Then she opened up a book of poems and handed it to me, written by an Italian poet from the thirteenth century. "Tangled Up in Blue" - Bob Dylan
Mercer Bears
66 – 84
FINAL Conference
Furman Paladins
Southern Conference · Hawkins Arena · January 12, 2023
Betting Lines
Spread FUR -5.5 Away covered
O/U 140.5 Over
Money MER +220 / FUR -225
Model Predictions
Spread Total MER win
Actual FUR +18 150 Lost
Massey FUR -3.0 (-15.0) — —
Massey Totals — 145.2 (+4.8) —
Bradley-Terry — — 34% ✓
Weighted B-T — — 35% ✓
Baseline Plus ML FUR -3.2 (-14.8) 143.4 (+6.6) 30% ✓
Efficiency Plus ML ★ FUR -4.0 (-14.0) 141.2 (+8.8) 28% ✓
Baseline Tuned ML FUR -3.2 (-14.8) 143.7 (+6.3) 36% ✓
Baseline ML FUR -3.0 (-15.0) 145.3 (+4.7) 34% ✓

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 12, 2026 MER 69 – 64 FUR
Dec 31, 2025 FUR 74 – 72 MER
Feb 13, 2025 FUR 96 – 72 MER
Jan 25, 2025 FUR 79 – 74 MER
Mar 2, 2024 MER 82 – 75 FUR

Team Comparison

Record & Ratings MER FUR
Overall 14-19 28-8
Conference 6-12 15-3
Home 7-7 14-2
Away 4-10 8-3
Neutral 3-2 6-3
Last 5 1-4 4-1
Streak L1 L1
Avg Pts For 66.1 79.2
Avg Pts Against 67.3 71.4
Massey -4.2 (#245) 3.0 (#126)
Bradley-Terry -0.93 (#265) 0.44 (#136)
W. Bradley-Terry -1.07 (#261) 0.40 (#145)
RPI 0.444 (#281) 0.514 (#154)
Shooting & Four Factors MER FUR
FG% 45.2% 48.5%
3PT% 35.2% 34.8%
REB / G 33.5 34.3
OREB / G 9.0 8.9
AST / TO 1.09 1.41
Four Factors — Offense
eFG% 50.3% 56.8%
TOV% 18.8% 18.5%
ORB% 28.3% 27.4%
FT Rate 21.9% 18.7%
Four Factors — Defense
Opp eFG% 49.4% 52.8%
Opp TOV% 15.9% 19.4%
DRB% 70.9% 75.5%
Opp FT Rate 25.3% 20.9%

Game Analysis

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