Citadel Bulldogs vs Mercer Bears Prediction, 3/8/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Citadel Bulldogs vs Mercer Bears

Date: Friday, March 8, 2024

Location: Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, NC

TV: ESPN+

The Mercer Bears (15-16) will go up against the Citadel Bulldogs (11-20) at Harrah's Cherokee Center on Friday.

The Citadel Bulldogs faced off with Samford and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 92-80 in their last game. Concerning fouls, the Bulldogs walked away with 25 and Samford recorded 24 fouls. They also converted 11 out of their 28 tries from 3-point range. Samford ended up shooting 86.2% from the free throw line by burying 25 of their 29 attempts. On top of that, Samford snagged 27 rebounds (5 offensive, 22 defensive), but didn't have a block. Samford dished out 18 assists and had 7 steals for this game. Pertaining to the defense, Citadel allowed the other team to go 51.9% from the floor on 28 of 54 shooting. They also doled out 16 assists for this game as well as forcing the other team into 13 turnovers and earning 6 steals. In the matter of rebounding, they compiled a total of 26 with 8 of them being on the offensive end. From the free throw line, the Bulldogs converted 18 of 26 tries for a rate of 69.2%. Citadel finished with a 49.1% FG percentage (28 of 57) and converted 6 out of their 17 three-point attempts.

Quentin Millora-Brown is a guy who was a factor for the matchup. He walked away with 16 points on 8 out of 9 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 34 minutes and also snagged 11 rebounds. He finished the game shooting 88.9% from the field but didn't record a dime.

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Citadel heads into this matchup with a mark of 11-20 this season. They average 70.5 points per game (274th in Division 1) while hitting 46.0% from the floor. The Bulldogs are connecting on 32.9% on shots from beyond the arc (192 of 583) and 71.2% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Citadel is pulling in 34.3 boards per game and has accounted for 348 dimes so far this year, which ranks 306th in college basketball in terms of passing the rock. They cough up possession 12.1 times per game and as a group they commit 13.9 fouls per game.

On the defensive end of the court, the Bulldogs are forcing their opponents into 11.1 turnovers per contest while drawing 17.0 personal fouls. They are ranked 326th in college hoops in giving up assists with 453 surrendered so far this year. The Bulldogs are allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 45.5% (830 of 1,825) and they concede 32.2 boards per contest as a unit. They relinquish 34.7% on shots from distance while they are 152nd in Division 1 in points per game allowed (71.1).

For their last game, the Mercer Bears walked away with a victory by a final of 82-75 when they played Furman. The Bears were able to corral 21 defensive rebounds and 4 offensive boards totaling 25 for the contest. They gave up possession of the ball 7 times, while earning 6 steals in this contest. Furman committed 12 personal fouls for the game which took the Bears to the charity stripe for 12 tries. They were able to make 9 of the free throws for a clip of 75.0%. When talking about 3-pointers, Mercer knocked down 9 out of 15 tries (60.0%). When the final whistle blew, the Bears went 32 out of 58 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 55.2%. The Bears allowed Furman to make 28 of their 68 tries from the floor which had them at 41.2% for the game. They shot 25.7% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 9 out of 35 and finished the contest at 10 out of 13 at the free throw line (76.9%). When talking about cleaning up the glass, Mercer allowed Furman to snag 38 overall (18 offensive).

Jalyn McCreary pitched in for the Bears in this contest. He had 21 points in his 32 mins on the court and tallied 3 assists in the matchup. He made 10 out of 16 for this contest for a field goal rate of 62.5%, and had 5 rebounds.

Mercer has a win-loss record of 15-16 for the year. The Bears are responsible for committing 19.5 fouls every game and they connect on 67.1% from the free throw line. Their rate of earning assists is at 13.4 times per contest (160th in college basketball) and they are losing possession via turnover 11.3 times per contest. Mercer has accounted for 2,207 pts on the campaign (71.2 per contest) and they collect 34.3 boards per game. As an offensive team, the Bears are connecting on 44.8% from the floor, which ranks 167th in the country.

The Mercer defense surrenders 33.5% on 3-point attempts (208 of 621) and opponents are making 72.7% of their foul shots. They have relinquished 11.0 assists and 35.0 rebounds every game, which is ranked 40th and 194th in Division 1. The Bears on the defensive end are ranked 176th in college basketball in PPG surrendered with 71.8. They are able to force 12.3 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 44.5% from the field (233rd in the country).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Citadel

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