Mercer Bears vs Samford Bulldogs: Don Best Odds & Insights for 3/5/2021

The Samford Bulldogs (6-12) are 7.5-point underdogs as they attempt to stop a five-game losing streak when they visit the Mercer Bears (15-10) on Friday, March 5, 2021 at U.S. Cellular Center (NC). The contest airs at 8:00 PM ET on ESPN+. The over/under for the matchup is set at 147.5.

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Betting Information

ATS Records for Mercer and Samford

Mercer Leaders

• The Bears scoring leader is Ross Cummings, who puts up 14.3 points per game.
• Felipe Haase paces Mercer with 7.4 rebounds per game and Neftali Alvarez leads the squad with 4.3 assists per matchup.
• The Bears are led by Cummings from beyond the arc -- he hits 2.8 shots from deep per game.
• The Bears steals leader is Alvarez, who averages 1.4 per game. Maciej Bender leads the team averaging 1.4 blocks a game.

Samford Leaders

• The Bulldogs leader in scoring is Myron Gordon with 15.6 points per game. He also adds 3.2 rebounds per game and 1.7 assists per game.
• When it comes to Samford leaders in rebounds and assists, the team has two players at the top: Christian Guess with 9.0 rebounds per game and Richardson Maitre with 3.1 assists per game.
• The 1.5 three-pointers A.J. Staton-McCray makes per game are a team-high mark for the Bulldogs.
• Nobody on Samford grabs more steals than Staton-McCray (1.7 per game) or blocks more shots than Jacob Tryon (0.9 per game).

Mercer vs Samford: Last 6 Meetings

The Bears are 6-0 against the Bulldogs in the last six meetings between the two teams. The Bears have covered the spread more often than not against the Bulldogs, holding a 2-1 record ATS in those head-to-head matchups.

Points Insights

• The 77.7 points the Bears record per game are only 1.4 fewer points than the Bulldogs surrender (79.1).
• Mercer is 6-0-1 against the spread and 10-3 overall when scoring more than 79.1 points.
• Samford is 3-9 overall and 3-6 against the spread in games when it gives up more than 77.7 points.
• The Bulldogs' 77.8 points per game are just 4.4 more points than the 73.4 the Bears give up.
• Samford has put together a 4-0 ATS record and a 5-4 overall record in games it scores more than 73.4 points.
• Mercer has a 3-6 record overall and an ATS record of 1-4-1 in games when its opponents score more than 77.8 points.
• The Bears have scored a total of 108 more points than their opponents this year (an average of 4.3 per game), while the Bulldogs have been out-scored by opponents on average this year (by 22 total points, -1.3 per game).

Rebounding Insights

• The Bears and the Bulldogs rebound at around the same clip, with the teams averaging and 33.5 and 37.8 boards per game, respectively.
• When Samford earns the rebounding advantage they are 3-4 against the spread. When recording fewer boards, Mercer is 2-6.
• The Bears average 7.9 offensive boards per game, -2.9 rebounds fewer than the Bulldogs.
• The Bulldogs are 2-5 against the spread when they win the battle on the boards. The Bears are 3-4-1 when they lose the rebounding edge.
• Rebounding has been a pillar for both teams this year. Mercer records an average rebounding margin of +1.8 rebounds per game. Samford averages a margin of +3.6 rebounds.