The North Carolina Tar Heels have lost two of their past five games but both have come to teams nationally ranked. Their next game will be against the Northern Iowa Panthers so North Carolina should have no problem bouncing back.
North Carolina has long been one of the most elite programs in the country and this year is no exception. The Panthers are .500 in the year and have little chance of in this one, especially on the road.
This war on the floor will go down Wednesday, December 21, 2016, at 8 p.m. ET at the Dean E. Smith Center. The game will be televised live on ESPN2.
We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Wednesday schedule.
Odds at BookMaker.eu
North Carolina is 10-2 straight up and 6-6 against the spread. The Tar Heels have been the favorite in 11 of their 12 games and have covered in six of them.
Northern Iowa is 5-5 straight up and 3-6 against the spread on the year. The Panthers are 2-2 against the spread as an underdog. Northern Iowa has yet to cover in a pair of road games this year.
Letdown Spot
North Carolina is coming off a loss to Kentucky in a big-time matchup of a pair of national championship contenders. The Tar Heels were tied with the Wildcats with under 20 seconds left but Kentucky guard Malik Monk hit a three-pointer to give his team the victory.
Monk scored 47 points and the Tar Heels will need to tighten up their defense in this one, although Northern Iowa has nobody within any shouting distance of the talent of Monk.
North Carolina has now lost to Kentucky and Indiana recently. This is a game it will assuredly win, but there may be a bit of a letdown after such big games of late and others coming up in conference play.
If the Tar Heels are not mentally in-tune it could allow Northern Iowa to cover the spread in this contest.
Key Stat
89.0 - North Carolina’s points per game is among the best in the nation. The Tar Heels are led in scoring by Justin Jackson, who is averaging 17.1 points per game and adding 4.8 rebounds per contest. Joel Berry is second on the team with an average of 15.6 points per game and leads the team with 4.9 assists per contest.
The two other players averaging in double figures for the Tar Heels are Isaiah Hicks at 12.5 points per game and Kennedy Meeks at 12.4 points per contest.
North Carolina is shooting 48.8 percent from the field. The team is averaging 18.3 assists per game as the ball movement is good. The Tar Heels are outscoring their opponents by 20 points per game and should have a big game against the Panthers.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
Northern Iowa has challenged itself with a pair of games against top-10 foe Xavier earlier this season. The Panthers were blown out in one of them but in the other lost by only eight.
Sticking to within single digits of North Carolina seems really hard especially on the road. The Panthers will need a big game from Jeremy Morgan in order to hang around in this one. He is the team’s best player, averaging 17.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game.
North Carolina should be able to focus their defensive efforts on Morgan. As long as he doesn’t go off, the Tar Heels will cruise to the win. The team has too much talent to let this one remain competitive for too long. Keep an eye on the spread because it could be big.
College Basketball Odds: North Carolina 87, Northern Iowa 71
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