Duke Blue Devils vs North Carolina Tar Heels Prediction, 3/6/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Duke Blue Devils vs North Carolina Tar Heels

Date: Saturday, March 6, 2021

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

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: Duke (+2.5)

Dean E. Smith Center is the venue where and the North Carolina Tar Heels (15-9) will play the Duke Blue Devils (11-10) on Saturday. The line on this contest has North Carolina as 2.5-point favorites. The total opens at 148.

Duke enters this game with a win-loss mark of 11-10 on the season. They are averaging 76.0 pts per game (71st in college basketball) while going 46.9% from the floor. The Blue Devils are hitting 35.2% on three-point attempts (175 of 497) and 69.3% from the free throw line. As a unit, Duke is collecting 35.4 boards per game and has 338 dimes this season, which is 84th in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. They are giving up possession 12.9 times per game and as a basketball team are committing 17.0 personal fouls every game. Defensively, the Blue Devils are forcing their opponents into 13.5 turnovers per game and they draw 15.1 fouls. They are surrendering 36.8% on three-point shots while they are 228th in college basketball in opponents PPG (72.0). The Blue Devils are allowing a field goal percentage of 46.1% (555 of 1,204) and they relinquish 33.4 rebounds per contest as a team. They are currently ranked 151st in college hoops in giving up assists to their opponents with 270 surrendered for the campaign.

The Duke Blue Devils faced the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and took a loss by a final of 81-77 in their last game. Duke walked away from the contest having earned a 44.1% field goal percentage (30 of 68) and converted 7 of their 26 3-point shots. From the charity stripe, the Blue Devils buried 10 of 17 tries for a rate of 58.8%. Concerning hauling in rebounds, they earned 34 with 11 of them being offensive. They also distributed 19 assists for the matchup in addition to forcing 13 turnovers and earning 9 steals. In the matter of defending, Duke allowed their opponent to shoot 45.3% from the field on 29 out of 64 shooting. Georgia Tech doled out 17 assists and had 9 steals in the matchup. Additionally, Georgia Tech totaled 37 rebounds (11 offensive, 26 defensive) and earned 5 blocked shots. Georgia Tech ended up shooting 73.9% from the free throw line by making 17 of 23 shots. They also knocked down 6 of their 22 tries from distance.

Wendell Moore is a guy who was a major contributor in this matchup. He accounted for 20 points on 9 out of 19 shooting. He played for 40 mins played and pulled down 8 rebounds. Moore went 47.4% from the field and also distributed 3 assists. An additional guy that came through in the game for the Blue Devils was Mark Williams. He pulled down 7 rebounds in his 35 minutes on the hardwood. He finished the game at 100.0% from the field in this contest by going 9-of-9 (20 points). Overall, Williams accounted for 1 assist.

North Carolina has a mark of 15-9 for the campaign. North Carolina has 1,780 pts this year (74.2 per game) and they grab 43.0 rebounds per game. The Tar Heels have committed 17.0 fouls per contest and they go 66.4% from the free throw line. When it comes to offense, the Tar Heels are connecting on 43.8% from the floor, which has them ranked 202nd in the country. They are dishing out assists 15.5 times per game (54th in the nation) and they turn it over 15.0 times per contest. The Tar Heels defensively are ranked 161st in college basketball in points allowed per game with 69.5. They allow 12.9 assists and 32.2 total rebounds per game, which is 171st and 61st in college hoops. The North Carolina defense gives up 35.1% on shots from beyond the arc (195 of 555) and their opponents are connecting on 69.1% of their foul shots. They are forcing their opponents into 13.7 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 42.3% from the field (130th in college hoops).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the North Carolina Tar Heels walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 72-70 against the Syracuse Orange. The Tar Heels earned 27 defensive rebounds and 21 offensive rebounds totaling 48 in the game. They also coughed it up 20 times, while recording 6 steals for this contest. The Orange earned 18 fouls for this game which took the Tar Heels to the free throw line for a total of 22 attempts. They were able to make 14 of those for a rate of 63.6%. With regard to shooting from distance, North Carolina buried 4 out of their 20 attempts (20.0%). Overall, the Tar Heels shot 26 out of 68 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 38.2%. The Tar Heels allowed the Orange to knock down 27 of 66 attempts from the field which had them shooting 40.9% for this contest. They finished the game shooting 29.6% from beyond the perimeter via 8 out of 27 and walked away from this one shooting 10 of 14 at the charity stripe (71.4%). Concerning team rebounding, North Carolina permitted Syracuse to pull down 30 overall (11 on the offensive glass).

Armando Bacot pitched in for the Tar Heels for this game. He knocked down 7 of 10 for the matchup for a field goal rate of 70.0%, and totaled 15 rebounds. Bacot had 18 points in his 25 mins on the court and accumulated 1 assist in this contest. An additional guy that was important for North Carolina was Garrison Brooks. He ended up walking away with 1 assist in 29 mins played, and he converted 5 out of 9 from the floor. Brooks walked away from this one going 55.6% from the floor as well as collecting 11 points and 6 rebounds.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Duke (+2.5)

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