No. 7 North Carolina Tar Heels at Miami-FL Hurricanes
Wednesday, 2/15/12, 8:00 PM EST, TV: ESPN
Opening Point Spread: North Carolina -5.5
Current Betting Line: North Carolina -5.5
Opening Total: 146.5
Current Total: 146
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker
North Carolina will try to win its fourth consecutive ACC road game when it visits the BankUnited Center Wednesday night, but is just 1-4 ATS in its last five games overall. The Tar Heels bounced back from a deflating loss against Duke to tally an impressive 70-52 win over the Virginia Cavaliers as nine-point home favorites. “After the Duke loss, obviously we were upset,” stated Tar Heels guard Kendall Marshall. “We know the type of team we are.” The program has gone 24-5 in its last 29 conference games. North Carolina is 12-12 ATS on the year and the “over” is 13-11 in those contests.
The Tar Heels are 17-2 all-time in their series against the Hurricanes, including a 6-1 mark on the road. North Carolina has won nine games in a row against Miami, which includes a 74-71 win as two-point road favorites in the last meeting inside the BankUnited Center on Jan. 26, 2011. Head coach Roy Williams’ ACC road winning percentage of .647 is the best of any coach in over 40 years.
Miami will look to gain revenge from dropping a 73-56 contest in the first meeting against tonight’s opponent, while five of the last six meetings have gone “under” the total. The Hurricanes have won five of their last six games, but are coming off a 64-59 loss to the Florida State Seminoles as 6.5-point road underdogs. “They put a lot of pressure on your perimeter players and it makes it hard to make perimeter passes,” stated Hurricanes head coach Jim Larranaga on the defeat. Miami is 4-3 ATS as an underdog.
The Hurricanes are 10-2 at home this season and are 1-4 against ranked teams during the 2011-12 campaign. Miami is 43-124 all-time against ranked teams. It’s important to note that all eight of Miami’s losses this season have come against schools with an RPI of 56 or better. Center Reggie Johnson will need to have a big game in order to register an upset, coming off a four-point performance after averaging 18.3 points over the past three games.
Bettors will likely back the Hurricanes due to their 8-1 ATS mark as a home underdog of 6.5 or fewer points, while the Tar Heels are 0-4 ATS following a straight-up win.
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