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Neither the Notre Dame Fighting Irish or the North Carolina Tar Heels are where they want to be right now. Although both are in relatively good shape and look like they are locks to make the NCAA Tournament, both teams have had their struggles in recent weeks. However, while Notre Dame’s revolve around losing their best player, North Carolina’s are more endemic. The Tar Heels have just not looked the same as they did during their title run last year.
This war on the floor will go down Saturday, January 13, 2018, at 6 p.m. ET at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Indiana. The game will be televised live on ESPN. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.
Opening College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Notre Dame has been abysmal on offense in each of its last two games. The Fighting Irish mustered just 51 points in a win over Syracuse last week, and they could only score 53 in a loss to Georgia Tech on Wednesday night.
Unlike many big name teams, the Fighting Irish have not played many home games. Heading into this one, Notre Dame has only played eight games at home on the year. Half of those had no line because they were against little-known opponents. The Fighting Irish are 1-3 ATS at home in the four games that had lines.
The Tar Heels got a nice win over Boston College on Tuesday night, trouncing the Eagles by 30 points. UNC needed that win after losing on the road to Florida State and Virginia last week, seriously hurting the school’s chances of claiming the ACC crown.
North Carolina has been a high-scoring team at home, but that has not been the case away from the Dean Dome. Under is 6-3 in the Tar Heels’ road and neutral site games.
Key Injury
The loss of Bonzie Colson seems to have been an enormous one for the Irish. We all knew that Colson was far and away the best player on the team, but the team’s play in its last two games shows how much Notre Dame depended on him.
Colson will be sidelined for the next two months because of a broken foot. If all goes according to plan, he should be ready by the time the conference tournament rolls around, but there’s a lot of time between now and then.
He was the team’s do it all man and now they are really hurting because he isn’t on the court. Colson led the Irish in scoring and rebounding, and was the team’s best defender too. He was one of just a handful of players in college basketball to average two steals and two blocks per game.
Matchup to Watch
Notre Dame is really going to miss Colson in this one. The Irish aren’t a great rebounding team and have gone from mediocre to below average with Colson out of the lineup.
Meanwhile, the Tar Heels have been one of the best teams on the glass for the last few seasons now. North Carolina has no shortage of athletic big men that can bring down rebounds. UNC leads the country in rebounding with 44.6 RPG.
For Notre Dame to have a shot, senior Martinas Geben will need to play the game of his life. Geben has been thrust into a starting role with Colson’s injury and is the team’s top rebounder now that Colson is out. This team does not have another good rebounder aside from Geben.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
This is a terrible matchup for Notre Dame. Although the Tar Heels have struggled on the road, this is just a physical mismatch. I would love Notre Dame’s chances at home with a healthy Colson, but without him North Carolina is going to roll.
College Basketball Odds: North Carolina 85, Notre Dame 72
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