Mercer Bears vs Samford Bulldogs Prediction, 2/7/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Mercer Bears vs Samford Bulldogs

Date: Saturday, February 7, 2026

Location: Pete Hanna Center in Homewood, AL

TV: ESPN+

Pete Hanna Center is where the Samford Bulldogs (11-12) will attempt to beat the Mercer Bears (15-8) on Saturday.

The Mercer Bears faced off with VMI and notched a win by a score of 95-81 in their last game. Mercer ended the contest having earned a 50.0% field goal percentage (32 of 64) and made 9 of their 31 shots from downtown. At the charity stripe, the Bears made 22 of their 29 shots for a percentage of 75.9%. In reference to hauling in rebounds, they earned 40 with 11 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 21 assists for this game while creating 10 turnovers and having 9 steals. With respect to the defense, Mercer let their opponent shoot 41.9% from the field on 26 out of 62 shooting. VMI distributed 18 assists and had 7 steals in this matchup. Moreover, VMI snagged 25 rebounds (7 offensive, 18 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. VMI finished the game at 81.3% from the free throw line by knocking down 13 of their 16 shots. They knocked down 16 of their 42 tries from beyond the perimeter. In regard to personal fouls, the Bears ended up with 15 and VMI had 20 personal fouls.

Baraka Okojie is someone who was a contributor for this game. He accumulated 24 points on 7 of 12 shooting. He played for 38 minutes played and collected 3 rebounds. He shot 58.3% from the floor and recorded 7 assists.

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Mercer will play this contest with a mark of 15-8 so far this year. They cough up possession 10.9 times per contest and as a group are committing 15.3 personal fouls every game. As a team, Mercer is pulling in 39.7 boards per contest and has accounted for 349 dimes so far this season, which is 110th in the nation in terms of passing. The Bears are connecting on 34.2% on three-point attempts (216 of 631) and 73.5% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 85.9 points per contest (25th in the country) while going 46.8% from the floor.

Defensively, the Bears are forcing their opponents into 13.4 turnovers per contest and they draw 18.5 personal fouls. They surrender 33.9% on 3-point attempts and they are 235th in D-1 in PPG allowed (75.6). The Bears are giving up a shooting percentage of 42.3% (623 of 1,472) and they relinquish 37.2 boards per contest as a unit. They rank 158th in D-1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 298 surrendered on the campaign.

In their last game, the Samford Bulldogs got the win with a final of 88-74 when they played Western Carolina. When talking about how they cleaned up the glass, Samford permitted Western Carolina to get 32 in total (5 offensive). They finished shooting 24.0% from 3-point land via 6 of 25 and ended up going 18 out of 24 from the free throw line (75.0%). The Bulldogs permitted Western Carolina to knock down 25 of their 65 tries from the floor which gave them a percentage of 38.5% in this contest. In all, the Bulldogs finished the game shooting 24 out of 48 from the floor which gave them a rate of 50.0%. In terms of three-point attempts, Samford buried 10 out of their 24 attempts (41.7%). They were able to make 30 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 73.2%. Western Carolina earned 27 fouls for this contest which got the Bulldogs to the free throw line for 41 tries. They also turned it over 11 times, while earning 1 steal for this game. The Bulldogs were able to snag 15 defensive boards and 14 offensive boards totaling 29 in the matchup.

Zion Willburn was important for the Bulldogs for the matchup. He scored 11 points in his 24 mins on the hardwood, but wrapped up this contest with no dimes. He made 3 of 4 in the game giving him a rate of 75.0%, and accounted for 4 rebounds.

Samford has a win-loss record of 11-12 so far this year. As an offensive unit, the Bulldogs are connecting on 43.7% from the floor, which is 273rd in the country. Samford has accounted for 1,787 pts for the season (77.7 per game) and they average 36.4 rebounds per contest. They are dishing out assists 14.9 times per contest (127th in the country) and they turn it over 8.7 times per game. The Bulldogs commit 16.2 personal fouls per contest and they connect on 67.2% from the charity stripe.

The Bulldogs defensively are ranked 248th in Division 1 in points per game surrendered with 76.3. They are forcing 9.3 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 44.8% from the floor (231st in college). The Samford defense allows 36.4% on shots from 3-point land (180 of 495) and opponents are connecting on 75.6% of their free throw shots. They have given up 12.7 dimes and 36.9 boards per contest, which has them ranked 119th and 312th in college hoops.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Mercer

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