Mercer Bears vs Georgia Southern Eagles Prediction, 12/13/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Mercer Bears vs Georgia Southern Eagles

Date: Sunday, December 13, 2020

Location: W. S. Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro, GA

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Mercer (-5)

The Mercer Bears (5-0) head to W. S. Hanner Fieldhouse on Sunday where they'll take on the Georgia Southern Eagles (3-0). Georgia Southern opens this game as 5-point underdogs. The total opens at 143.5.

Mercer will enter this contest with a win-loss record of 5-0 this year. The Bears are connecting on 42.9% on shots from beyond the arc (54 of 126) and 71.3% from the free throw line. They are averaging 86.4 pts per contest (38th in college basketball) on 50.2% from the floor. They turn it over 14.0 times per game and as a group they are committing 15.6 personal fouls every game. As a team, Mercer is collecting 42.8 rebounds per game and has 104 assists on the campaign, which ranks 12th in Division 1 in terms of passing. On the defensive end, the Bears have forced 14.2 turnovers per contest while drawing 16.0 personal fouls. They concede 33.6% on shots from distance while they are 128th in college basketball in opponents PPG (67.4). The Bears defense is allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 41.0% (125 of 305) and they surrender 30.4 boards per contest as a basketball team. They rank 212th in college hoops in giving up assists with 60 conceded this season.

The Mercer Bears stepped onto the hardwood against the Southern Wesleyan Warriors and went home with a win by a final score of 96-85 in their last contest. Mercer wrapped up the game with a 53.1% field goal percentage (34 out of 64) and made 13 of their 29 shots from 3-point land. At the charity stripe, the Bears knocked down 15 of their 20 tries for a rate of 75.0%. When talking about pulling down rebounds, they compiled 42 with 10 of them being of the offensive variety. They also doled out 23 dimes for this game while getting 4 steals and 7 rejections. Regarding the defense, Mercer allowed their opponent to shoot 53.1% from the floor on 34 of 64. Southern Wesleyan distributed 14 dimes and 5 steals for this game. Furthurmore, the Warriors snagged 24 boards (2 offensive, 22 defensive) and added 7 blocked shots. Southern Wesleyan shot 71.4% from the charity stripe by converting 10 of their 14 tries. They converted 13 of 30 attempts from long range.

Jeff Gary is a player who was a major contributor in this matchup. He accumulated 12 points on 4 of 7 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 30 minutes and also pulled down 4 rebounds. Gary finished the contest at 57.1% from the field and distributed 5 dimes. An additional guy that played a role in this matchup for the Bears was Ross Cummings. He had 5 boards and also collected 2 assists. He walked away from this one shooting 60.0% from the floor for the game by going 9-of-15 (24 points). When all was said and done, Cummings was on the court for 29 minutes.

Georgia Southern has a record of 3-0 for the campaign. The Eagles are responsible for committing 19.0 fouls every game and they go 51.3% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 16.3 times per game (70th in college basketball) and they cough up possession 15.0 times per contest. Georgia Southern has accounted for 260 points for the campaign (86.7 per game) and they average 43.7 rebounds per contest. As an offensive team, the Eagles are hitting on 53.2% from the field, which is ranked 57th in college basketball. The Eagles defensively are ranked 180th in the country in points given up per game with 71.0. They relinquish 13.3 dimes and 31.0 boards every game, which is ranked 182nd and 51st in those categories on the defensive end. The Georgia Southern defense allows 36.4% on shots from behind the 3-point line (28 of 77) and their opponents are connecting on 62.7% of their shots from the charity stripe. They are forcing 16.7 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 43.0% from the field (175th in college basketball).

In their last game, the Georgia Southern Eagles took home the win by a final score of 72-69 when they played the USC Upstate Spartans. The Eagles corralled 23 defensive boards and 15 offensive rebounds totaling 38 for this contest. They also turned away 4 shots while getting 12 steals for this contest. The Spartans were called for 22 fouls in the game which took the Eagles to the charity stripe for 27 attempts. They were able to make 14 of those for a rate of 51.9%. With regard to shooting from distance, Georgia Southern knocked down 2 out of 17 attempts (11.8%). Overall, the Eagles went 28 out of 60 from the field which had them at 46.7%. The Eagles permitted the Spartans to knock down 25 out of their 52 attempts from the floor which had them at 48.1% in the game. They shot 52.6% from downtown by going 10 out of 19 and walked away from this one shooting 9 out of 17 from the charity stripe (52.9%). In the matter of rebounding, Georgia Southern permitted USC Upstate to pull down 30 in all (6 offensive).

Eric Boone saw a lot of time on the hardwood for the Eagles in this game. He made 5 out of 14 for the matchup for a field goal rate of 35.7%, which earned him 13 points. Boone collected 8 boards in his 34 mins and had 3 dimes for this game. One more player who came through for Georgia Southern was Elijah McCadden. He racked up 12 points in 33 minutes on the hardwood by going 4 of 9 shooting for this contest. McCadden ended the game having shot 44.4% from the field as well as earning 4 assists and 2 rebounds.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Mercer (-5)

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