North Carolina Tar Heels vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish Prediction, 1/5/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: North Carolina Tar Heels vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Date: Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Location: Purcell Pavilion in Notre Dame, IN

TV: ESPN2

The North Carolina Tar Heels (10-3) are on their way to Purcell Pavilion on Wednesday where they will play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-5).

The North Carolina Tar Heels stepped onto the hardwood against Boston College and walked away with a win by a score of 91-65 in their last contest. North Carolina ended the contest with a 52.5% FG percentage (32 out of 61) and knocked down 11 of their 23 shots from beyond the perimeter. At the charity stripe, the Tar Heels buried 16 of 19 tries for a percentage of 84.2%. When discussing hauling in rebounds, they compiled 42 with 7 of them being offensive. They also recorded 17 assists for the contest while forcing 8 turnovers and having 6 steals. In regard to defending, North Carolina allowed the other team to shoot 31.3% from the floor on 21 of 67 shooting. Boston College dished out 12 assists and had 3 steals for this game. Furthermore, Boston College totaled 31 rebounds (11 offensive, 20 defensive), but didn't notch a block. Boston College finished the contest at 78.9% at the free throw line by knocking down 15 of their 19 attempts. They also knocked down 8 out of their 28 attempts from three-point range. When discussing fouls, the Tar Heels left the arena with 16 and Boston College totaled 16 fouls.

Armando Bacot is one guy who was a major factor for the matchup. He ended up with 18 points on 6 of 9 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 29 mins played and collected 11 rebounds. He went 66.7% from the field and earned 2 dimes.

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North Carolina will enter this contest with a mark of 10-3 on the year. They lose possession via turnover 12.4 times per contest and as a unit are committing 14.6 fouls per contest. As a unit, North Carolina is pulling down 40.1 rebounds per contest and has accounted for 193 dimes for the year, which ranks 105th in Division 1 in terms of passing. The Tar Heels are connecting on 40.0% from downtown (102 of 255) and 74.9% from the free throw line. They currently have an average of 79.5 points per outing (37th in the country) while hitting 48.2% from the floor.

When they are on defense, the Tar Heels have forced 9.9 turnovers per game and they draw 17.5 personal fouls. They are 277th in the nation in allowing assists to the opposition with 183 surrendered this season. The Tar Heels are giving up a shooting percentage of 42.2% (353 of 836) and they relinquish 31.6 boards per contest as a basketball team. They are giving up 31.2% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they rank 242nd in the nation in points per game allowed (70.9).

In their last game, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish took home the win by a final score of 68-67 when they played Pittsburgh. The Fighting Irish recorded 25 defensive boards and 5 offensive rebounds for a total of 30 in this contest. They also turned it over 8 times, while recording 1 steal for the matchup. Pittsburgh had 16 fouls in the matchup which took the Fighting Irish to the charity stripe for 17 tries. They were able to make 16 of the free throws for a percentage of 94.1%. When talking about shots from beyond the arc, Notre Dame buried 10 out of 22 tries (45.5%). When all was said and done, the Fighting Irish shot 21 for 50 from the floor which had them at 42.0%. The Fighting Irish allowed Pittsburgh to bury 23 of their 51 attempts from the floor which gave them a percentage of 45.1% for the contest. They finished the game shooting 35.7% from three-point range by shooting 5 of 14 and finished the game at 16 of 22 from the charity stripe (72.7%). When talking about rebounding, Notre Dame permitted Pittsburgh to pull down 25 in all (4 on the offensive side).

Paul Atkinson was important for the Fighting Irish for the game. He converted 4 out of 10 in the game for a rate of 40.0%, and tallied 8 rebounds. He racked up 16 points in his 26 minutes on the court and earned 1 assist in the game.

Notre Dame has a win-loss record of 7-5 for the year. The Fighting Irish are committing 14.8 fouls every game and they connect on 77.8% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 13.4 times per game (181st in the country) and they are turning it over 11.1 times per contest. Notre Dame has tallied 841 points this year (70.1 per game) and they pull down 34.1 rebounds per contest. When it comes to executing on offense, the Fighting Irish are shooting 44.2% from the floor, which ranks 186th in the country.

The Notre Dame defense surrenders 37.3% on three-point shots (81 of 217) and opponents are knocking down 64.0% of their free throw attempts. They have surrendered 11.6 dimes and 31.7 total rebounds per game, ranking them 116th and 61st in those categories on the defensive end. The Fighting Irish on defense are ranked 106th in college hoops in PPG given up with 65.4. They are able to force 11.1 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 43.8% from the floor (253rd in D-1).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take North Carolina

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