Check out our free Mercer vs Citadel pick and preview for this NCAA Basketball game in Charleston. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this College Basketball matchup.

Mercer vs Citadel Pick & Preview: Saturday, January 28th Betting Odds

Bears vs Bulldogs Matchup at a Glance

  • Sport: NCAAB
  • Teams: Mercer Bears at Citadel Bulldogs
  • Where: Charleston at McAlister Field House
  • Date: Saturday, January 28th
  • Betting Odds: Mercer -1.5, MERC -129 | CITA +106 O/U 135.0

Bears Preview:

Through 22 games, the Mercer Bears have an overall record of 10-12. On the road, the Bears will be playing their 12th game of the season, having gone 4-8. This season, Mercer has been favored to win in 9 games, sitting with a mark of 6-3. For today’s contest, Mercer has a betting line set -1.5 points in their favor.

Jalyn McCreary comes into today’s game as the Bears’ leading scorer at 14.82 points per contest. Not only has McCreary been key to the team’s scoring efforts, but he is Mercer’s top rebounder at 5.45 boards per contest. Behind McCreary, the team has benefited from the strong play of Kamar Robertson, who is second on the team in scoring at 12.0 points per game. Overall, he has hit 48.6% of his shots and is adding 2.63 boards per game.

Offensive production has been hard to come by for Mercer this season, as they are currently ranked 225th in college basketball at 70.5 points per game. A major reason for low scoring totals is the fact that they have played at a below average pace, and have struggled to knock down outside shots. As a team, the Bears’ 3-point shooting percentage sits at just 35.1%, placing them 173rd in the NCAA.

Bulldogs Preview:

The Citadel will take the floor in today’s game in the middle of a 2 game win streak and have an overall record of 9-12. Currently, the Bulldogs have been the home team 9 times, sitting with a record of 4-5. So far, the Bulldogs have been the underdog 16 times, going 5-11 straight up. Heading into today’s contest, they are the +1.5 underdogs on the spread.

Stephen Clark comes into today’s game as the Bulldogs’ leading scorer at 16.95 points per contest. Not only has Clark been key to the team’s scoring efforts, but he is Citadel’s top rebounder at 6.71 boards per contest. Behind Clark, the team has benefited from the strong play of Austin Ash, who is second on the team in scoring at 15.0 points per game. Overall, he has hit 38.6% of his shots and is adding 5.24 boards per game.

Citadel comes into today’s matchup vs Mercer, looking to continue their strong offensive play, as they are averaging 76.8 points per game. Through 21 games, they have hit 44.5% of their field goal attempts. In terms of pace, the Bulldogs have preferred to slow the game down, ranking 287th in possessions per game.

Free Spread Prediction: Citadel Bulldogs +1.5

A key to this matchup, will be 3-point shooting. Coming into the game, both Mercer and Citadel are excellent 3-point shooting teams, averaging 8.12 and 10.71 made 3’s per game, respectively. In terms of the odds, we like the Citadel Bulldogs to cover as +1.5 point dogs. Look for their defense to do a good enough job closing out on the Bears’ outside shooters to make things difficult for Mercer. At +1.5 we like the chances of Citadel covering the spread as underdogs.