Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs North Carolina Tar Heels NCAA Tournament Betting Preview & Odds
Sunday night Elite 8 Action I will take a look at the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the North Carolina Tar Heels, which will take place at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. CBS will carry this game, which has a start time of 8:49 pm EST.
Current betting odds for this game have the have the Tar Heels listed as 10 point favorites, while the total has been set at 155.5.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are sure putting the Madness in March Madness. After taking out the Wolverines by 7 points, notre Dame has been involved in a couple of nailbiters in their last two games. In the game vs Stephen F Austin they needed a tip in by Rex Pfleuger with just 1.5 seconds remaining to win it and then vs Wisconsin they were down 3 points with just 26 seconds left in the game, but went on an 8-0 run to win it. Will their luck run out here? The Irish will be seeking revenge for their worst loss of the year in which they lost 78-47 to the Heels in the ACC Tournament and let’s note that teams with revenge in this round are 16-6-1 ATS. Notre Dame is led by Demetrius Jackson, who averages 15.5 ppg and had 16 vs the Badgers. Zach Auguste is 2nd at 14.3 ppg and he leads the team in rebounding at 10.9 rpg. He has now averaged 13 rpg in the tournament so far. V.J. Beachem led Notre Dame vs the Badgers with 19 points and is 3rd on the team in scoring at 11.9 ppg. Steve Vasturia (11.4 ppg), Bonzie Colson (11.2 ppg) round out the double digit scorers on the team. Notre Dame has been a decent offensive team as they come in ranked 129th in the nation in scoring at 75.1 ppg, while also ranking 32nd in shooting overall, 63rd from long range and 36th at the charity stripe. On defense they check in at 129th in the nation in points allowed, giving up 70.1 ppg, while ranking 129th in defensive FG% overall and 307th in three point defense. The Irish are 178th in the nation in rebounding, while committing just 10.0 turnovers per game (11th) and forcing 9.7 turnovers per game (341st).
The North Carolina Tar Heels are rolling as they have won their last 8 games in a row, with 5 of their last 6 wins coming by at least 15 points. In round one they beat Florida Gulf Coast by 16 and followed that up with a 19 point win over Providence, which was followed up by a 101-86 win over the Hoosiers in the Sweet 16. Now they face a n Irish that they split with this year, losing 80-76 in South Bend and then beating them by 31 in the ACC Tournament. The Heels are now 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600 and 6-1 ATS in their last 7 neutral site games, but we also note that # 1 seeds are 1-9 ATS as favorites of more than 7 in this round. Brice Johnson leads the team in scoring at 16.8 ppg, while also leading them in rebounding at 10.5 ppg. He has averaged 19.7 ppg and 9.0 rpg in the tournament thus far. Marcus Paige had a big game vs the Hoosiers as he led the team with 21 points and was 6 of 9 from long range. He is 3rd on the team in scoring at 12.3 ppg. Joel Berry (12.8 ppg), Justin Jackson (12.2 ppg) round out the double digit scorers for the Heels. Overall the Carolina is 10th in the nation in scoring at 82.9 ppg, while also ranking 2ist in shooting and 30th from the charity stripe, but they are very weak from long range, where they are 290th. The defense has been decent as they come in ranked 120th in points allowed (69.8 ppg) and 55th in defensive FG%, but they are just 250th at defending the arc. North Carolina is 11th in the nation in rebounding, while they commit just 10.8 turnovers per game (31st) and force 13.1 turnovers per game (127th).
Betting odds, College Basketball Odds, CBB, Betting Preview, Free Picks, Elite 8, March Madness, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, North Carolina Tar Heels.
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