Mercer (12-16) vs UNC Greensboro (18-10)
February 22, 2025 at 02:00 PM EST
The Line: Betting Odds: Mercer +3 — Over/Under: 145
The UNC Greensboro Spartans and the Mercer Bears meet Saturday in college basketball action from Hawkins Arena. Here’s a UNC Greensboro vs Mercer prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best UNC Greensboro vs Mercer pick. We will examine:
The UNC Greensboro Spartans’ recent form and player performance
The Mercer Bears’ recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the UNC Greensboro Spartans
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Mercer Bears
Recent betting trends in games played between UNC Greensboro and Mercer
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the UNC Greensboro vs Mercer game
UNC Greensboro Spartans Betting Preview
The Spartans were doing a pretty choppy job over their first dozen games but they’ve looked a lot better since then. UNC Greensboro lost to SMU, Indiana, San Jose State, UTEP, North Florida, and Elon in a 6-6 opening run. The Spartans would go 7-3 over their next 10 games though, falling to Samford, Mercer, and Wofford with wins otherwise over Virginia Lynchburg, Wofford, Furman, Chattanooga, the Citadel, Western Carolina, VMI, and East Tennessee State in that time. Following victories over the Citadel, Western Carolina, VMI, and Furman in the next four games, UNC Greensboro had an 18-9 overall run through 27 games.
In their game versus East Tennessee State on Wednesday, the Spartans held strong in the first half with a 32-32 tie. UNC Greensboro was pummeled 33-17 from there, however, resulting in a 65-49 loss. Leading the team in scoring during the losing effort was Kenyon Giles with 13 points and three steals. Donovan Atwell added 10 points with two rebounds as well.
Mercer Bears Betting Preview
Over on the Mercer side, they weren’t looking too bad as the 2025 calendar year began. That said, the Bears have struggled since then. Mercer posted a 9-6 opening run through their first 15 outings, losing to DePaul, South Alabama, South Carolina, Miami OH, Queens U, and Winthrop along the way. After losses to East Tennessee State, Western Carolina, Samford, and Wofford, Mercer beat UNC Greensboro and the Citadel (with a loss to Furman) in the next three. The next five games were all losses to Chattanooga, Samford, Wofford, Furman, and VMI though, giving the Bears an 11-16 record through their first 27 games this year.
Matched up against The Citadel on Wednesday, the Bears took a 29-25 edge into the locker room. Mercer posted a 33-27 run the rest of the way to take the road victory 62-52. Leading scorer Ahmad Robinson posted 21 points with five rebounds and seven assists. Both Marcus Overstreet (13 rebounds; 13 points) and Brady Shoulders (10 points; 12 rebounds) turned in double-doubles during the victory as well.
Why the Mercer Bears will win
- Mercer has won four of its last five day games at Hawkins Arena following a road win.
Why the North Carolina-Greensboro Spartans will win
- North Carolina-Greensboro has won eight of its last nine day games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
- Mercer has lost each of its last five day games against the Southern Conference.
- North Carolina-Greensboro has won the first half in five of its last six road games against Mercer.
UNC Greensboro vs Mercer Prediction
I’ll stay with UNC Greensboro. We should have a pretty interesting matchup here regardless, though. On Wednesday the Spartans didn’t look very good against East Tennessee State—especially in the second half. UNCG shot just 35.8 percent from the field with a 38-24 rebounding deficit in the double-digit loss, coughing up 12 turnovers for 13 Bucs points along the way. The defeat halts a four-game win streak, and UNCG has scored just 107 points combined in their last pair.
These teams last saw each other back on January 22 in a tight 79-78 home loss for the Spartans. UNC Greensboro had a 46-39 rebounding edge in that one and hit 18-of-21 (85.7 percent) from the line, but got weighted down by a rough 35.8 percent shooting from the field. Mercer did just enough on the other side with 42.6 percent shooting and 10 points off 13 Spartans turnovers. UNC Greensboro is likely the better team overall, however, so they’ll be primed for some revenge in the road rematch. They’ll need a much better effort this time, though.