Virginia Cavaliers vs North Carolina Tar Heels Prediction, 1/8/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Virginia Cavaliers vs North Carolina Tar Heels

Date: Saturday, January 8, 2022

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

TV: ESPN

Dean E. Smith Center is where the North Carolina Tar Heels (10-4) will meet the Virginia Cavaliers (9-5) on Saturday.

The Virginia Cavaliers faced Clemson and earned the victory with a final of 75-65 in their last game. With respect to fouls, the Cavaliers ended up with 17 while Clemson racked up 18 fouls. They also buried 9 of their 20 attempts from 3-point range. Clemson finished shooting 62.5% from the free throw line by making 10 of their 16 shots. On top of that, Clemson snagged 19 rebounds (4 offensive, 15 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Clemson recorded 17 dimes and had 4 steals in this matchup. With regard to the defense, Virginia allowed the other team to go 46.0% from the field on 23 of 50 shooting. They also doled out 12 dimes for the matchup as well as forcing 9 turnovers and earning 4 steals. When it comes to pulling down boards, they earned 28 with 6 of them being of the offensive sort. At the charity stripe, the Cavaliers converted 21 of 24 shots for a percentage of 87.5%. Virginia finished the contest having earned a 54.3% field goal percentage (25 out of 46) and made 4 of their 14 shots from downtown.

Jayden Gardner is one guy who came through in this contest. He left the arena with 23 points on 7 of 11 shooting. He saw the court for 34 minutes played and also snagged 5 rebounds. He ended up going 63.6% from the floor and earned 2 assists.

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Virginia heads into this one with a win-loss mark of 9-5 so far this season. They currently have an average of 63.6 pts per contest (320th in college basketball) while going 45.8% from the floor. The Cavaliers are shooting 31.7% on three-point shots (80 of 252) and 72.9% from the free throw line. As a unit, Virginia is pulling in 31.6 rebounds per game and has 190 dimes this season, which is 136th in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. They are turning it over 10.3 times per contest and as a unit they commit 14.0 fouls every game.

When they are on defense, the Cavaliers are forcing their opponents into 11.4 turnovers every game and they draw 14.9 fouls. They are giving up 33.8% from beyond the arc while they are 10th in college basketball in points per game from their opponents (57.7). The Cavaliers defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 39.7% (294 of 740) and they concede 32.4 boards per game as a group. They rank 166th in college hoops in allowing assists to their opponents with 158 relinquished so far this season.

In their last game, the North Carolina Tar Heels took a loss by a final score of 78-73 against Notre Dame. The Tar Heels were able to pull down 33 defensive boards and 3 offensive rebounds for a total of 36 in this matchup. They also gave up possession of the ball 14 times, while earning 5 steals in the matchup. Notre Dame was called for 8 fouls in this matchup which took the Tar Heels to the free throw line for a total of 8 attempts. They were able to make 7 of the free throw tries for a clip of 87.5%. In the matter of shooting from beyond the arc, North Carolina made 8 of 22 tries (36.4%). Overall, the Tar Heels finished the game shooting 29 for 59 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 49.2%. The Tar Heels permitted Notre Dame to knock down 29 of 61 tries from the floor which left them with a rate of 47.5% for the contest. They shot 41.9% from beyond the perimeter by going 13 of 31 and finished the contest at 7 of 11 at the free throw line (63.6%). When discussing how they rebounded, North Carolina permitted Notre Dame to pull down 26 in all (1 offensive).

Armando Bacot was important for the Tar Heels in this contest. He buried 9 out of 13 for the matchup giving him a rate of 69.2%, and had 17 rebounds. He recorded 21 points in his 36 minutes on the hardwood, but left the arena with no assists.

North Carolina has a mark of 10-4 so far this season. As an offensive team, the Tar Heels are shooting 48.3% from the field, which ranks 29th in college basketball. North Carolina has tallied 1,107 points for the campaign (79.1 per contest) and they snag 40.0 rebounds per contest. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 14.5 times per contest (114th in college hoops) and they are giving up possession 12.5 times per contest. The Tar Heels are committing 14.5 personal fouls per game while shooting 75.3% from the free throw line.

The North Carolina defense gives up 32.1% on shots from behind the 3-point line (113 of 352) and their opponents are connecting on 71.1% of their free throw shots. They have conceded 14.1 dimes and 31.3 rebounds per contest, which is ranked 288th and 45th in those categories. The Tar Heels on the defensive side of the court are 253rd in the country in PPG given up with 71.4. They are forcing 9.7 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 42.6% from the floor (207th in the nation).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Virginia

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