The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are one of the most offensively gifted teams in the nation and will look to put their skills to the test when they face the Miami Hurricanes on Thursday night. Notre Dame is currently undefeated in ACC play, knocking off Pittsburgh, Clemson, and Louisville in conference action. Meanwhile, Miami is looking to bounce back from a brutal road loss to Syracuse last week and will try to replicate the success it had against Notre Dame last year.
Don’t miss the hardwood action from the BankUnited Center at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, January 12, 2017. Catch every moment of the game live on ESPN. We will have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Thursday schedule.
College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Notre Dame is 6-3-1 ATS this season and undefeated against the number in conference play through three games this year. The Irish have played all three of those ACC tilts over the total and the over is 7-3 overall in their games this season.
Miami has been the antithesis of Notre Dame in more ways than one. The Hurricanes are just 3-9 ATS this season and haven’t been able to score points like they have the last few seasons either. The under is 8-3-1 in Miami games this season and both of its ACC games have went under the over/under.
Matchup to Watch
The Irish offense has been one of the best this season and if Miami wants to win this game, the Hurricanes are going to need to clamp down on it. Notre Dame is hitting over 40 percent of its three-point attempts this season and is scoring 82.3 PPG, numbers that put the Irish among the best teams in the conference. Boozie Colson is the leader of the team and the top scorer on the team, but the Irish have four players averaging at least 14 PPG.
Notre Dame is even more dangerous because of how often it gets to the line and how good the Irish are at sinking free throws. This team is knocking down 84 percent of its free throw attempts on the season and that is leading to the Irish scoring an additional 13.8 PPG. Putting the Irish on the foul line concedes two points the vast majority of the time so teams can’t be as aggressive against them as they are others.
Key Stat
Luckily for Miami, the Hurricanes have one of the best defenses in college basketball and they will be up to the task of stopping the Irish offense. Miami is allowing under 60 PPG on the year and opponents are hitting just 38.4 percent of their field goals and 30.6 of their three-point attempts against this defense.
The defense needs to come up big, because the offense has had issues against Miami’s best competition. The Hurricanes’ three losses this season came against Syracuse, Florida, and Iowa State, and the Canes couldn’t crack 56 points in any of those games. Offensively, they have been a decent team outside of that, but those poor performances underlie just how shaky the offensive output can be.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
This is the premier game on Thursday night and it will be an interesting battle of contrasts. Notre Dame’s defense hasn’t been great this season and Miami can score some points on it. The Hurricanes are better offensively than the bad outings have indicated and they have been much better at home than on the road.
This should be a very short spread, but grab the Hurricanes as long as they aren’t more than a 5-point favorite. It’s a pretty good spot for Miami, who has been great at home in ACC play historically, and the Canes can do enough on offense to win.
College Basketball Odds: Miami 78, Notre Dame 72
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