No. 11 North Carolina Tar Heels at Long Beach State 49ers
Friday, 11/16/12, 11:00 PM EST, TV: ESPNU
Opening Point Spread: North Carolina -9
Current Betting Line: North Carolina -10
Opening Total: 143
Current Total: 144
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker
North Carolina will begin a stretch of five consecutive games away from Chapel Hill, as it looks to improve to 3-0 on the season after capturing home wins over Florida Atlantic and Gardner-Webb. “We need to get better because things start really getting drastically higher competition-wise when we get rolling now,” commented Tar Heels coach Roy Williams. The Tar Heels will depart to Hawaii after this game to take part in the EA Sports Maui Invitational next week. North Carolina is 6-7 ATS as a road favorite of 9.5 to 12 points, which is important to consider when making your college basketball picks against the spread on Friday.
The Tar Heels have won both meetings against the 49ers, which have been contested at home in the last two seasons. North Carolina trailed by five points at halftime, but rallied to a 84-78 win as 15.5-point favorites last year. Sophomore forward James Michael McAdoo tallied his second straight double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds last time out, while Reggie Bullock added 16 points.
Long Beach State opened up its season with a 75-65 win over North Alabama at the Walter Pyramid last Saturday, as the program is looking for its first win ever against an ACC team on Friday night. “This was a good game for us in that we’ve got a long ways to go,” stated 49ers coach Dan Monson. “That’s why we play these games.” The 49ers have lost all six games in that situation, with five of them coming in the Monson era. Long Beach State is 4-9 ATS in November over the last two-plus seasons, with the OVER going 7-2 in that situation.
The 49ers did manage to earn 13 first-place votes in being picked to win their third straight Big West Conference title, with James Ennis expected to be the team’s leader. He averaged 10.0 points and 4.1 rebounds a season ago, while ranking second in the conference in steals. Guard Mike Caffey has combined with Ennis to score 58 of the team’s 119 points this year.
Sports bettors will likely back the 49ers due to their 5-0 ATS mark after a loss of 10 or more points, while the Tar Heels are 8-8 ATS as a road favorite.
Don’t miss out on a winning season and let the college basketball handicappers at Maddux Sports line your pockets with cash. Long term packages are available now!
