Mercer Bears vs UNC Greensboro Spartans Prediction, 1/17/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Mercer Bears vs UNC Greensboro Spartans

Date: Saturday, January 17, 2026

Location: First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, NC

TV: ESPN+

The UNC Greensboro Spartans (6-11) will try to beat the Mercer Bears (10-7) at First Horizon Coliseum on Saturday.

The Mercer Bears faced off with Wofford and took home the win by a score of 109-97 in their last game. In regard to fouls, the Bears ended up finishing with 20 and Wofford totaled 24 fouls. They converted 16 out of their 32 tries from beyond the arc. Wofford finished 77.3% when shooting free throws by making 17 of their 22 shots. In addition, Wofford collected 28 rebounds (12 offensive, 16 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Wofford doled out 15 dimes and had 8 steals in the matchup. With regard to defense, Mercer allowed 47.1% from the field on 32 out of 68 shooting. They also doled out 23 assists for this game as well as forcing 12 turnovers and earning 7 steals. In regard to hauling in rebounds, they earned 33 with 7 of them being offensive. From the charity stripe, the Bears made 27 of their 31 attempts for a percentage of 87.1%. Mercer finished with a 63.6% FG percentage (35 of 55) and knocked down 12 of their 19 3-point shots.

Baraka Okojie is one player who came through in this game. He ended up finishing with 29 points on 7 out of 13 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 37 minutes and grabbed 3 rebounds. He finished 53.8% from the field and distributed 12 dimes.

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Mercer heads into this game with a win-loss record of 10-7 for the campaign. They turn it over 10.9 times per game and as a group are committing 15.8 fouls per game. As a unit, Mercer is collecting 38.7 rebounds per game and has accounted for 259 assists on the campaign, which is 152nd in Division 1 in terms of passing. The Bears are connecting on 35.0% on 3-pointers (164 of 469) and 72.7% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 84.8 points per game (50th in Division 1) while shooting 46.4% from the field.

On defense, the Bears are forcing 14.3 turnovers per game while drawing 17.6 personal fouls. They are currently ranked 120th in college in allowing assists to the opposition with 218 conceded on the season. The Bears defense is allowing a field goal percentage of 42.0% (456 of 1,085) and they surrender 38.8 boards per contest as a squad. They surrender 32.5% on 3-point attempts and they are 210th in Division 1 in points per game allowed (74.5).

When they last played, the UNC Greensboro Spartans walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 86-60 when they faced East Tennessee State. In the matter of team rebounding, UNC Greensboro allowed East Tennessee State to grab 27 in all (3 offensive). They finished 33.3% from distance by connecting on 6 out of 18 and ended up going 6 of 8 from the charity stripe (75.0%). The Spartans allowed East Tennessee State to make 37 out of 62 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 59.7% in this contest. When this game wrapped up, the Spartans ended up going 18 out of 53 from the field which gave them a percentage of 34.0%. In the matter of 3-pointers, UNC Greensboro knocked down 5 of their 20 tries (25.0%). They were able to bury 19 of them for a rate of 76.0%. East Tennessee State earned 18 personal fouls in the game which took the Spartans to the charity stripe for a total of 25 tries. They also coughed up the ball 21 times, while recording 5 steals in this matchup. The Spartans snagged 21 defensive boards and 12 offensive boards for a total of 33 for this contest.

KJ Younger was important for the Spartans for the contest. He knocked down 5 out of 12 in this game for a rate of 41.7%, and earned 7 rebounds. He accumulated 13 points in his 29 minutes on the court, but wasn't able to tally an assist.

UNC Greensboro has a win-loss mark of 6-11 for the year. As an offense, the Spartans are connecting on 45.3% from the field, which is 189th in college hoops. UNC Greensboro has totaled 1,330 pts for the campaign (78.2 per contest) and they collect 36.6 rebounds per contest. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 12.5 times per contest (298th in college hoops) and they turn it over 11.2 times per game. The Spartans are committing 15.2 fouls per contest and they shoot 69.5% from the free throw line.

The UNC Greensboro defense gives up 35.8% on shots from behind the 3-point line (172 of 480) and their opponents are making 70.2% of their free throw attempts. They have allowed 14.8 dimes and 35.6 total boards per game, which is ranked 275th and 243rd in the country. The Spartans are ranked 323rd in D-1 in points allowed per game with 80.3. They are able to force 9.1 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 45.5% from the field (287th in college).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Mercer

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