North Carolina is riding high as the No.3 ranked AP Top 25 team. They are coming off of a win against the Duke Blue Devils (sans Zion Williamson) on Saturday, capping off a seven game winning streak as they dive deep into the ACC Tournament. They’ll be the first to tell you that they deserve even better than +1000 odds to win the 2019 National Championship, but that will be better determined by their performance this Thursday evening against Louisville (+10,000) who just destroyed their second round opponent on Wednesday.
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Betting Preview for the Louisville Cardinals vs. North Carolina Tar Heels College Basketball Game on March 14, 2019
Where: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC
When: Thursday, March 14, 2019, 7 PM ET
Line: Louisville Cardinals (odds) vs. North Carolina Tar Heels (odds) – view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the Louisville Cardinals (20-12 Overall / 11-8 Conference)
Louisville came out guns blazing against a sluggish Notre Dame in the second round of the ACC tournament, outscoring their opponent 34-25 in the first half. By the 10-minute mark in the second half they had a 22-point lead and didn’t look back en route to the 75-53 win, powered in part by forward Jordan Nwora’s 24-points and 9 rebounds.
Things won’t be so easy against North Carolina. That being said, the Cardinals are no strangers to success against the Tar Heels. Back in January they defeated UNC 83-62 with four players in double digits, led by forward Dwayne Sutton with scored 17-points and pulled down 10 rebounds for good balance. But that was a different, less confident North Carolina opponent. A month later, the Cardinals gave up the first half, 44-28, and while they came back by outscoring UNC by 6-points in the second, the deficit was dug. Each team shot a near identical field goal percentage with a .1% differential and Louisville even shot 34.5% from beyond the arc while UNC hit for just 25%, but the difference maker was on the boards, with the Tar Heels out-rebounding the Cardinals 49-32. Louisville, an aggressive defensive squad, was also more slap happy, sending UNC to the line nearly double the converse.
Louisville is 16-13-2 against the spread overall in the ACC, and is 9-8-2 ATS in the ACC after a win, covering 52.9% of the time.
Betting on the North Carolina Tar Heels (26-5 Overall / 16-2 Conference)
Again, the Tar Heels are enjoying a seven game winning streak heading into this game. They defeated the Duke Blue Devils 79-70 on Saturday, but before everyone credits this to Duke being without their ACC player of the year, take note that Duke offense was by no means absent. Duke’s RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish put in 26 and 23 points respectively and had a 40-38 lead heading into the second half. But UNC remained resilient and outscored Duke 41-3o in the half of the game that counts most, with four players scoring in double-digits. Guard Coby White lead his team with 21 points while forward Luke Maye was well-rounded with 16 rebounds, 7 points, and 7 assists.
In the 79-69 win against Louisville on February 2, forward Luke Maye scored 20 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, while Cameron Johnson hit for 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, adding to a board total that sunk the Cardinals. UNC out-rebounded their opponent 49-32, with 18 (versus 7) coming on the offensive end, giving North Carolina second chances to score.
North Carolina boasts a 19-9-3 ATS record in the ACC this year, and is 15-8-2 in the ACC after a win, covering 65.2% of the time. They are looking good to cover this Thursday night.
Writer’s Prediction
North Carolina beats Louisville by ten points again, 82-72.
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