Funky Claude was running in and out / pulling kids out the ground "Smoke On the Water" - Deep Purple
Mercer Bears
73 77
FINAL Neutral Conference SoCon
Western Carolina Catamounts
Southern Conference · Harrah's Cherokee Center (Neutral) · March 8, 2026
Betting Lines
Spread MER -1.5 Away covered
O/U 154.5 Under
Money MER -135 / WCU +114
Model Predictions
Spread Total MER win
Actual WCU +4 150 Lost
Massey MER -4.0 (-8.0)
Massey Totals 160.9 (-10.9)
Bradley-Terry 64%
Weighted B-T 71%
Efficiency Plus ML MER -3.0 (-7.0) 152.2 (-2.2) 62%
Baseline Tuned ML MER -2.6 (-6.6) 152.9 (-2.9) 60%
Baseline ML MER -3.2 (-7.2) 152.1 (-2.1) 58%
Baseline Plus ML MER -2.5 (-6.5) 152.2 (-2.2) 61%

Predictions use only rating snapshots dated before tip-off. Parenthesised values are the signed error vs. the actual result. Model performance →

Last 5 Meetings

Feb 26, 2026 WCU 7874 MER
Jan 22, 2026 MER 8876 WCU
Mar 7, 2025 MER 6766 WCU
Mar 1, 2025 MER 8169 WCU
Jan 12, 2025 WCU 8582 MER

Team Comparison

Record & Ratings MER WCU
Overall 19-13 15-16
Conference 11-7 10-8
Home 14-1 10-3
Away 5-11 4-12
Neutral 0-1 1-1
Last 5 3-2 5-0
Streak L1 L1
Avg Pts For 80.1 76.3
Avg Pts Against 77.8 79.0
Massey -0.7 (#174) -4.7 (#241)
Bradley-Terry -0.21 (#186) -0.80 (#241)
W. Bradley-Terry -0.28 (#184) -1.16 (#250)
RPI 0.523 (#128) 0.503 (#182)
Shooting & Four Factors MER WCU
FG% 46.3% 44.0%
3PT% 35.5% 33.9%
REB / G 35.8 37.3
OREB / G 11.5 12.9
AST / TO 1.20 1.06
Four Factors — Offense
eFG% 53.3% 50.8%
TOV% 15.3% 16.4%
ORB% 32.8% 34.4%
FT Rate 29.1% 21.9%
Four Factors — Defense
Opp eFG% 52.9% 55.2%
Opp TOV% 16.9% 14.7%
DRB% 67.9% 73.7%
Opp FT Rate 22.4% 28.1%

Game Analysis

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