6-for-12 shooting effort, including a 2-for-8 effort from three-point land. He has been a decent shooter from three-point range this season for Mercer, connecting at a 36.7% (18-of-49) clip.
Noting The Paladins:
Furman enters the contest with the Bears having won eight of its last nine, including five-straight. However, the Paladins will likely be missing big man Cooper Bowser (13.4 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 81.2 FG%) for a second-straight game, as he continues to work his way back from a lower-body injury that he suffered in a road win at Manhattan. Furman first took a big hit in the opening exhibition this season when rotational forward Davis Molnar suffered a season-ending knee injury, immediately forcing some adjustments to be made for head coach Bob Richey and staff.
Bowser and talented freshman guard Collin O'Neal (4.1 PPG, 1.9 RPG) will be out this afternoon against the Bears, with O'Neal's expected return sometime late this month or in early February. In the meantime, the Paladins will be looking to get continued quality minutes out of true freshman guard Abijah Franklin (4.9 PPG, 2.3 RPG) and true freshman big man Owen Ritger (1.7 PPG, 2.0 RPG), while wing sophomore forward Mason Smith (2.3 PPG, 4.0 RPG) is another player that could likely break into the rotation in the SoCon opener.
Eddrin Bronson (5.5 PPG, 1.7 RPG) could be an x-factor type player in this game against the Bears, and I really feel like the team that gets better production from its bench overall will win this game. Bronson turned in one of his best games at Furman in the late-January road win over the Bears last season, as he finished with 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and a 4-for-6 effort from three-point range in the 79-74 road win.
As a result of Bowser being expected to miss a second-straight start, the Paladins will insert an extra guard into the rotation, with Tom House (5.2 PPG, 2.8 RPG) expected to draw the start for the Paladins. House of course had that memorable 26-point performance against the Bears last season and has come on in recent outings for the Paladins, finishing with seven points and eight rebounds in 30 minutes of floor time against Charleston Southern in the 84-76 win last time out 10 days ago.
House also posted a season-high 16 points off the bench in Furman's 105-57 rout of Bob Jones earlier this month, as he connected on 5-of-9 shots from the field, including going 4-for-7 from three-point range.
Alex Wilkins (16.8 PPG, 4.7 APG) and Asa Thomas (13.5 PPG, 4.2 RPG) will round out the backcourt for the Paladins on Wednesday afternoon, with forwards Charles Johnston (9.9 PPG, 9.3 RPG) and Ben Vander Wal (7.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG) rounding out the expected starting five.
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