Virginia – North Carolina Preview & Prediction

Virginia-North Carolina Preview & Prediction

7:00 PM ET, February 2, 2015
Dean E. Smith Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

This ACC rival matchup has No.2 Virginia Cavaliers on the road facing No.13 North Carolina Tar Heels. Both teams are coming off losses, the first of the year for the Cavaliers, as they blew an 8-point lead late to No.4 Duke on Saturday in a 69-63 home loss.

The Cavaliers are now 19-1 (13-7 ATS), while the Tar Heels loss puts their record at 17-5 (11-10-1 ATS). Pay Per Head users favoring OVER/UNDER betting have seen North Carolina 12-8-1 while the Virginia Cavaliers are 7-10-1.

For those bettors using sites for local bookies, the Cavaliers are 3-7 SU but are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 versus the Tar Heels. They met just once last year, in Virginia, seeing the favored home team cover the -7.5 spread in a 76-61 final. The last 10 games between the two have saw the OVER only pay twice.

As there is quite a gap in the current power rankings, Virginia at No.5 and Tar Heels at No.41, the public is heavily favoring Virginia at -1. I would advise those agents using local bookie software like Premier Per Head Online Bookie Software to move the Virginia line up by a point or more.

The last 10 games played by each have seen Virginia score an average of 67.20 points to North Carolina’s 77.70. On the defensive side of the ball, the Cavaliers have allowed only 52.30 points and the Tar Heels 69.40. UNC has the edge in both offensive and defensive rebounding this year, while Virginia has a better field goal and free throw percentage.

Some other stats users of sites for local bookies like Premier Per Head Online Bookie Software may be interested in are the fact that Virginia is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games and the total has gone under in 5 of their last 7. They are also 7-1 ATS in their last 8 road games, while North Carolina is 0-4-1 ATS in their last 5 at home. North Carolina is 1-6-1 ATS in its last 8 games, going 6-1 SU in its last 7.

This will be a hard fought game with both teams battling for a win after tough losses. North Carolina lost on the road to the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday night, a game they feel they should have won. As seen in the box score, Brice Johnson had an off night for the Tar Heels, but he has been playing great recently.

Although the Tar Heels have the opportunity to take over first place in the ACC with a win tonight, the Cavaliers are just too talented defensively to lose. Virginia’s overall talent will be too much for North Carolina to overcome and put the Cavaliers in prime position to enter the 2015 NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed. Check out the agents using local bookie software section.

Prediction: Virginia Cavaliers 70 – North Carolina Tar Heels 68
Coverage: ESPN Top