Miami (FL) at North Carolina
Time: 9 PM ET
TV: ESPN 2
Line: NC -10
M/L: NC -600; MIA +400
Total: 128
Betting Odds courtesy of Bovada
North Carolina is 10-4 on the season but dropped its past contest 73-67 at Wake Forest, its first ACC match of the season. The Tar Heels will now host the Miami Hurricanes in a game college basketball oddsmakers are favoring UNC by 10-points.
The Tar Heels have been strong in some facets of the game, particularly on the boards where the team ranks 12th in the nation with 42.1 rebounds per game. Ball movement has been good, as well, and the team has hit 46.7 percent from the floor.
The Tar Heels have lost to some pretty unimpressive opponents, but have also shown up to play with big wins over Louisville, Michigan State and Kentucky. So, the team at this point is a bit of a mystery as to whether it will ultimately play up to its competition in March or suffer defeat at the hands of a less talented team.
The Tar Heels are led by Marcus Paige and James Michael McAdoo. McAdoo is projected to be a high pick in the 2014 NBA draft, but he hasn’t excelled this season thus far. He’s posting paltry averages of 14.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, with no real improvements made in his game from last season at all. Now a junior, that may hurt McAdoo’s prospects in the draft. For the Tar Heels to maximize its potential as a team, too, he will have to play to his billing.
Miami is 8-6 on the season but 0-2 in ACC play so far. The team dropped 49-44 to No. 2 ranked Syracuse on Jan 4 and that snapped a three-game win streak for the Hurricanes. The team is not replete with scoring options and averages just 63.5 points per game, which is nearly the worst of all D-1 major schools.
Rion Brown is the Hurricanes top player, a 6’6″ senior guard who is simply assuming all of the offense as the best player on a bad team. He shoots just 40.4 percent from the floor, but the team shoots 42 percent, and he isn’t shy about letting the threes fly, despite a poor shooting percentage (28.4 percent on 4.8 attempts per game). It’s hard to imagine the Hurricanes winning this game, but the Tar Heels have fallen asleep on a number of inferior opponents so it is an interesting notion for bettors that UNC could suffer a collapse in this game.
Miami Trends: UNDER 7-1 in last 8 overall.
North Carolina Trends: UNDER 7-3 in last 10 vs ACC
Head-to-head: UNDER 7-3 in last 10 meetings
