Citadel Bulldogs vs Mercer Bears Prediction, 1/6/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Citadel Bulldogs vs Mercer Bears

Date: Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Location: Hawkins Arena in Macon, GA

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Citadel (+12.5)

Hawkins Arena is the site where and the Mercer Bears (7-3) will play the Citadel Bulldogs (7-0) on Wednesday. The spread on this matchup has Mercer as 12.5-point favorites. The total opens at 166.

Citadel comes into this one with a record of 7-0 for the season. The Bulldogs are connecting on 42.7% on 3-pointers (100 of 234) and 68.5% from the free throw line. They are averaging 92.9 points per contest (4th in the country) while going 48.5% from the floor. They are turning it over 12.7 times per contest and as a team are committing 18.1 personal fouls per contest. As a team, Citadel is pulling down 43.0 rebounds per game and is sitting with 137 assists on the year, which is 96th in the country in terms of passing the ball. When they are on the defensive end, the Bulldogs are forcing their opponents into 15.3 turnovers per contest and they draw 19.4 fouls. They are surrendering 27.7% on 3-point attempts and they are 118th in D-1 in opponents points per game (67.3). The Bulldogs are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 38.3% (168 of 439) and they relinquish 33.9 boards per game as a group. They are currently ranked 50th in D-1 in giving up assists with 68 surrendered for the campaign.

The Citadel Bulldogs stepped onto the hardwood against the Presbyterian Blue Hose and took home the win by a score of 94-82 in their last contest. Citadel wrapped up the contest having earned a 56.7% field goal percentage (34 out of 60) and knocked down 11 of 22 shots from distance. At the free throw line, the Bulldogs made 15 of their 22 shots for a percentage of 68.2%. With regard to hauling in rebounds, they collected a total of 26 with 8 of them being on the offensive end. They also dished out 18 assists in this game as well as having 6 steals and 7 rejections. In relation to defending, Citadel allowed their opponent to shoot 56.7% from the field on 34 of 60 shooting. Presbyterian totaled 10 assists and had 5 steals for the contest. Additionally, the Blue Hose had 37 rebounds (16 offensive, 21 defensive) and added 7 blocked shots. Presbyterian walked away from this one shooting 66.7% from the charity stripe by making 12 of their 18 attempts. They also buried 8 of 20 shots from 3-point range.

Hayden Brown is a player who was a major factor in this game. He had 25 points on 9 of 15 shooting. He played 38 minutes and also totaled 4 rebounds. Brown finished the game at 60.0% from the field and also recorded 2 assists. One more player that was a factor in this matchup for the Bulldogs was Kaiden Rice. He snagged 5 boards and had 2 assists. He ended up going 61.5% from the field for the matchup by connecting on 8-of-13 (24 points). When the game finished, Rice was on the court for 38 min.

Mercer has a mark of 7-3 for the season. As an offensive team, the Bears are shooting 48.8% from the floor, which has them ranked 53rd in the nation. Mercer has earned 816 pts this year (81.6 per game) and they snag 39.7 boards per contest. They are getting an assist 18.7 times per contest (14th in Division 1) and they are losing possession via turnover 14.2 times per game. The Bears commit 15.4 fouls per contest and they connect on 67.4% from the charity stripe. The Bears are ranked 248th in D-1 in points per game surrendered with 73.2. They give up 12.8 assists and 33.0 boards on a nightly basis, which ranks them 172nd and 90th in college hoops. The Mercer defense surrenders 32.4% on shots from behind the 3-point line (72 of 222) and their opponents are converting on 67.9% of their free throw shots. They are forcing 12.6 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 43.8% from the field (219th in college basketball).

In their last game, the Mercer Bears took a loss by a final score of 83-80 when they played the Furman Paladins. The Bears snagged 26 defensive boards and 9 offensive rebounds totaling 35 in this game. They also stuffed 4 tries while getting 8 steals in this contest. The Paladins committed 17 fouls in the matchup which took the Bears to the free throw line for a total of 20 shots. They were able to make 13 of those for a percentage of 65.0%. With respect to shots from beyond the arc, Mercer buried 7 of 18 attempts (38.9%). Overall, the Bears shot 30 out of 54 from the field which gave them a rate of 55.6%. The Bears permitted the Paladins to make 31 of their 58 attempts from the field which left them shooting 53.4% in the matchup. They went 41.7% from downtown by connecting on 10 of 24 and ended up going 11 of 15 from the free throw line (73.3%). In regard to cleaning up the glass, Mercer permitted Furman to pull down 21 overall (4 offensive).

Ross Cummings was important for the Bears in this game. He made 6 out of 14 for the matchup for a field goal percentage of 42.9%, which gave him 22 points. Cummings pulled down 4 boards in his 38 minutes and tallied 3 dimes for this contest. One more player that ended being a contributor for Mercer was Maciej Bender. He racked up 14 points in 28 minutes on the hardwood by going 5 of 7 shooting for the game. Bender ended the game having shot 71.4% from the field in addition to contributing 2 assists and 8 boards.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Citadel (+12.5)

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