Clemson Tigers vs North Carolina Tar Heels Prediction, 1/9/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Clemson Tigers vs North Carolina Tar Heels

Date: Saturday, January 9, 2021

Location: Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, NC

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: Clemson (+1.5)

Dean E. Smith Center is the venue where and the North Carolina Tar Heels (7-4) will play the Clemson Tigers (9-1) on Saturday. North Carolina opens this matchup as 1.5-point favorites. The over/under is set at 131.

Clemson will enter this game with a record of 9-1 for the season. They lose possession by turning the ball over 12.9 times per game and as a group are committing 17.8 fouls per game. As a unit, Clemson is snagging 34.5 boards per game and has accounted for 130 assists so far this year, which ranks 140th in the country in terms of passing. The Tigers are connecting on 33.9% on 3-pointers (82 of 242) and 72.3% from the free throw line. They are averaging 68.3 points per outing (257th in the nation) while shooting 42.7% from the floor. On the defensive end of the court, the Tigers are able to force 18.0 turnovers per contest while drawing 17.4 fouls. They are giving up 29.9% from beyond the arc and they are 8th in college basketball in opponents PPG (57.6). The Tigers defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 39.1% (201 of 514) and they concede 34.1 boards per game as a basketball team. They are ranked 123rd in D-1 in giving up assists with 98 relinquished so far this year.

The Clemson Tigers took the court against the NC State Wolfpack and earned the victory with a final of 74-70 in their last game. Clemson wrapped up the contest with a 44.9% field goal percentage (31 out of 69) and made 9 out of their 30 3-pointers. From the free throw line, the Tigers knocked down 3 of 9 attempts for a percentage of 33.3%. In the matter of pulling down rebounds, they compiled 34 with 9 of them being of the offensive variety. They also distributed 11 dimes in the game while getting 4 steals and 2 blocks. In reference to the defense, Clemson allowed the other team to shoot 44.9% from the floor on 31 of 69 shooting. North Carolina State doled out 8 dimes and had 5 steals in this matchup. Furthurmore, the Wolfpack collected 40 rebounds (7 offensive, 33 defensive) and got 2 blocks. North Carolina State ended up going 70.8% at the free throw line by knocking down 17 of 24 tries. They also knocked down 7 out of their 19 shots from 3-point range.

Nick Honor is a guy who came through in the matchup. He ended up scoring 21 points on 8 of 11 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 33 mins and pulled down 3 boards. Honor finished the contest at 72.7% from the floor and totaled 3 dimes. One more player that was a determining factor in this matchup for the Tigers was Clyde Trapp. He collected 7 boards and also earned 2 dimes. He ended up shooting 50.0% from the floor in this matchup by connecting on 5-of-10 (11 points). When the final whistle was blown, Trapp played 33 minutes.

North Carolina has a win-loss record of 7-4 so far this year. The Tar Heels are committing 17.8 personal fouls every game and they go 67.6% from the free throw line. They are getting an assist 13.5 times per game (183rd in college basketball) and they cough up possession 15.8 times per game. North Carolina has accounted for 795 pts for the campaign (72.3 per game) and they average 44.8 rebounds per game. As an offensive unit, the Tar Heels are shooting 41.9% from the field, which is ranked 272nd in Division 1. The Tar Heels on the defensive end are ranked 133rd in the nation in PPG allowed with 67.9. They are able to force 13.5 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 41.8% from the field (136th in D-1). The North Carolina defense allows 34.7% on 3-point attempts (90 of 259) and opponents are knocking down 62.0% of their shots from the free throw line. They have allowed 12.5 assists and 32.2 boards per game, ranking them 150th and 67th in those categories.

The last time they took the hardwood, the North Carolina Tar Heels went home victorious with a score of 67-65 when they faced the Miami Hurricanes. The Tar Heels were able to snag 30 defensive boards and 13 offensive boards totaling 43 in this game. They also stuffed 6 shots while recording 9 steals in this matchup. The Hurricanes committed 17 personal fouls for the game which took the Tar Heels to the charity stripe for a total of 22 attempts. They were able to convert 16 of them for a clip of 72.7%. In relation to shots from distance, North Carolina made 9 out of their 20 attempts (45.0%). At the conclusion of this game, the Tar Heels finished 21 for 61 from the field which had them shooting 34.4%. The Tar Heels allowed the Hurricanes to convert 22 out of their 63 tries from the field which had them shooting 34.9% for this game. They shot 18.8% from distance by shooting 3 of 16 and ended up going 18 out of 22 from the free throw line (81.8%). In the matter of rebounding, North Carolina allowed Miami to collect 31 in total (9 on the offensive side).

Leaky Black pitched in for the Tar Heels for the contest. He knocked down 6 out of 9 in the game for a field goal percentage of 66.7%, which earned him 16 points. Black pulled down 9 rebounds in his 34 mins and earned 3 dimes in the matchup. One more player that ended up playing a role for North Carolina was Kerwin Walton. He left the arena with 13 points in his 21 minutes on the hardwood via 4 out of 8 from the floor for this contest. Walton walked away from this one going 50.0% from the floor in addition to earning 4 assists and 2 rebounds.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Clemson (+1.5)

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