North Carolina Tar Heels vs Louisville Cardinals Prediction, 1/1/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: North Carolina Tar Heels vs Louisville Cardinals

Date: Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY

TV: ESPN+

KFC Yum! Center is the site where the Louisville Cardinals (8-5) will compete against the North Carolina Tar Heels (8-5) on Wednesday.

The North Carolina Tar Heels stepped onto the hardwood against Campbell and walked away with a win by a score of 97-81 in their last contest. In the matter of fouls, the Tar Heels ended up finishing with 18 and Campbell totaled 18 fouls. They made 10 of their 25 shots from 3-point land. Campbell ended up going 75.0% from the charity stripe by burying 15 of 20 attempts. In addition, Campbell totaled 23 boards (8 offensive, 15 defensive), but didn't notch a block. Campbell recorded 15 dimes and had 2 steals for this contest. When talking about defending, North Carolina allowed the other team to shoot 44.4% from the floor on 28 out of 63 shooting. They also recorded 20 dimes for this contest while creating 7 turnovers and earning 3 steals. In relation to hauling in rebounds, they earned a total of 34 with 8 of them being offensive. From the free throw line, the Tar Heels made 15 of their 20 shots for a percentage of 75.0%. North Carolina finished having earned a 57.1% FG percentage (36 out of 63) and converted 10 of their 28 shots from 3-point land.

Ian Jackson is someone who played a role in this contest. He left the arena with 26 points on 9 out of 16 shooting. He played for 36 mins and also pulled down 5 rebounds. He walked away from this one shooting 56.3% from the field and earned 1 assist.

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North Carolina will enter this game with a win-loss record of 8-5 this year. They currently have an average of 86.5 pts per contest (16th in D-1) while hitting 47.6% from the floor. The Tar Heels are shooting 32.0% on shots from beyond the arc (101 of 316) and 74.3% from the free throw line. As a unit, North Carolina is pulling in 38.6 boards per game and is sitting with 187 dimes on the season, which is 173rd in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. They lose possession by turning the ball over 11.1 times per contest and as a group are committing 18.5 fouls every game.

When they are on defense, the Tar Heels are forcing their opponents into 11.9 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 19.9 fouls. They surrender 35.5% on 3-pointers and they are 337th in D-1 in PPG from their opponents (79.4). The Tar Heels defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 42.9% (364 of 848) and they surrender 36.0 rebounds per contest as a group. They are ranked 258th in college in allowing assists with 184 conceded on the year.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Louisville Cardinals went home victorious with a score of 78-76 when they faced Eastern Kentucky. The Cardinals recorded 26 defensive boards and 18 offensive boards totaling 44 for the contest. They also gave up possession of the ball 14 times, while getting 7 steals in this contest. Eastern Kentucky was called for 21 fouls in this contest which took the Cardinals to the charity stripe for a total of 24 attempts. They were able to knock down 19 of the free throws for a rate of 79.2%. Pertaining to 3-point attempts, Louisville converted 11 of 36 attempts (30.6%). Overall, the Cardinals shot 24 for 64 from the field which gave them a percentage of 37.5%. The Cardinals allowed Eastern Kentucky to bury 30 of their 67 tries from the field which gave them a rate of 44.8% in the game. They went 40.0% from three-point range by connecting on 10 of 25 and ended up shooting 6 of 7 at the free throw line (85.7%). When talking about team rebounding, Louisville allowed Eastern Kentucky to collect 29 in total (9 on the offensive side).

Terrence Edwards ended up being a factor for the Cardinals in this matchup. He accumulated 20 points in his 34 mins of playing time and totaled 1 assist in this matchup. He buried 6 of 12 in this matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and totaled 5 rebounds.

Louisville has a win-loss mark of 8-5 so far this year. The Cardinals have committed 16.2 fouls per contest and they go 72.4% from the charity stripe. They are getting an assist 13.3 times per game (238th in college hoops) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 12.2 times per game. Louisville has scored 1,014 points this year (78.0 per contest) and they average 38.1 rebounds per game. In terms of offensive execution, the Cardinals are hitting on 42.8% from the floor, which is ranked 285th in the nation.

The Cardinals on the defensive side of the court are 201st in Division 1 in points given up per game with 71.7. They are able to force 14.3 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 45.1% from the field (283rd in the nation). The Louisville defense surrenders 36.2% on 3-point attempts (106 of 293) and their opponents are knocking down 68.8% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have given up 12.2 dimes and 33.6 total rebounds per game, which has them ranked 114th and 153rd in college.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Louisville

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