The Villanova Wildcats picked a great time to come up with their most impressive game of the season and one of the most impressive games in the history of the Final Four.
They'll need to be at their best yet again if they want to claim the National Championship on Monday against the North Carolina Tar Heels.
College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Villanova Wildcats +2.5
North Carolina Tar Heels –2.5
HOW THE VILLANOVA WILDCATS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
If the Wildcats shoot 71.4 percent from the field and 61.1 percent from beyond the arc in this one as they did against Oklahoma, they'll win the National Championship for sure no matter who they're up against.
The real key is getting efficiency from these guards. The Tar Heels aren't strong enough three-point shooters to keep up if Villanova is hitting its shots from deep as it did against the Sooners. Their guard trio went 8-of-12 from beyond the arc and 21-of-28 from the floor.
Defensively, the Wildcats have to figure out how to make UNC a jump shooting team. That was easy to do against Oklahoma, but it's really tough to do to the Tar Heels, who have been able to get into the paint against everyone they've played against here in the tourney.
HOW THE NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
It's hard to nitpick what the Wildcats did against OU, but they did give up 16 offensive rebounds. That's a lot of offensive boards to give up in a game which was dominated in every other manner.
North Carolina's bigs did the job once again versus Syracuse, specifically Brice Johnson.
Johnson is arguably the MVP of this tournament thus far. He has scored at least 20 points and had at least 10 boards three times already in this tourney. If he wins the battle with Daniel Ochefu in the low block on Monday night, it'll be tough to see any result but the Tar Heels cutting down the nets.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
Even though Villanova has been fantastic to get here, we really think North Carolina always was the best team in the nation and the best team in this tournament. When the Tar Heels are at their best, there isn't a team beating them, and that includes this most impressive looking Villanova team.
The thing about the Wildcats though, is that they've made a living here out of forcing teams out of the paint, save for second chances off of offensive rebounds. We're just not sure how they're going to respond to playing against one of the most physical teams in America.
With Marcus Paige playing well as an outside shooter, this North Carolina team is basically unbeatable. The Heels just keep downing teams by double-digits, and though we don't think they're going to win this one by such a wide margin in this game, we do think they're going to end up winning the National Championship with a solid effort at both ends of the court.
North Carolina 73, Villanova 67
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on your television with BookMaker's live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here, so start betting with BookMaker today! The National Championship Game between the Villanova Wildcats and the North Carolina Tar Heels is scheduled for Monday, April 4, 2016 at 9:18 p.m. ET at NRG Stadium. Catch the game live on TBS.
