Louisville Cardinals vs North Carolina Tar Heels Prediction, 2/20/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Louisville Cardinals vs North Carolina Tar Heels

Date: Saturday, February 20, 2021

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

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: Louisville (+2.5)

The Louisville Cardinals (11-4) travel to Dean E. Smith Center on Saturday where they'll take on the North Carolina Tar Heels (13-7). Louisville opens this contest as 2.5-point underdogs. The over/under has been set at 138.5.

Louisville steps onto the hardwood with a win-loss mark of 11-4 so far this year. The Cardinals are hitting 31.9% from downtown (83 of 260) and 72.3% from the free throw line. They average 69.5 points per contest (238th in the country) while going 45.2% from the floor. They are losing possession via turnover 12.0 times per contest and as a basketball team they commit 17.4 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Louisville is collecting 38.3 boards per contest and is sitting with 173 assists for the season, which is 301st in the nation in terms of passing the rock. Defensively, the Cardinals have forced 11.7 turnovers per game and they draw 18.2 personal fouls. They are conceding 30.9% from 3-point land and they are ranked 44th in college basketball in PPG allowed (64.2). The Cardinals defense is giving up a shooting percentage of 40.1% (340 of 847) and they surrender 32.3 boards per game as a unit. They are ranked 40th in college hoops in allowing assists to their opponents with 164 conceded on the year.

The Louisville Cardinals stepped onto the hardwood against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and walked away with a win by a score of 74-58 in their last game. Louisville ended the game having earned a 38.9% field goal percentage (28 out of 72) and knocked down 7 of their 19 shots from distance. From the free throw line, the Cardinals converted 11 of 17 attempts for a percentage of 64.7%. When discussing grabbing boards, they earned 56 with 20 of them being offensive. They also doled out 13 assists for the contest in addition to having 4 steals and 3 rejections. When talking about defense, Louisville allowed the other team to shoot 38.9% from the field on 28 out of 72 shooting. Georgia Tech distributed 13 dimes and had 5 steals in the matchup. Furthurmore, the Yellow Jackets grabbed 37 rebounds (10 offensive, 27 defensive) and had 3 blocks. Georgia Tech shot 66.7% when shooting free throws by converting 6 of their 9 attempts. They made 8 out of their 27 shots from 3-point range.

David Johnson is one player who had an impact in this matchup. He finished with 24 points on 9 of 20 shooting. He saw the court for 38 mins played and also collected 10 rebounds. Johnson shot 45.0% from the floor but didn't record an assist. One more player that was a factor in the game for the Cardinals was Carlik Jones. He grabbed 6 rebounds and accounted for 8 dimes. He walked away from this one shooting 29.4% from the floor for this contest by connecting on 5-of-17 (12 points). In all, Jones saw the court for 39 min.

North Carolina has a record of 13-7 for the campaign. The Tar Heels have committed 17.0 fouls per contest and they go 66.0% from the charity stripe. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 15.2 times per contest (73rd in the nation) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 14.4 times per contest. North Carolina has earned 1,463 pts this season (73.2 per game) and they average 42.7 boards per contest. On the offensive side of the court, the Tar Heels are connecting on 43.5% from the field, which ranks them 218th in D-1. The Tar Heels on the defensive side of the court are 164th in college basketball in points per game surrendered with 69.5. They have allowed 13.0 dimes and 31.8 rebounds per game, which ranks them 177th and 52nd in college hoops. The North Carolina defense gives up 36.5% on shots from beyond the arc (172 of 471) and opponents are making 68.4% of their shots from the charity stripe. They are forcing 13.3 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 42.7% from the field (150th in the nation).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the North Carolina Tar Heels took home the win by a final score of 82-62 when they played the Northeastern Huskies. The Tar Heels were able to snag 30 defensive rebounds and 16 offensive boards for a total of 46 for the contest. They rejected 2 attempts while recording 9 steals for the contest. The Huskies committed 14 personal fouls for the matchup which took the Tar Heels to the free throw line for a total of 16 tries. They were able to knock down 13 of the free throws for a clip of 81.3%. With regard to shots from 3-point land, North Carolina buried 5 out of their 17 attempts (29.4%). In all, the Tar Heels ended up going 32 out of 75 from the floor which had them shooting 42.7%. The Tar Heels allowed the Huskies to knock down 21 out of their 59 attempts from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 35.6% for the matchup. They finished 33.3% from 3-point land by going 10 of 30 and finished the game at 10 of 13 from the charity stripe (76.9%). Concerning cleaning the glass, North Carolina permitted Northeastern to grab 28 in total (6 on the offensive side).

Kerwin Walton was important for the Tar Heels for this contest. He converted 5 out of 10 in this matchup giving him a rate of 50.0%, which gave him 14 points. Walton collected 2 boards in his 29 minutes played and had 2 assists for the matchup. An additional guy that was pivotal for North Carolina was Garrison Brooks. He scored 11 points in his 26 minutes played by way of 4 of 13 shooting in this contest. Brooks ended up shooting 30.8% from the field while collecting 2 assists and 13 boards.

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

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

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