#849/850 ASA TOP PLAY ON 10* Under 142.5 Points – Western Carolina vs Mercer, Friday at 7:30 PM ET - These 2 met twice this year and neither game reached this total (currently 142.5). The 2 meetings ended with total points of 134 and 136 and we see this one ending in a similar fashion. If we look at the offensive metrics of those 2 games, WCU far outplayed their season averages putting up 1.12 PPP and 1.11 PPP in those games. They are the worst offensive team in the Southern Conference averaging just 0.98 PPP so you can see the difference was rather large. Mercer hit their average in one of the 2 games (1.06 PPP) and in the other they topped out at 1.26 PPP. You can see, both teams played very well on offense yet still neither game came near 142.5 total points. Now with both teams playing their first game on this neutral site in Ashville, NC, we can expect their offensive numbers to be much more in line with their season averages here. Mercer is a slow paced team (310th) and they controlled the tempo in both games as the 2 combined for 108 and 109 shot attempts. WCU was a faster paced team earlier in the season but their head coach Justin Gray made an adjustment slowing his team down which gives them a better chance at success. These 2 offenses rank 8th & 9th in scoring in the 10 team Southern Conference. WCU’s offense ranks dead last in the league in efficiency, eFG%, 3 point FG%, and 2 point FG%. While Mercer’s offense is definitely better, they are far from really good at anything ranking no higher than 5th in the conference in any of those stats. We expect this one to land in the 130’s again giving us a play on the UNDER.