Mercer visits VMI following Okojie’s 29-point performance

By Canadian Press on January 14, 2026.

Mercer Bears (10-7, 2-2 SoCon) at VMI Keydets (6-11, 1-3 SoCon)

Lexington, Virginia; Thursday, 6 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Mercer visits VMI after Baraka Okojie scored 29 points in Mercer’s 109-97 win over the Wofford Terriers.

The Keydets have gone 5-2 at home. VMI allows 75.9 points and has been outscored by 1.4 points per game.

The Bears are 2-2 against conference opponents. Mercer has a 0-1 record in one-possession games.

VMI averages 10.7 made 3-pointers per game, 2.5 more made shots than the 8.2 per game Mercer gives up. Mercer averages 9.6 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.0 more made shot on average than the 8.6 per game VMI allows.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: TJ Johnson is scoring 19.1 points per game with 7.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists for the Keydets. Tan Yildizoglu is averaging 10.3 points, 3.4 assists and 1.5 steals over the past 10 games.

Zaire Williams averages 2.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Bears, scoring 11.8 points while shooting 34.9% from beyond the arc. Okojie is shooting 45.1% and averaging 16.7 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Keydets: 3-7, averaging 69.2 points, 32.0 rebounds, 11.8 assists, 7.6 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 37.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.3 points per game.

Bears: 5-5, averaging 85.7 points, 36.9 rebounds, 15.3 assists, 9.0 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 47.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.2 points.

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

The Associated Press

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