Mercer vs UCF Prediction 12/17/2025 Today’s College Basketball Picks

The Mercer Bears and the Central Florida Knights meet Wednesday in college basketball action from CFE Arena. Here’s a Mercer vs Central Florida prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Mercer vs Central Florida pick. We will examine the recent form and player performances for both teams, as well as the recent betting trends and streaks pertaining to this matchup. As we conclude, we will tie it all together with a summary that produces a sensible pick for a favorable betting outcome in this game.

Mercer Bears Betting Preview

The Bears opened the season on a 2-2 run, taking losses to Tennessee and Winthrop around wins versus LaGrange and Lipscomb. Mercer would then hit a win streak over Eastern Kentucky, App State, Elon, Georgia State and Oglethrope. Following a loss to Clemson last weekend the Bears have a 7-3 overall record so far this year. 

In the Clemson game on Saturday, the Bears went into the second half with a 39-33 edge. Mercer was outscored 37-24 the rest of the way, leading to a 70-63 loss in the end. The Bears’ leading scorer was Baraka Okojie with 20 points, five assists and three rebounds. Zaire Williams added 15 points with four rebounds in 33 minutes, and Armani Mighty was the only other team player to finish in double-digits during the losing effort with 10 points and seven rebounds. 

Central Florida Betting Preview

Over on the Knights’ side, they beat Hofstra in their opener then fell versus Vanderbilt in game two. Since then Central Florida has been on a nice win streak, though. They’ve taken out Florida A&M, Texas A&M, Oakland, Pitt, Quinnipiac, VMI and Towson in their last seven games. That gives the Knights an 8-1 overall run across the first nine games of the season.

Matched up against Towson on Sunday, the Knights were up comfortably by 20 points at the break. UCF cruised on 39 more points from there and won easily 86-61. Leading the team in scoring was Themus Fulks with 20 points, eight boards and three rebounds. Jamichael Stillwell also logged double-digits in the win with 15 points and six rebounds for the Knights.

Mercer Bears @ UCF Knights Betting Trends: December 17, 2025

Why the UCF Knights will win

• UCF has won each of its last 10 night games against non-Conference opponents at Addition Financial Arena.
• Mercer has lost eight of its last 10 road night games against non-Conference opponents.
• Mercer has lost the first half in eight of its last 10 road night games against non-Conference opponents.

Why the Mercer Bears will win

• Mercer has won five of its last six games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Mercer vs Central Florida Prediction

I’ll stick with Mercer, but you could call this one either way. It should be a good matchup. The Bears had a bad second half against a solid Clemson team in their last outing, getting out-rebounded 33-24 and missing half of their free throws (5-of-10). Otherwise Mercer didn’t play too badly, with 48.1 percent shooting and just nine turnovers. The 63 points broke a string of five straight games with at least 75 points scored by the Bears.

As for UCF, they rolled right past a decent Towson team in their last game. The Knights hit 55.4 percent from the field with 19-of-21 (90.5 percent) from the line and 48 points in the paint. That gives Central Florida 77 or more points in every game so far this year. Mercer is going to have to hit the gas on offense but if they can hit some shots early I like the Bears to power out a cover.

Andrew Jett's Pick: Mercer Bears +14.5