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CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel men's basketball team hosts Southern Conference foe Mercer on Saturday inside McAlister Field House.
 
Despite career highs from Preston Parks and Tyler Burgess, the Bulldogs fell at VMI on Feb. 11 101-78. Parks posted his second 30-point game of the season with 33 in the contest and grabbed six rebounds in 30 minutes of action. Burgess chipped in 12 points and finished four-of-seven from the three-point line. The freshmen duo accounted for all seven of the Bulldogs' three-pointers in the game. The Citadel was held to just a 35.4 field goal percentage compared to VMI's 50.0 percent.
 
Mercer comes to Charleston with a 12-15 record and 6-8 mark in conference play. The Bears have lost three of the last four games with the lone win coming at VMI on Feb. 9 and are currently seventh in the conference standings.
 
Tip for Saturday's game is set for 1 p.m. and will be followed by the 13th annual alumni game. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN3 with live stats available at CitadelSports.com.
 
FAST FACTS
• Last season the Bulldogs had just five games with multiple players scoring at least 20 points. This year, The Citadel has posted nine games with multiple 20-point scorers and four games with a 30-point scorer.
• Led by Preston Parks' 16.8 points per game and Zane Najdawi's 14.9 PPG, The Citadel is one of two SoCon teams with multiple scorers ranked in the top-10 in the conference.
• The Bulldogs own five of the 11 highest-scoring performances in the SoCon this season.
• Last season the Bulldogs' bench scored 1,196 points using Coach Baucom's line change system. This year, the 'Dogs are well on their way to surpassing that mark as they have already tallied 1,122 bench points. The largest contribution so far this season came in a 116-112 win at Stetson when the Bulldogs' reserves poured in 72 points.
• Tyler Burgess accounted for four of the Bulldogs' seven three-pointers at VMI, posting a career-high 12 points in the contest. The freshman has hit more treys in the past two games than the first 25 combined.
• The Citadel's high-powered offense ranks first in five different categories among Southern Conference members including scoring offense (91.6), steals (9.6), offensive rebounds (14.4), turnover margin (+3.37) and three-point field goals made (12.1).
• The Citadel scored 51 points in the second half of the game against Furman, marking the 18th time this season the squad has posted at least 50 points in a half. The Citadel has also scored at least 100 points in a game eight times this season, something Coach Baucom's squad did just twice last year.
• Preston Parks currently ranks second on The Citadel's list of points scored by a freshman. Parks has 402 points on the season and is 30 points behind leader Cameron Wells. He also ranks third among freshmen with 92 assists.
• Parks has been explosive for the Bulldogs this season and has led The Citadel in scoring in 10 games. The Greenville, South Carolina, native has recorded 17 games in double figures and 10 games with at least 20 points.
• The freshman's 33 points on Feb. 11 and 32 points on Dec. 28 are the sixth-and seventh-highest single-game total among conference members in 2016-17. He also ranks sixth in the SoCon in scoring and second in scoring in conference play.
• Zane Najdawi is currently first in the SoCon in offensive rebounds, third in rebounds and eighth in scoring. He is also tied for ninth in the NCAA for most free throws made in a single game after sinking 16 against Colgate on Dec. 2. His 131 free throws made are 10th most in program history in a single season.
 
For more information on The Citadel basketball, follow @CitadelHoops or visit CitadelSports.com.