North Carolina Tar Heels at Duke Blue Devils

NCAA Basketball Betting Matchup: North Carolina Tar Heels at Duke Blue Devils
Date / Time: Saturday, March 5 – 6:30 PM ET
Site: Cameron Indoor Stadium – Durham, NC
TV Coverage: ESPN

NCAA Basketball Odds from BetAnySports

(with reduced juice)

Pointspread: North Carolina -2.5 / Duke +2.5 (both -105)
Total: 160.5 points (-105 either way)

The North Carolina Tar Heels are undoubtedly of the opinion that they should not have lost the first meeting they had with the Duke Blue Devils. What they came away with after the come-from-ahead 74-73 loss was that Duke could indeed be formidable on any given night. Now UNC is looking to solidify a high seed in the NCAA Tournament, and it won’t help if they get swept by Coach K’s team. This game, in a time change, gets underway at 6:30 PM ET at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC.

 

The earlier meeting was on February 17 at the Dean Dome, and Duke actually found itself down to five players in its regular rotation when Matt Jones suffered a sprained ankle in the first half. Nonetheless, they managed to overcome an eight-point deficit to battle back for a key road win, which extended some recent dominance in the series.

BetAnySports patrons know it is absolutely critical that North Carolina get more out of Marcus Paige and Joel Berry than they did the last time these teams played. The Tar Heel guards made just four field goals in 22 attempts, but it’s not like that was a huge aberration. Berry is only a 42% shooter for the season, while Paige is hitting 39%. There is a lot to be said about the way these guys normally take care of the ball, however; between them they have tallied 7.5 assists against only 2.9 turnovers.

Brice Johnson is the key player to consider when it comes to UNC and their chances to do some business on the inside. Much has been made of the injury absence of Amile Jefferson, who makes Duke a lot tougher in the lane, and without there, Johnson scored 29 points with 19 rebounds. We know that Duke is not a deep team, so there are not many people they can throw at Johnson. Unless Grayson Allen wants to trip him in the lane, however. We only kid a little bit, as Allen has come under fire a lot lately. He is the main component of Duke’s offensive engine, averaging just over 20 points.

The Tar Heels, who can capture the ACC’s regular season title with a victory, are ranked #8 in the nation in both major polls. There are some very tough teams in the league, though, including Virginia, Miami, Maryland, Louisville and Duke, so winning the ACC tournament is going to be a chore, That is what might be necessary for North Carolina to get a #1 regional seed when the NCAA Selection Committee ultimately gets together. Duke has played seven straight games under the total, and they defeated UNC 92-90 in overtime when these teams last met in Durham. The Blue Devils have four consecutive wins in the series.

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