The Louisville Cardinals (+12,500 to win the national title)) will make a trip to Chapel Hill this coming weekend for a testy matchup with No. 12 North Carolina Tar Heels (+1,700 to win the national title). It’s a tough matchup for Chris Mack’s unit, but it’s not an impossible task either. After all, the Tar Heels have taken down No. 9 Michigan State Spartans several weeks ago. North Carolina, on the other hand, will look to avoid suffering its second loss at Dean Smith Center this season.
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Betting Preview for the Louisville Cardinals vs. North Carolina Tar Heels College Basketball Game on January 13, 2019
Where: Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill
When: Saturday, January 13, 2019, 12:00 PM ET
Line: Louisville Cardinals (odds) vs. North Carolina Tar Heels (odds) – view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: ACC Network
Betting on the Louisville Cardinals (10-4 Overall / 1-0 Conference)
The Cardinals kicked off their conference play schedule on a high note by taking down the Miami Hurricanes at home last Sunday, 90-73. Louisville leaned on the production of forward Jordan Nwora on offense, as the sophomore dropped 20 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the field with three 3-pointers in 37 minutes of action against the ‘Canes. Nwora is the only guy averaging in double-digit scoring for Louisville, and he could be up for another productive outing against North Carolina, which has a leaky defense that gives up 72.1 points per game. The Cardinals should get more from their other players like Christen Cunningham and Dwayne Sutton, who are second and third in the league with 9.7 and 9.4 points per game. The Cardinals can be lethal from beyond the arc, especially after knocking down 13 3-pointers on 31 attempts in the Miami game.
The Cardinals are 3-1 against the spread (ATS) in their last four road games.
Betting on the North Carolina Tar Heels (11-3 Overall / 1-0 Conference)
Although it’s been mentioned earlier that the Tar Heels do have a susceptible defense, they are actually starting to get things together on that end of the floor of late. After an 80-72 loss to the Kentucky Wildcats on Dec. 22, the Tar Heels have gone 3-0 SU, and over that stretch, they have not allowed a single opponent score more than 60 points. In their most recent outing, as of this writing, the Tar Heels scored an 85-60 road win over the Pittsburgh Panthers on Jan. 5. In that game, North Carolina held the Panthers to only 30.6 percent shooting from the floor and just 10.5 percent from deep. Louisville is a better offensive team than the Panthers, but the Tar Heels can reduce the Cardinals to a team which gets just one shot per trip down the court. North Carolina is the best rebounding team in the nation with 45.1 boards per contest. On offense, the Tar Heels is averaging 89.9 point per game, third nationally. Senior Cameron Johnson, who scored 15 points in the Pittsburgh game, leads the team with 16.3 points per outing.
North Carolina is 3-0 ATS in its last three home games.
Writer’s Prediction
North Carolina wins, 80-71.
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