GAME NOTES: The Mercer Bears will try to move back above .500 when they take on the Rice Owls as part of the Great Alaska Shootout at the Alaska Airlines Center on Thanksgiving.

Rice has been uneven in its first three contests, dropping two decisions and winning the other. Most recently, the Owls were handed a 69-65 loss by William & Mary, which came on the heels of a 68-64 triumph against Prairie View A&M.

Mercer also has failed to pick up traction in either direction, as it has split its first four decisions. The Bears lost at Colorado State in their most recent outing last Sunday (75-62) after topping Kennesaw State (74-66) in their second home tilt.

This bout marks the first meeting between these two teams, and the winner will move on to play the winner of the Washington State/UC Santa Barbara matchup. The losers will square off as well.

Although Rice wound up hitting nine 3-pointers against William & Mary, it took too many shots from that distance, with 16 misses, which was part of a 42.9 percent shooting effort overall. Meanwhile, the Tribe sank 47.9 percent of their total shots in the four-point decision. Seth Gearhart netted 14 points to lead four players in double figures for the Owls, while Marcus Jackson had 10 points on a meager 4-of-17 shooting effort.

A lack of offensive production has been an issue early on for Rice, which is netting just 62.3 points per game on 40.3 percent shooting. The Owls have managed to do a decent job defensively, however, with their first three opponents netting 66.7 points per tilt on 44.3 percent shooting. Jackson (13.3 ppg) leads the team in scoring, but has been erratic with his shooting (.333 FG percentage). Gearhart (12 ppg) and Bishop Mency (11.7 ppg) help out in the scoring department as well, with Mency doing so off the bench.

Mercer had its own offensive troubles last time out, making only 41.2 percent of its shots against Colorado State. The Bears allowed the Rams to knock down 49.1 percent of their field goal attempts, while suffering a 36-30 deficit on the boards. Darious Moten and Jibri Bryan were the only double-digit scorers for the Bears in the loss, with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Leading scorer Ike Nwamu (14.8 ppg) certainly had enough opportunity to join Moten and Bryan, but he failed to do so, finishing with only eight points on 3-of-11 shooting, including a 1-of-5 effort beyond the arc. Without Nwamu, the Bears have just one other double-digit scorer, with Moten (10 ppg, 4.8 rpg) just barely registering in at 10 points per game. Bryan (9.8 ppg) flirts with double figures most nights, but his .406 field goal percentage has held him back.

This game is not likely to feature a ton of offensive excitement, as both squads have had trouble getting the lid off basket. If Nwamu can recover from his cold shooting last time out, the Bears may have a chance, but the Owls should be favored.