FAYETTEVILLE -- Mercer came close to pulling off an SEC road upset earlier this week at Auburn.
The Tigers held on to win 78-71 after the Bears pulled to within 69-68 with less than a minute to play.
"I give Mercer a lot of credit," Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl said. "They're hard to guard."
The Bears (8-2) get another shot at an SEC upset when they play Arkansas (5-4) Saturday night at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock.
It will be the first time Arkansas and Mercer have played since the 1999-2000 season, when the Razorbacks won 71-54 at the Big Island Invitational in Hilo, Hawaii, to improve to 4-0 against the Bears.
"Mercer is a dangerous team," Arkansas junior guard Dusty Hannahs said. "They had a chance to win at Auburn at the very end of the game, so we've got to be ready."
Bears senior guard Jestin Lewis is averaging a team-high 11.8 points per game, but he scored 28 against Auburn and hit 11 of 19 shots.
"Lewis had a phenomenal game," Pearl said. "He was unguardable."
Mercer has seven players averaging between 11.8 and 5.8 points.
"They don't care who scores, they just play to win," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "It's a good basketball team. We have to be on our game."
The Bears, who play in the Southern Conference, have several notable victories in Coach Bob Hoffman's eight seasons, highlighted by beating Duke 78-71 in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. They have twice beaten Alabama during Hoffman's tenure, and registered notable victories over Auburn, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Seton Hall.
"They're a giant killer," Hannahs said. "Their coach has got them prepared to win."
Arkansas already has lost to one mid-major team this season when Akron beat the Razorbacks 88-80 in Walton Arena.
"These mid-major teams, we don't sleep on them at all because every game is a big game for us," Arkansas senior guard Jabril Durham said. "We're 5-4. We don't have any reason to be complacent."
Sports on 12/18/2015