College Basketball Odds - North Carolina at Virginia Tech Game Preview

Defending a title is always tough. You don’t have to tell that to the North Carolina Tar Heels. North Carolina has not looked too sharp this year. UNC has had a real hard time on the road and suffered one of the biggest surprises of the season when it was knocked off by Wofford. The Tar Heels already have two ACC losses and can likely only lose one or two more to have any hope of winning the ACC in the regular season. They know they need to take care of business against the Virginia Tech Hokies.

This war on the floor will go down Monday, January 22, 2018, at 7 p.m. ET at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Virginia. 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 Monday schedule.

Opening College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu

Virginia Tech is once again pouring in the points after back-to-back terrible outings against Syracuse and Virginia at the start of ACC play. The Hokies have scored at least 80 points in each of their last three games, and it’s no surprise the over has cashed in each one of those.

Due to this team’s great shooting, over has been a great bet all year. The over is 10-4 in Virginia Tech games on the season.

The Tar Heels have yet to cover an ACC road game. They suffered defeat at the hands of both Florida State and Virginia at the start of the new year, and Notre Dame nearly knocked them off as well. Things have gone better at home, but this team is having a tough time picking up wins in hostile environments.

UNC has just been able to find its shooting touch on the road. The under has cashed in each of their last four road games, and it only threatened to go over once.

Matchup to Watch

Rebounding has been a hallmark of Roy Williams teams for three decades now. The Tar Heels are once again one of the top squads in the country when it comes to grabbing boards, hauling down over 43 a night. Luke Maye is the team’s top rebounder, and he is averaging a double-double over halfway through the season. Everyone on the roster contributes though. All seven main rotation players are snagging at least three rebounds a game.

On the other end of the spectrum, Virginia Tech has been a mediocre rebounding team. The Hokies are grabbing more than eight rebounds less per game than the Tar Heels, and they don’t have a lot of size in the frontcourt. Chris Clarke is the team’s leading rebounder, and he is just 6’6.

Key Stat

Opponents have been able to hit the three against North Carolina all year long. Despite having a plethora of talented athletes, perimeter defense has been an area in which the Tar Heels have had issues. They are allowing their foes to sink 37.4 percent of their threes, an number that puts them outside of the top 300 in terms of three-point defense.

Virginia Tech is one of the better shooting teams in the country, much less the conference. The Hokies are ranked second in the country in shooting and are in the top 25 in terms of three-point field goal percentage. Their two leading scorers are nearly hitting 50 percent of their threes combined.

Free College Basketball ATS Picks

The Tar Heels should be a very short favorite here with how they have played. Both of these teams will only have one day of rest before this game, but both also play deep rotations.

In the end, look for North Carolina to edge out a win. Maye will give the Tar Heels a nice rebounding edge on the glass in a close victory.

College Basketball Odds: North Carolina 78, Virginia Tech 73

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