North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Kentucky Wildcats Preview
Where: T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas, NV
When: Saturday, December 17, 2016 – 5:45 PM ET
Line: North Carolina Tar Heels (TBA) vs. Kentucky Wildcats (TBA) – view all NCAAB lines
TV Broadcast: CBS
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Betting on the North Carolina Tar Heels (TBA)
The Tar Heels will be building off their three-game winning streak. In the latest win, they edged out the Tennessee Volunteers, 73-71. The victory had Roy Williams and his boys improve to a 10-1 record (6-5 ATS), tying themselves with ACC rivals Duke and Florida State for first place in the conference.
This next matchup with the seventh-ranked Wildcats will be a great test of how good the unit really is. Things didn’t go smoothly the last time they were in a similar situation, as they failed to contain the ninth-ranked Hoosiers, who had all five starters score in double figures.
Among the elite teams in college basketball, the Tar Heels are one of the few not to have a freshman as a key/star player, which is weird that it’s now a rarity. Their top four scorers – Justin Jackson (15.5 PPG), Joel Berry (14.8 PPG), Isaiah Hicks (12.7 PPG), and Kennedy Meeks (12.5 PPG) – is either a junior or a senior.
UNC will be boasting team stats of 88 points (ranked 11th), 45.4 rebounds (ranked second), 18.2 assists (ranked seventh) per game. Kenpom.com, meanwhile, currently places the team ninth in offensive efficiency and seventh in defensive efficiency.
Betting on the Kentucky Wildcats (TBA)
Since losing to UCLA at Rupp Arena earlier in the month, the Wildcats seem to be releasing a lot of frustration on lower tier teams, as they blew out Valparaiso and Hofstra by an average of 23 and 24 points, respectively.
Against co-ranked UNC, it’s unlikely that they’ll have a similar dominating performance, but they should still get the same type of contributions from their trio of guards – Isaiah Briscoe, Malik Monk, and De’Aron Fox.
Led by their production, the Wildcats have raced into ranking third in the nation in scoring (94.4 PPG). Monk is pacing the team in scoring, with a 19.4 PPG average, while Fox is providing an all-around production, averaging 15.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 6.9 APG. Briscoe, though, who’s a sophomore and the most experienced among the three, is the most efficient shooter (53.8 percent).
On defense, they’re promising as well. Bam Adebayo, another impactful freshman, is continuing to be the team’s new defense minister. His abilities are guiding the ‘Cats to have the fourth-most blocks overall (6.9 BPG). Through the intimidation, the the team defense is also surging, as they are limiting their foes to shoot just 38.4 percent.
Kenpom.com ranks the ‘Cats eighth in offensive efficiency and third in defensive efficiency.
Kentucky is 10-1 on the season (8-3 ATS).
Writer’s Prediction:
The Wildcats win, 91-82.
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