North Carolina Tar Heels vs Oklahoma Sooners Prediction, 12/20/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: North Carolina Tar Heels vs Oklahoma Sooners

Date: Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Location: Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC

TV: ESPN

The Oklahoma Sooners (10-0) host the North Carolina Tar Heels (7-3) at Spectrum Center on Wednesday.

The North Carolina Tar Heels played Kentucky and went home with a loss by a final score of 87-83 in their last contest. When discussing personal fouls, the Tar Heels walked away with 22 while Kentucky finished the game with 19 personal fouls. They also buried 8 out of their 23 attempts from three-point range. Kentucky finished the game shooting 73.1% from the free throw line by converting 19 of 26 attempts. Furthermore, Kentucky collected 35 boards (13 offensive, 22 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Kentucky dished out 15 assists and had 7 steals for this game. When discussing defense, North Carolina allowed the other team to go 41.7% from the floor on 30 of 72 shooting. They also recorded 12 assists in this matchup in addition to forcing 13 turnovers and getting 7 steals. In relation to rebounding, they collected 30 with 5 of them being on the offensive end. From the free throw line, the Tar Heels converted 21 of 27 tries for a rate of 77.8%. North Carolina ended the game with a 47.4% field goal percentage (27 out of 57) and made 8 of 24 shots from distance.

RJ Davis is a player who played a role for this contest. He ended up shooting 44.4% from the field and totaled 4 assists. He was on the court for 38 minutes played and also collected 7 boards. He ended up with 27 points on 8 of 18 shooting.

Get all of our NCAA Basketball Betting Picks

North Carolina comes into this game with a win-loss mark of 7-3 on the season. They are averaging 84.9 points per contest (26th in Division 1) while shooting 45.9% from the floor. The Tar Heels are connecting on 35.6% on shots from beyond the arc (77 of 216) and 76.0% from the free throw line. As a unit, North Carolina is pulling in 38.1 rebounds per contest and has 143 assists so far this year, which ranks 218th in the country in terms of passing. They are turning it over 10.8 times per game and as a unit they are committing 17.0 fouls per contest.

On the defensive end, the Tar Heels are able to force 12.4 turnovers every game while drawing 21.4 personal fouls. They relinquish 32.8% on shots from downtown and they rank 285th in college basketball in points per game from their opponents (75.0). The Tar Heels are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 42.8% (272 of 635) and they concede 34.7 rebounds per contest as a team. They are 104th in college hoops in allowing assists to their opponents with 123 surrendered so far this year.

In their last game, the Oklahoma Sooners went home victorious with a score of 81-47 when they played Green Bay. Regarding rebounding, Oklahoma allowed Green Bay to grab 26 in total (11 offensive). They finished 25.0% from distance via 8 of 32 and ended up going 5 out of 7 from the charity stripe (71.4%). The Sooners allowed Green Bay to convert 17 of their 56 tries from the floor which left them with a rate of 30.4% in this matchup. When all was said and done, the Sooners went 28 out of 54 from the floor which had them at 51.9%. In terms of three-point shots, Oklahoma made 5 of 17 attempts (29.4%). They were able to knock down 20 of those for a clip of 71.4%. Green Bay was called for 19 fouls in this game which got the Sooners to the free throw line for 28 attempts. They also turned it over 13 times, while recording 12 steals in this game. The Sooners recorded 27 defensive boards and 12 offensive boards totaling 39 for this game.

Rivaldo Soares ended up having an impact for the Sooners in this matchup. He buried 4 out of 7 in the matchup for a field goal rate of 57.1%, and had 5 rebounds. He tallied 13 points in his 20 mins on the court and earned 2 assists for this game.

Oklahoma has a mark of 10-0 on the year. The Sooners have committed 15.0 personal fouls every game while shooting 77.9% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 15.0 times per game (100th in college basketball) and they cough up possession 13.1 times per game. Oklahoma has totaled 844 points on the year (84.4 per game) and they average 39.7 boards per game. As an offensive team, the Sooners are hitting on 51.0% from the field, which is ranked 11th in college basketball.

The Sooners defensively are ranked 16th in the nation in points per game surrendered with 61.3. They are forcing their opponents into 14.7 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 37.5% from the field (14th in college basketball). The Oklahoma defense gives up 25.6% on shots from beyond the arc (53 of 207) and their opponents are knocking down 74.7% of their shots from the free throw line. They have given up 8.9 assists and 29.7 total boards per game, which is 7th and 12th in the country.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take North Carolina

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here