Mercer visits VMI after Johnson's 26-point outing

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Mercer Bears (8-6, 1-0 SoCon) at VMI Keydets (6-8, 0-1 SoCon)

Lexington, Virginia; Saturday, 4:30 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Bears -5.5; over/under is 155.5

BOTTOM LINE: Mercer visits VMI after Tyler Johnson scored 26 points in Mercer's 99-94 overtime victory against the Chattanooga Mocs.

The Keydets have gone 4-1 in home games. VMI ranks eighth in the SoCon in rebounding averaging 34.3 rebounds. Augustinas Kiudulas leads the Keydets with 6.5 boards.

The Bears are 1-0 against SoCon opponents. Mercer ranks ninth in the SoCon giving up 76.4 points while holding opponents to 43.0% shooting.

VMI scores 79.1 points per game, 2.7 more points than the 76.4 Mercer allows. Mercer scores 11.7 more points per game (83.8) than VMI allows to opponents (72.1).

The Keydets and Bears meet Saturday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kiudulas is averaging 14.9 points and 6.5 rebounds for the Keydets.

Johnson is scoring 17.1 points per game and averaging 3.2 rebounds for the Bears.

LAST 10 GAMES: Keydets: 3-7, averaging 75.6 points, 33.1 rebounds, 14.0 assists, 7.3 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 44.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.7 points per game.

Bears: 6-4, averaging 81.7 points, 33.6 rebounds, 14.6 assists, 8.7 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 45.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 80.3 points.

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