Furman vs Mercer 1/8/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
Mercer Bears (8-6) vs. Furman Paladins (10-6)
January 8, 2022 4:00 pm EDT
The Line: Furman Paladins -10.5 ; Over/Under: 139
(Get latest betting odds)
The Mercer Bears and the Furman Paladins meet Saturday in college basketball action from Timmons Arena. Mercer comes into this game at 8-6 so far. The Bears beat Samford in their last game. As for Furman, they’re sitting at 10-6 and coming off a win over UNC Greensboro. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Mercer got off to a spotty 2-4 start this year with wins over Life University and Bucknell. It’s been a 6-2 run for the Bears since then, featuring wins over Milligan, Kennesaw State, Georgia State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern and Samford.
In the Samford matchup back on Wednesday, the Bears were down 38-33 at halftime. Mercer came back with 50 points in the second half during an 83-80 comeback win. Shannon Grant led the way on 26 points with nine rebounds.
Over on the Furman side, they hit a 7-5 run to open the season, losing to Belmont, Navy, Winthrop, North Carolina and Mississippi State along the way. Since then it’s been a 3-1 stretch with wins over Presbyterian, Samford and UNC Greensboro.
In the UNC Greensboro game, the Paladins posted 30 points in the first half and 28 more from there in a tight 58-54 win. Mike Bothwell led the team on 20 points, while Alex Hunter chipped in 16. Marcus Foster added 13 points with eight boards.
Furman is 0-4 ATS in their last four Saturday games and 3-1-1 ATS in their last five overall. The over is 7-3 in the Paladins’ last 10 after a straight-up win.
Meanwhile, the Bears are 4-1 ATS in their last five Saturday games and 6-2 ATS in their last eight after an ATS loss. The over is 7-1 in Mercer’s last eight overall.
PICK: I’m going to take a stab on Mercer here. The Bears are a pretty solid scoring team this year when the matchup is right. Mercer has hit 73 or more points in six of their last eight games. The Bears were initially a little shaky against a pretty good Samford team in their last outing, but they cleaned it up nicely in the second half. I like Mercer to keep it going here and ride out a cover. Should be a fun game.
