Tennessee vs North Carolina Prediction & Picks: Tar Heels Seek Second Straight Win Over SEC Competition

After a couple of notable wins in the first night of the ACC/SEC Challenge, the ACC will look to bag a few more big wins tonight, including at the Dean Dome in Chapel Hill, where #17 North Carolina will take on #10 Tennessee (7:15 pm ET, ESPN).

Last night, Georgia Tech upset #21 Mississippi State at home, while Clemson topped that by taking down #23 Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

While there was only top-tier matchup on Tuesday night’s schedule–hot-shooting Kentucky torched Miami by 22 in Lexington–there are three such matchups on tonight’s ACC/SEC Challenge slate, with the Vols visiting the Tar Heels, Duke meeting Arkansas in Fayetteville (9:15 pm ET, ESPN), and Texas A&M tangling with Virginia in Charlottesville (7:15 pm ET, ESPN2).

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The matchup in Chapel Hill is between two teams who dealt with some ups and downs in Thanksgiving week tournaments last week.

Tennessee traveled to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational and opened with a 17-point win over Syracuse, but they fell to Purdue and Kansas to leave Honolulu with fourth place.

North Carolina went to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis and left Nassau with third place, sandwiching wins over Northern Iowa and Arkansas around an overtime loss to Villanova.

Tennessee vs North Carolina Odds

Odds are courtesy of Bovada.

Spread

• Tennessee +2 (-110)
• North Carolina -2 (-110)

Over/Under

• Over 143 (-110)
• Under 143 (-110)

Tennessee vs North Carolina Prediction and Picks

Prediction: North Carolina to win

Picks: North Carolina -2 (-110 at Bovada) & North Carolina team total over 72.5 points (-115 at Bovada)

While the Tar Heels didn’t win the title at the Battle 4 Atlantis, there were still some positives to take from their trip, including the third-place game win over the Razorbacks.

Whether or not they will be able to shoot well enough over the course of the season remains to be seen, but in their three games in Nassau, the Tar Heels shot 42.2% (27 of 64) from three.

In the win over Arkansas, RJ Davis shot 50% in a game for just the second time this season, making 9 of 18 shots from the field on the way to a season-high 30 points.

Davis will be key tonight against Tennessee, and so will Harrison Ingram, who had double-doubles against Northern Iowa (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Arkansas (13 points, 10 rebounds).

Top Players for North Carolina

• RJ Davis: 18.2 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2.7 APG
• Armando Bacot: 15.8 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 1.5 BPG
• Harrison Ingram: 14.2 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 2.7 APG,

If the Tar Heels can reach the 70-point mark, that might be enough to get the job done against the Vols, who were not up to the task as a team on the offensive end against Purdue and Kansas.

Against the Boilermakers, Dalton Knecht was 3 of 5 from three and 6 of 13 overall from the field, but the rest of the team was just 13 of 44 (29.5%) from the field, including 5 of 25 (20.0%) from three.

Against the Jayhawks, Santiago Vescovi (21 points, 8 of 16 FG, 5 of 11 3PT) and Jordan Gainey (13 points, 5 of 12 FG, 3 of 8 3PT) did their part. But everyone else combined to make just 9 of 43 (20.9%) from the field, including just 1 of 14 (7.1%) from three.

Top Players for Tennessee

• Dalton Knecht: 17.5 PPG, 4.7 RPG
• Jordan Gainey: 11.7 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.8 APG
• Josiah-Jordan James: 9.3 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 2.0 SPG

Defensively, UNC isn’t on the same level as Purdue and Kansas. But they held Villanova to only 68 points in regulation, when the Wildcats put up 85 on Texas Tech and 79 on Memphis in their other games in the Bahamas.

Also, only allowing 72 points against Arkansas is a pretty solid effort. So, Tennessee will do very well to get back on track on the offensive end tonight.

The Vols may well have an improved performance in that department, but I don’t think it will be enough to capture a win in Chapel Hill. Back the home team to get it done against another SEC squad.

Where to Bet on College Basketball

If you are looking for college basketball odds, you will always be spoiled for choice.

Sports betting sites all over the internet offer a vast array of NCAA basketball odds throughout the season, from the opening tip in November to the conclusion of the season in early April.

Along with being able to bet on countless games, many online sportsbooks offer men’s college basketball national championship odds, women’s college basketball national championship odds, men’s Wooden Award odds, women’s Wooden Award odds, and odds on who will win early season and conference tournaments.

Below are some of the books that we highly recommend for college basketball betting:

• BetDSI
• BetOnline
• BetUS
• Bookmaker
• Bovada
• MyBookie
• Sportsbetting.ag

If you don’t have an account at a book on this list, check out our reviews to help you determine if it is worth your interest and your betting funds.

Other College Basketball Content

• College Basketball Betting Guide
• Men’s Wooden Award Winner Odds
• Women’s Wooden Award Winner Odds