DePaul basketball looks to continue their season with another win, this time against the Mercer Bears.
The DePaul Blue Demons will face off against the Mercer Bears on Monday, Nov. 11 at 8 p.m. CST at Wintrust Arena. The team is looking to go 3-0 for the first time since the 2021-2022 season, where they were 9-1 in non-conference play.
It is also a key game for sophomore guard David Thomas, who transferred to DePaul from Mercer this past Spring.
General Information
Teams: DePaul (2-0) and Mercer (1-0)
Tip-off: 8 p.m. CST (9 p.m. EST)
Where to Watch: FS2
Tune-in: Radio DePaul Sports & Entertainment (RDSE)
What to know about Mercer
The Bears travel to the Windy City after demolishing the Virginia University of Lynchburg Dragons by a score of 125-54.
Six of their players scored double digit points, and the entire team except for one player had at least four. The leading scorer for that game was Angel Montas Jr, a sophomore guard that last played for the Fordham Rams. Montas Jr scored 18 points and three steals while shooting 7-10 (70%) from the field.
Besides the multitude of scorers, Mercer did a tremendous job of outscoring their opponents in the paint, outscoring the Dragons 76-28 inside. They also were true beasts in transition, scoring 67 fast break points while only allowing six from their opponents.
Latest on DePaul basketball
DePaul had their own blowout victory over the Prairie View A&M Panthers this past Thursday by a score of 92-59. Now they’re looking to continue this run against the Bears.
Against Prairie View A&M, the Blue Demons were led by graduate transfer guard Isaiah Rivera yet again, with a team leading 17 points as he crossed the 1,000 career point threshold. DePaul had several other notable contributors including forwards NJ Benson and JJ Traynor, who scored 15 and 11 points respectively, most of which were off of vicious alley-oop dunks. Benson also nearly recorded a double-double, with nine rebounds against the Panthers.
DePaul did a great job of defending the perimeter. Their opponents only shot 2-16 (12.5%) from the three-point line. This included the second half where Prairie View A&M went 0-7 (0%) from the three.
The entire game DePaul had the lead over their opponents, en route to their first 30+ point win since the 2021-2022 season.
This matchup against the Bears will be the first in the school’s history. The last the Blue Demons faced a team from the Southern Conference was in the 2022-2023 season, where they beat the Samford Bulldogs 103-98 in overtime.
If DePaul can secure a win over Mercer, not only will that be a confidence boost for the players, but also for the fans who haven’t seen a string of victories like this since Tony Stubblefield was first hired.