# 2016–17 Mercer Bears men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Mercer Bears men's basketball team represented Mercer University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears, led by ninth-year head coach Bob Hoffman, played their home games at Hawkins Arena on the university's Macon, Georgia campus as third-year members of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 15–17, 9–9 in SoCon play to finish in sixth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the SoCon tournament to East Tennessee State.

## Previous season

The Bears finished the 2015–16 season 19–15, 8–10 in SoCon play to finish in seventh place. They defeated The Citadel in the first round of the SoCon tournament to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to East Tennessee State. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they lost in the first round to Coastal Carolina.

### Murder of Jibri Bryan

Jibri Bryan, a sixth-year senior, was shot and killed on February 2, 2016. He was found with a gunshot wound to the head in the driver's seat of a Chevy Monte Carlo parked in a convenience store in Macon, Georgia. Bryan played in six games in the 2015–16 season due to a knee injury, averaging 7.8 points per game. Jarvis Clinton Miller has been charged in the murder of Bryan after attempting to flee from the crime scene. In a statement, Mercer coach Bob Hoffman said, "Jibri Bryan was a special young man who was a great contributor to our team and did everything that was asked of him.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 8:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Brewton–Parker | W 87–53 | 1–0 | Hawkins Arena (3,553) Macon, GA |
| 11/13/2016* 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Florida | L 54–76 | 1–1 | Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena (3,716) Jacksonville, FL |
| 11/20/2016* 2:00 pm | | Georgia Southern Savannah Invitational | W 80–67 | 2–1 | Hawkins Arena (3,508) Macon, GA |
| 11/22/2016* 7:00 pm, ASN | | Radford Savannah Invitational | W 58–47 | 3–1 | Hawkins Arena (2,572) Macon, GA |
| 11/25/2016* 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | vs. East Carolina Savannah Invitational semifinals | W 70–66 | 4–1 | Savannah Civic Center (2,263) Savannah, GA |
| 11/26/2016* 7:30 pm | | vs. Akron Savannah Invitational finals | L 63–65 | 4–2 | Savannah Civic Center (2,391) Savannah, GA |
| 11/29/2016* 7:00 pm | | Davidson | L 57–78 | 4–3 | Hawkins Arena (3,228) Macon, GA |
| 12/03/2016* 4:00 pm | | at George Mason | L 68–79 | 4–4 | EagleBank Arena (3,560) Fairfax, VA |
| 12/07/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Oglethorpe | W 98–41 | 5–4 | Hawkins Arena (2,625) Macon, GA |
| 12/10/2016* 4:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at Clemson | L 47–90 | 5–5 | Littlejohn Coliseum (7,514) Clemson, SC |
| 12/18/2016* 1:00 pm, SECN | | at Auburn | L 74–76 | 5–6 | Auburn Arena (7,991) Auburn, AL |
| 12/22/2016* 7:00 pm, ASN | | La Salle | L 96–98 $^{3OT}$ | 5–7 | Hawkins Arena (3,272) Macon, GA |
| 12/28/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Kennesaw State | W 80–76 | 6–7 | KSU Convocation Center (1,506) Kennesaw, GA |
| SoCon regular season ||||||
| 12/31/2016 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Wofford | L 71–88 | 6–8 (0–1) | Benjamin Johnson Arena (1,083) Spartanburg, SC |
| 01/02/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Furman | L 69–71 | 6–9 (0–2) | Timmons Arena (1,378) Greenville, SC |
| 01/05/2017 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | VMI | W 68–50 | 7–9 (1–2) | Hawkins Arena (2,754) Macon, GA |
| 01/07/2017 4:30 pm, ESPN3 | | East Tennessee State | L 58–67 | 7–10 (1–3) | Hawkins Arena (3,739) Macon, GA |
| 01/11/2017 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Samford | W 68–65 | 8–10 (2–3) | Pete Hanna Center (1,826) Homewood, AL |
| 01/14/2017 4:30 pm, ASN | | Chattanooga | L 68–70 | 8–11 (2–4) | Hawkins Arena (3,672) Macon, GA |
| 01/19/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UNC Greensboro | L 66–68 | 8–12 (2–5) | Greensboro Coliseum (2,073) Greensboro, NC |
| 01/21/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Western Carolina | W 70–50 | 9–12 (3–5) | Ramsey Center (1,685) Cullowhee, NC |
| 01/28/2017 4:30 pm, ESPN3 | | The Citadel | W 82–66 | 10–12 (4–5) | Hawkins Arena (4,328) Macon, GA |
| 01/30/2017 7:00 pm, ASN | | Western Carolina | W 62–47 | 11–12 (5–5) | Hawkins Arena (2,789) Macon, GA |
| 02/02/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Furman | L 68–70 | 11–13 (5–6) | Hawkins Arena (3,383) Macon, GA |
| 02/04/2017 4:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Wofford | L 62–65 | 11–14 (5–7) | Hawkins Arena (4,386) Macon, GA |
| 02/09/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at VMI | W 81–51 | 12–14 (6–7) | Cameron Hall (1,023) Lexington, VA |
| 02/11/2017 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at East Tennessee State | L 71–88 | 12–15 (6–8) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (5,225) Johnson City, TN |
| 02/18/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at The Citadel | W 89–78 | 13–15 (7–8) | McAlister Field House (3,809) Charleston, SC |
| 02/22/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UNC Greensboro | L 66–72 | 13–16 (7–9) | Hawkins Arena (2,877) Macon, GA |
| 02/25/2017 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Chattanooga | W 64–54 | 14–16 (8–9) | McKenzie Arena (5,632) Chattanooga, TN |
| 02/27/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Samford | W 88–79 | 15–16 (9–9) | Hawkins Arena (3,021) Macon, GA |
| SoCon tournament ||||||
| 03/04/2017 8:30 pm, ESPN3 | (6) | vs. (3) East Tennessee State Quarterfinals | L 66–73 | 15–17 | U.S. Cellular Center (5,127) Asheville, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||