Western Carolina Catamounts vs Mercer Bears Prediction, 3/7/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Western Carolina Catamounts vs Mercer Bears

Date: Saturday, March 7, 2026

Location: Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, NC

TV: ESPN+

The Mercer Bears (19-12) are hosting the Western Carolina Catamounts (14-15) at Harrah's Cherokee Center on Saturday in the SoCon Tournament.

The Western Carolina Catamounts played Furman and notched a win by a score of 86-67 in their last game. Concerning personal fouls, the Catamounts ended up with 14 and Furman finished the game with 18 personal fouls. They also knocked down 6 out of their 17 attempts from distance. Furman shot 25.0% when shooting free throws by making 3 of their 12 tries. Furthermore, Furman had 24 boards (4 offensive, 20 defensive), but didn't notch a block. Furman doled out 10 assists and had but wrapped up the game with no steals. When talking about defense, Western Carolina let their opponent shoot 54.7% from the field on 29 out of 53 shooting. They also recorded 11 assists for this contest in addition to forcing the opposition into 8 turnovers and having 3 steals. Pertaining to grabbing rebounds, they collected 36 with 12 of them being offensive. From the free throw line, the Catamounts knocked down 13 of their 22 attempts for a rate of 59.1%. Western Carolina walked away from the game with a 50.8% field goal percentage (32 out of 63) and buried 9 of 23 shots from beyond the perimeter.

Tahlan Pettway is one player who was a major factor for the game. He finished shooting 66.7% from the floor and also totaled 2 assists. He played for 36 mins and also pulled down 3 rebounds. He accounted for 23 points on 8 of 12 shooting.

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Western Carolina enters this game with a record of 14-15 so far this year. They turn the ball over 11.3 times per contest and as a team are committing 19.2 personal fouls per game. As a team, Western Carolina is snagging 38.4 boards per contest and has tallied 378 assists this year, which has them ranked 292nd in D-1 in terms of passing. The Catamounts are hitting 33.7% on shots from beyond the arc (253 of 750) and 71.3% from the free throw line. They have an average of 78.9 pts per game (108th in the country) while shooting 44.9% from the floor.

When they are on defense, the Catamounts are forcing their opponents into 10.9 turnovers per game and they draw 15.5 fouls. They are giving up 36.2% on shots from beyond the arc and they are ranked 291st in D-1 in PPG allowed (77.8). Catamounts are allowing a FG percentage of 46.2% (762 of 1,650) and they concede 32.6 boards per game as a unit. They are currently ranked 79th in D-1 in allowing assists to their opponents with 369 relinquished for the year.

For their last game, the Mercer Bears got the victory with a final of 82-76 when they faced East Tennessee State. In relation to how they attacked the glass, Mercer allowed East Tennessee State to collect 30 in total (12 on the offensive glass). They finished 37.5% from 3-point land by connecting on 9 out of 24 and finished the game at 11 of 14 at the free throw line (78.6%). The Bears permitted East Tennessee State to convert 28 of 62 attempts from the floor which had them shooting 45.2% for this contest. At the conclusion of this game, the Bears walked away from this one shooting 24 for 47 from the floor which had them at 51.1%. With respect to three-point shots, Mercer made 11 out of 21 tries (52.4%). They were able to convert 23 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 63.9%. East Tennessee State had 23 personal fouls for this game which got the Bears to the charity stripe for 36 shots. They coughed it up 9 times, while recording 6 steals for this game. The Bears were able to corral 23 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive boards totaling 30 for the game.

Zaire Williams pitched in for the Bears in the matchup. He racked up 23 points in his 34 mins on the hardwood and had 2 assists for this game. He buried 7 of 9 for this game for a field goal percentage of 77.8%, and accumulated 1 rebound.

Mercer has a record of 19-12 for the season. When it comes to executing on offense, the Bears are shooting 46.4% from the field, which is ranked 112th in the nation. Mercer has accounted for 2,573 points this season (83.0 per game) and they collect 37.9 boards per contest. They are getting an assist 13.9 times per game (180th in the nation) and they turn it over 10.6 times per contest. The Bears are responsible for committing 15.5 fouls per contest and they connect on 72.7% from the charity stripe.

The Mercer defense allows 34.2% on shots from 3-point land (273 of 799) and opponents are connecting on 74.9% of their free throw shots. They have surrendered 12.5 assists and 35.8 boards on a nightly basis, which is 103rd and 269th in Division 1. The Bears defensively are ranked 230th in college in PPG given up with 75.5. They have forced 12.6 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 43.3% from the field (124th in college hoops).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Western Carolina

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