North Carolina Tar Heels vs Syracuse Orange Prediction, 3/1/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: North Carolina Tar Heels vs Syracuse Orange

Date: Monday, March 1, 2021

Location: Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: North Carolina (-2)

Carrier Dome is the venue where and the Syracuse Orange (13-8) will play the North Carolina Tar Heels (15-8) on Monday. Syracuse opens this game as 2-point dogs. The O/U has been set at 149.5.

North Carolina comes into this one with a mark of 15-8 this season. They have an average of 74.3 pts per game (102nd in the nation) while going 44.0% from the field. The Tar Heels are shooting 30.9% on three-point attempts (122 of 395) and 66.5% from the free throw line. As a unit, North Carolina is collecting 42.5 rebounds per contest and has tallied 356 assists this season, which has them ranked 39th in D-1 in terms of passing. They are giving up possession 14.7 times per contest and as a unit they commit 17.0 personal fouls every game. On the defensive end, the Tar Heels are able to force 13.8 turnovers per contest while drawing 18.3 fouls. They are currently ranked 231st in D-1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 291 surrendered so far this year. The Tar Heels defense is giving up a shooting percentage of 42.4% (578 of 1,364) and they surrender 32.2 boards per game as a squad. They are relinquishing 35.4% from 3-point land and they are 153rd in the country in points per game allowed (69.4).

The North Carolina Tar Heels faced off with the Florida State Seminoles and took home the win by a score of 78-70 in their last contest. North Carolina wrapped up the game having earned a 38.3% FG percentage (23 out of 60) and buried 5 of 23 3-point attempts. At the free throw line, the Tar Heels knocked down 27 of 30 tries for a percentage of 90.0%. With regard to rebounding, they compiled 38 with 17 of them being of the offensive sort. They also recorded 11 assists in this game while creating 17 turnovers and having 11 steals. With regard to the defense, North Carolina allowed the other team to go 38.8% from the field on 26 out of 67 shooting. Florida State doled out 8 dimes and had 16 steals in the matchup. Moreover, Florida State totaled 32 rebounds (16 offensive, 16 defensive) and had 5 blocks. Florida State walked away from this one shooting 65.0% from the charity stripe by converting 13 of 20 attempts. They converted 5 out of their 0 attempts from 3-point land.

Kerwin Walton is one player who was a major factor in the matchup. He ended up with 13 points on 3 out of 10 shooting. He saw the court for 26 minutes played and grabbed 2 rebounds. Walton went 30.0% from the floor and also totaled 3 assists. Another guy that played a role in the matchup for the Tar Heels was Caleb Love. He collected 2 rebounds in 31 min on the hardwood. He finished shooting 23.1% from the field for the game by connecting on 3-of-13 (12 points). Overall, Love accounted for 2 assists.

Syracuse has a mark of 13-8 this year. Syracuse has accounted for 1,602 pts for the year (76.3 per contest) and they pull down 36.3 rebounds per game. The Orange are responsible for committing 14.4 personal fouls every game and they connect on 78.7% from the free throw line. When it comes to offensive execution, the Orange are hitting on 44.0% from the floor, which has them ranked 198th in college basketball. They are dishing out assists 15.0 times per contest (72nd in the country) and they turn it over 11.5 times per game. The Orange on the defensive side of the court are 224th in college basketball in points per game surrendered with 71.6. They are forcing their opponents into 14.9 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 42.1% from the floor (121st in D-1). The Syracuse defense allows 31.8% on 3-pointers (181 of 570) and their opposition knocks down 74.7% of their shots from the free throw line. They relinquish 17.8 dimes and 37.7 boards every game, which has them ranked 341st and 298th in the country.

The last time they took the court, the Syracuse Orange walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 84-77 against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The Orange corralled 23 defensive boards and 9 offensive boards totaling 32 for the contest. They gave up possession 13 times, while getting 6 steals for this contest. The Yellow Jackets committed 16 fouls for the matchup which took the Orange to the free throw line for 19 tries. They were able to bury 14 of them for a rate of 73.7%. With regard to shots from beyond the arc, Syracuse buried 7 out of their 21 tries (33.3%). At the conclusion of this game, the Orange went 28 for 62 from the field which had them sitting at 45.2%. The Orange allowed the Yellow Jackets to convert 33 out of 66 tries from the field which had them at 50.0% for this game. They finished 26.3% from 3-point land by shooting 5 of 19 and ended up shooting 13 out of 21 at the charity stripe (61.9%). When talking about cleaning up the glass, Syracuse allowed Georgia Tech to collect 36 overall (15 on the offensive side).

Alan Griffin was important for the Orange in this matchup. He made 9 out of 15 in this game for a field goal percentage of 60.0%, and accounted for 4 rebounds. Griffin had 26 points in his 33 mins on the court and tallied 1 assist for the contest. An additional guy that played a role for Syracuse was Quincy Guerrier. He ended up walking away with no assists in 29 mins on the court, and he converted 6 of 12 from the floor. Guerrier ended the game having shot 50.0% from the field as well as contributing 13 points and 5 rebounds.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take North Carolina (-2)

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