It's been a wacky and wild year at the top of college basketball, and the No. 1 team in the land was beaten once again this week. The North Carolina Tar Heels are going to try to avoid a second straight defeat on Saturday, but the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are going to be tough to top in South Bend.
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SCHEDULING
This really isn't a great spot for the Tar Heels to be in. They're playing their second of three straight road games, and they've now failed to cover each of their last two away efforts and are just 2-4 ATS this year on the road.
Notre Dame would be firmly in the NCAA Tournament field if it started today, but it could really use at least one win in these next four games against Miami, UNC, Clemson and Louisville, none of which are anywhere near guaranteed. You hate to say that this game against the top team in America is the best chance the Irish have, but considering the intensity which should be in the building for this game, that might legitimately be the case, and it's something that live bettors must remember.
KEY MATCHUP
Demetrius Jackson is one of the best defensive guards in the ACC, and he's going to have a heck of a challenge lining up against Marcus Paige.
Teams have figured out how to defend against Paige in recent games. The senior has really been struggling with his shot, averaging 6.0 points per game in his last six. What's surprising though, is that he's averaging just 4.3 assists per game in this run as well against 2.5 turnovers per game.
Jackson plays a lot bigger than 6-foot-1 in the backcourt, especially on the ball. If Paige can't figure out how to get his game going, the Tar Heels are going to once again struggle for live bettors. It isn't an accident that UNC has averaged just 77.2 points per game in these last six, a very high 7.7 points per game off of its average for the season.
KEY STATS & TRENDS
Of late, it feels like Notre Dame and the under are closely correlated. Over the course of the games played in the 2016 calendar year, the Irish and the under have cashed three times out of nine games, while Notre Dame's foes and the over have cashed four times out of nine games.
In the Notre Dame covers, it has allowed 64.0 points per game, a number which is skewed by a 95-91 upset at Duke on January 16. In the losses, it has allowed 81.3 points per game. As a live bettor, you're probably going to think the Tar Heels will get closer to the latter than the former, but let's not forget that they only managed 65 against the stingy Louisville defense and were held to just 34.5 percent shooting. If that's the way this one plays out, the Fighting Irish are going to end up being great choices of live bettors more often than not from start to finish.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The matchup between the North Carolina Tar Heels and Notre Dame Fighting Irish will go down Saturday, February 6, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. ET at the Joyce Center at Purcell Pavilion. The matchup will be televised live on ESPN.
