East Tennessee State Buccaneers vs Mercer Bears Prediction, 2/28/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: East Tennessee State Buccaneers vs Mercer Bears

Date: Saturday, February 28, 2026

Location: Hawkins Arena in Macon, GA

TV: ESPN+

Hawkins Arena is the site where the Mercer Bears (18-12) will play the East Tennessee State Buccaneers (21-9) on Saturday.

The East Tennessee State Buccaneers took the court against Wofford and went home with a loss by a final score of 72-69 in their last game. Concerning personal fouls, the Buccaneers ended up walking away with 15 and Wofford totaled 15 personal fouls. They also made 8 out of their 27 attempts from beyond the arc. Wofford finished the game at 77.8% when shooting free throws by making 14 of their 18 shots. Additionally, Wofford had 29 rebounds (9 offensive, 20 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Wofford totaled 14 assists and had 5 steals in this game. Concerning the defense, East Tennessee State allowed 40.3% from the field on 25 out of 62 shooting. They also dished out 13 assists for the contest as well as forcing 6 turnovers and earning 5 steals. In terms of grabbing rebounds, they compiled a total of 33 with 7 of them being of the offensive variety. At the free throw line, the Buccaneers buried 13 of 22 attempts for a rate of 59.1%. East Tennessee State walked away from the contest having earned a 52.9% FG percentage (27 out of 51) and made 2 of 13 three-point shots.

Blake Barkley is someone who had an impact in the matchup. He left the arena with 16 points on 5 of 6 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 20 minutes and also pulled down 6 boards. He finished shooting 83.3% from the field and recorded 2 dimes.

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East Tennessee State heads into this matchup with a mark of 21-9 on the campaign. They turn it over 10.3 times per game and as a unit they commit 16.4 fouls every game. As a unit, East Tennessee State is pulling in 34.4 boards per contest and has tallied 436 dimes this year, which has them ranked 106th in the country in terms of passing. The Buccaneers are shooting 34.3% on shots beyond the perimeter (222 of 648) and 75.9% from the free throw line. They are averaging 78.3 pts per contest (129th in the country) while hitting 48.8% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Buccaneers have forced 13.0 turnovers per contest while drawing 15.2 personal fouls. They are ranked 196th in college in allowing assists to the opposition with 387 conceded so far this year. The Buccaneers defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 41.9% (702 of 1,677) and they surrender 31.9 boards per contest as a team. They give up 31.7% on 3-point attempts while they are 51st in Division 1 in points per game allowed (68.5).

The last time they took the court, the Mercer Bears took a loss by a score of 78-74 when they played Western Carolina. The Bears collected 18 defensive boards and 7 offensive boards totaling 25 for the contest. They also coughed up the ball 12 times, while recording 6 steals in this contest. Western Carolina was called for 17 personal fouls for this contest which got the Bears to the charity stripe for 22 shots. They were able to bury 16 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 72.7%. With regard to shots from downtown, Mercer converted 2 out of their 12 attempts (16.7%). When the final whistle blew, the Bears shot 28 out of 55 from the field which had them at 50.9%. The Bears allowed Western Carolina to bury 24 of their 53 tries from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 45.3% for the matchup. They shot 27.8% from beyond the perimeter via 5 out of 18 and ended up going 25 out of 27 at the free throw line (92.6%). When discussing team rebounding, Mercer allowed Western Carolina to get 28 overall (7 on the offensive glass).

Baraka Okojie pitched in for the Bears in this contest. He converted 8 of 13 for the game for a field goal percentage of 61.5%, and accounted for 1 rebound. He recorded 22 points in his 36 minutes on the court and had 1 assist for the contest.

Mercer has a win-loss mark of 18-12 on the campaign. As an offensive team, the Bears are connecting on 46.3% from the floor, which has them ranked 122nd in Division 1. Mercer has scored 2,491 points on the season (83.0 per contest) and they collect 38.1 rebounds per contest. They are dishing out assists 13.8 times per contest (186th in the country) and they lose possession via turnover 10.6 times per contest. The Bears commit 15.5 fouls per game and they go 73.2% from the charity stripe.

The Mercer defense allows 34.1% on 3-pointers (264 of 775) and opponents are knocking down 74.8% of their foul shots. They have allowed 12.5 dimes and 35.9 total boards per game, which is 107th and 280th in college hoops. The Bears defensively are ranked 229th in D-1 in PPG allowed with 75.4. They are able to force 12.8 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 43.2% from the field (122nd in D-1).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take East Tennessee State

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