Louisville Cardinals vs North Carolina Tar Heels Prediction, 1/17/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Louisville Cardinals vs North Carolina Tar Heels

Date: Wednesday, January 17, 2024

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

TV: ESPN

Dean E. Smith Center is the site where the North Carolina Tar Heels (13-3) will take on the Louisville Cardinals (6-10) on Wednesday.

The Louisville Cardinals faced off with North Carolina State and ended up losing by a score of 89-83 in their last contest. Regarding fouls, the Cardinals finished with 15 while North Carolina State recorded 24 fouls. They knocked down 10 out of their 20 attempts from beyond the arc. North Carolina State walked away from this one shooting 88.2% at the charity stripe by knocking down 15 of 17 shots. Additionally, North Carolina State totaled 32 rebounds (7 offensive, 25 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. North Carolina State doled out 17 assists and had 9 steals for this contest. With respect to defending, Louisville let their opponent shoot 54.2% from the field on 32 of 59 shooting. They also doled out 11 assists for the game as well as forcing 14 turnovers and getting 6 steals. Pertaining to pulling down rebounds, they earned a total of 29 with 9 of them being on the offensive end. At the charity stripe, the Cardinals knocked down 19 of 25 shots for a rate of 76.0%. Louisville finished with a 47.5% FG percentage (28 out of 59) and converted 8 out of their 15 three-point attempts.

Michael James is a player who was a factor in this game. He ended up going 50.0% from the field and also recorded 1 assist. He played 38 minutes and also totaled 5 rebounds. He was able to score 20 points on 6 of 12 shooting.

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Louisville heads into this matchup with a win-loss record of 6-10 so far this season. They currently have an average of 73.8 points per contest (212th in the nation) while shooting 43.1% from the field. The Cardinals are shooting 32.1% on shots beyond the perimeter (97 of 302) and 74.6% from the charity stripe. As a team, Louisville is pulling in 36.3 rebounds per game and has earned 185 dimes for the campaign, which is 328th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. They turn it over 12.5 times per game and as a basketball team are committing 16.9 fouls per contest.

When they are on defense, the Cardinals have forced 12.0 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 19.9 fouls. They give up 32.8% on shots from beyond the arc and they are ranked 303rd in D-1 in PPG allowed (76.6). The Cardinals defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 45.8% (441 of 963) and they surrender 34.9 boards per game as a unit. They are currently ranked 279th in D-1 in allowing assists to their opponents with 238 conceded on the year.

The last time they took the court, the North Carolina Tar Heels got the win with a final of 103-67 against Syracuse. The Tar Heels earned 33 defensive boards and 18 offensive boards totaling 51 for this contest. They coughed up the ball 14 times, while earning 13 steals for the contest. Syracuse earned 18 personal fouls in this contest which took the Tar Heels to the free throw line for a total of 27 attempts. They were able to knock down 22 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 81.5%. In regard to shots from beyond the perimeter, North Carolina made 7 out of their 26 attempts (26.9%). When the final whistle blew, the Tar Heels finished 37 out of 77 from the floor which had them shooting 48.1%. The Tar Heels permitted Syracuse to convert 23 of 63 tries from the field which gave them a percentage of 36.5% for this contest. They wrapped up this game 21.1% from distance by going 4 out of 19 and finished the contest at 17 of 21 from the charity stripe (81.0%). Regarding attacking the glass, North Carolina allowed Syracuse to snag 25 in total (5 on the offensive glass).

RJ Davis ended up being a factor for the Tar Heels in the game. He converted 7 out of 12 in this contest giving him a field goal percentage of 58.3%, and had 2 rebounds. He recorded 22 points in his 27 minutes on the court and had 2 assists in this game.

North Carolina has a win-loss record of 13-3 this season. The Tar Heels commit 16.3 personal fouls per contest and they hit 76.0% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 14.1 times per contest (138th in the nation) and they are turning it over 10.5 times per contest. North Carolina has totaled 1,340 points on the season (83.8 per contest) and they pull in 41.1 rebounds per game. When it comes to executing on offense, the Tar Heels are shooting 45.4% from the field, which has them ranked 152nd in college hoops.

The Tar Heels on defense are ranked 131st in college basketball in points given up per game with 69.5. They are able to force 12.1 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 39.5% from the field (31st in college basketball). The North Carolina defense surrenders 28.9% on shots from beyond the arc (111 of 384) and their opponents are making 74.4% of their free throw attempts. They surrender 10.6 dimes and 34.9 rebounds on a nightly basis, which ranks them 38th and 177th 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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