The North Carolina Tar Heels have been more streaky than usual this season, but right now, they are hot. North Carolina has won four consecutive games heading into a tough road matchup against the Louisville Cardinals.
Virginia is running away with the ACC regular season title this season but North Carolina and Louisville are both on track to make the NCAA Tournament and are both attempting to improve their seeding. This should be an interesting matchup.
The Tar Heels have been the more impressive team this season and come in playing really well, but the Cardinals get the benefit of the home court advantage. This matchup looks like a true toss-up as both sides could easily pull out the win with some crisp play.
At 8:15 p.m. ET, tune into ESPN for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Saturday, February 17, 2018, at the KFC Yum! Center.
We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.
Odds Analysis
North Carolina is 19-7 straight up and 14-10-1 against the spread this season. The Tar Heels have gone 3-4-1 against the spread on the road this year. They are 13-8 against the spread as the favorite and 0-2-1 as the underdog.
Louisville is 18-8 straight up and 13-10-1 against the spread. The Cardinals have covered in eight of their 15 home games this season. Louisville is 9-8 against the spread as the favorite and 4-2-1 against the spread as the underdog.
Key Stat
43.3. That’s how many rebounds per game this North Carolina team is averaging this season. The Tar Heels rank No. 1 in the nation for rebounding this year.
Junior forward Luke Maye is the team’s biggest threat on the boards, averaging 10.5 rebounds a game. He is also the team’s top scorer, putting up 18.7 points per game.
Theo Pinson is another stellar player on the glass, averaging six rebounds a game. Pinson had a double-double in North Carolina’s 83-66 win over Notre Dame last week, finishing with 16 points and ten rebounds. If North Carolina can control the glass, it will give it a good chance of winning this game despite playing this contest on the road.
Injury Report
Louisville forward Deng Adel has missed the past two games with an ankle injury. If he can’t play in this one it would be a big loss. Adel is team’s top scorer with 15.5 points per game this year.
His best performance of the season came back in January when he finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds in a 94-86 win over Virginia Tech. He has three double-doubles on the season and has finished with 20 points or more in four games this season.
Adel had 16 points and six rebounds in his team’s 73-69 win over No. 23 Florida State last month and finished with 15 points and five rebounds in a loss to Virginia two weeks ago. He shoots 46 percent from the field.
North Carolina has a lot of talent and Louisville needs all hands on deck on order to secure the win.
Free NCAA Men’s Basketball ATS Picks
Even if Adel goes, there is a chance he is slowed by the injury or aggravates it during the game. In a matchup that can go either way, that is too big of a risk. The Tar Heels are playing well and they are the choice to win this game. Since the spread should be small one way or the other, North Carolina is also the pick to cover the spread.
Louisville has a pretty good defense but it won’t be able to slow down North Carolina. Consider taking the “over” depending on where the scoring total lands for this one.
NCAA Men’s Basketball Odds: North Carolina 84, Louisville 79
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