Mercer vs Samford Pick – Basketball Predictions & Odds 2/8/23

The Samford Bulldogs and the Mercer Bears meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Hawkins Arena. Samford comes into this one at 16-9 overall. The Bulldogs are coming off a win over East Tennessee State. As for Mercer, they’re 12-13 on the season after a loss to VMI on Saturday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Samford Bulldogs 

Samford had mixed results over their first 16 games this year, going 9-7 overall. The Bulldogs have hit a 7-2 run since then however, beating UNCG, Wofford, Chattanooga, East Tennessee State, Western Carolina (twice) and East Tennessee State again. 

In the East Tennessee State rematch, the Bulldogs were up 39-29 at halftime. Samford managed another 34 points in the second half and eventually won 73-62. AJ Staton-McCray led the team on 16 points and six rebounds. 

Mercer Bears

Over on the Mercer side, they were a sketchy 7-9 over their first 16 games this year. The Bears are 5-4 since then with wins over East Tennessee State, VMI, East Tennessee State again, the Citadel and VMI again. 

On Saturday in the VMI rematch, the Bears didn’t have a ton of trouble. Mercer scored 39 in the first half and 41 in the second for an 80-54 victory. Tops in scoring was Jalyn McCreary with 22 points and seven rebounds. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll probably stick with Samford here. The Bulldogs managed a 78-69 victory the last time these teams met up on December 28 at Pete Hanna Center. Since then Samford has been on a nice run and scoring quite well. The Bulldogs have hit 69 or more points in 12 straight games. As for Mercer, they’ve got a little momentum of their own with a 3-1 stretch in the last four games. The Bears have 71 or more points in all three of those victories and can give Samford some trouble if they play well. In the end I like the Bulldogs slightly better cover/win-wise, though.