College Basketball: A Look at William & Mary-North Carolina

William & Mary Tribe at North Carolina Tarheels, Dean E. Smith Center, Chapel Hill, NC
Tuesday, December 21, 2010, 7:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPNU
Opening Line: UNC -20 1/2
Current Line: UNC -20
Opening Total: 133
Current Total: 134 1/2
Money Line: no line

John Henson and the North Carolina Tarheels are 20 point favorites at home against William and Mary.

The 4-6 William and Mary Tribe travel to North Carolina to take on the 7-4 Tarheels. The schedule for William and Mary has been pretty tough as they have losses to Virginia, Richmond, Syracuse, Western Carolina, Virginia Commonwealth, and Liberty so far. North Carolina has gotten off to a disappointing start after being ranked in the top ten in the pre-season poll. They have losses to Minnesota, Vanderbilt, Illinois, and Texas on the season. All have been or are currently ranked in the top 25. They do have a victory at home against Kentucky. UNC is 5-0 at home this season. This game was originally scheduled to air on ESPN2 but UConn’s women’s team is trying to win 89 straight games tonight which would break UCLA’s men’s record for consecutive victories, so this game was moved to ESPNU instead. The Tribe are 16-5 ATS as underdogs in the last two seasons. UNC is 16-27 ATS in all games in the last two years, including 6-16 ATS as a home favorite of 12.5 or more. The Tarheels are 11-24 ATS in all home games in the last three seasons. These two teams played in the first round of the NIT last year at Chapel Hill, a game the Tarheels won 80-72.

William and Mary is playing in their first nationally televised game of the season. They average 57.8 points a game and give up 61.9 a game. The Tribe shoot 41.6% from the field and 35.2% from 3 point land. They make 65.8% of their free throws. The Tribe average 34.6 rebounds a game and 11.9 assists a game. They turn the ball over 15.9 times a game. They also average 4.1 steals and 2.3 blocks a game. The offense is led by guard/forward Quinn McDowell (14.6 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 1.9 assists per game.) Forward Marcus Kitts (10.5 PPG, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game.) Guard Matt Rum averages 2.3 assists a game to lead the team.

The Tarheels average 78.5 points a game and give up 71.0 a game. The Tarheels shoot 46.2% from the field and 33.8% from 3-point range. They shoot 64.3% from the free throw line. The Heels average 41.6 rebounds a game and 15.2 assists per game. They also turn the ball over 14.8 times a game. North Carolina gets 5.8 steals and 5.1 blocks a game. Junior Forward Tyler Zeller leads the team in scoring with 15.6 PPG. He also has 7.6 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks a game. Harrison Barnes scores 12.3 points a game, gets 6.1 rebounds, and 1.9 assists a game. Forward John Henson leads the team in rebounds and blocks, ( 9.7 RPG, and 2.5 BPG). Point guard Larry Drew II leads the team in assists with 3.9 a game.

North Carolina has a definite edge in every facet of the game. The rebounding edge is especially clear for the Tarheels. William and Mary doesn’t have a player on the roster over 6’9″. North Carolina is certainly more talented than William and Mary, but North Carolina tends to fall asleep in games like these. They should roll, but it si possible they could get distracted as it is the last game they play before Christmas. North Carolina doesn’t play again until next Tuesday against Rutgers.