Virginia Cavaliers vs North Carolina Tar Heels Prediction, 2/22/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Virginia Cavaliers vs North Carolina Tar Heels

Date: Saturday, February 22, 2025

Location: Dean E. Smith Center in Iowa City, IA

TV: ESPN+

Dean E. Smith Center is the location where the North Carolina Tar Heels (16-11) will meet the Virginia Cavaliers (13-13) on Saturday.

The Virginia Cavaliers stepped onto the hardwood against Duke and went home with a loss by a final score of 80-62 in their last game. Regarding personal fouls, the Cavaliers walked away with 8 and Duke finished the game with 15 personal fouls. They also made 9 of their 23 tries from downtown. Duke ended up going 81.8% from the free throw line by converting 9 of 11 attempts. Moreover, Duke snagged 3 boards (10 offensive, -7 defensive), but didn't notch a block. Duke dished out 16 assists and had 4 steals for this game. Concerning defending, Virginia let their opponent shoot 52.5% from the field on 31 out of 59 shooting. They also doled out 13 dimes in this contest while forcing the other team into 5 turnovers and having 3 steals. When it comes to hauling in boards, they collected 19 with 3 of them being on the offensive end. When they shot from the free throw line, the Cavaliers buried 14 of 17 shots for a percentage of 82.4%. Virginia wrapped up the game with a 38.5% FG percentage (20 out of 52) and buried 8 of their 22 shots from downtown.

Andrew Rohde is a player who had an impact for the matchup. He finished with 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting. He saw the court for 34 mins and pulled down 5 rebounds. He ended up shooting 50.0% from the floor and also recorded 5 assists.

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Virginia comes into this game with a record of 13-13 for the season. They are losing possession via turnover 10.1 times per contest and as a group they are committing 14.7 fouls per game. As a team, Virginia is pulling in 30.3 boards per game and has racked up 398 dimes on the campaign, which ranks 96th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. The Cavaliers are shooting 37.6% on shots from 3-point land (219 of 582) and 75.0% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 64.5 pts per contest (354th in D-1) while hitting 44.5% from the field.

On defense, the Cavaliers are forcing their opponents into 9.4 turnovers per contest and they draw 14.0 fouls. They currently rank 58th in Division 1 in giving up assists to the opposition with 306 conceded for the campaign. The Cavaliers are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 43.2% (606 of 1,402) and they surrender 32.4 rebounds per game as a unit. They are surrendering 34.5% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they are 33rd in D-1 in points per game allowed (65.5).

In their last game, the North Carolina Tar Heels got the victory with a final of 97-73 when they played North Carolina State. The Tar Heels earned 25 defensive boards and 8 offensive boards for a total of 33 for this contest. They turned it over 11 times, while recording 5 steals in this contest. North Carolina State earned 19 personal fouls for the matchup which got the Tar Heels to the charity stripe for a total of 24 attempts. They were able to convert 19 of the free throws for a clip of 79.2%. With respect to shots from distance, North Carolina converted 8 of their 20 attempts (40.0%). In all, the Tar Heels walked away from this one shooting 35 for 61 from the field which had them sitting at 57.4%. The Tar Heels allowed North Carolina State to bury 27 of their 59 attempts from the field which had them shooting 45.8% in this contest. They finished 33.3% from three-point range by hitting 8 of 24 and walked away from this one shooting 11 out of 16 at the free throw line (68.8%). In relation to rebounding, North Carolina allowed North Carolina State to grab 19 overall (7 offensive).

RJ Davis was important for the Tar Heels for this game. He scored 21 points in his 30 minutes on the hardwood and had 5 assists in this contest. He made 6 of 18 for the contest for a field goal rate of 33.3%, and accumulated 2 rebounds.

North Carolina has a record of 16-11 for the year. In terms of offensive execution, the Tar Heels are hitting on 47.4% from the field, which is 52nd in the country. North Carolina has earned 2,184 points this season (80.9 per game) and they grab 36.8 rebounds per game. They are dishing out assists 14.4 times per game (127th in college hoops) and they are turning it over 11.0 times per contest. The Tar Heels are committing 17.6 personal fouls per contest and they connect on 73.6% from the charity stripe.

The Tar Heels are ranked 312th in college in points allowed per contest with 76.7. They are forcing their opponents into 11.0 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 43.2% from the field (156th in D-1). The North Carolina defense surrenders 34.2% on 3-point attempts (220 of 643) and their opponents are knocking down 75.4% of their free throw shots. They concede 13.2 dimes and 34.8 boards per contest, which ranks them 187th and 216th in D-1.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Virginia

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