Which version of North Carolina will show up at the Carrier Dome on Monday? Bettors only wish they knew as the Tar Heels (15-8 SU, 10-12-1 ATS) visit the Syracuse Orange (13-8 SU, 8-13 ATS) on Monday looking to continue to strengthen their case for an NCAA Tournament berth. The Heels are coming off a shocking loss to Marquette and a come-from-behind win over Florida State.
- Date/Time: March 1, 7 p.m. ET
- Arena: Carrier Dome
- TV Coverage: ESPN
- Sportsbook Odds: North Carolina -3 | O/U 149.5 (Line History)
- North Carolina vs Syracuse Matchup Report
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
The Tar Heels opened as 3-point favorites but that line has since fallen all the way down to -1.5 at the majority of sportsbooks. The total launched at 149.5 but is now between 150.5 and 151 depending on where you wager.
North Carolina News & Notes
The Tar Heels’ previous two results really do sum up what kind of season it has been for the six-time NCAA Tournament champs. They came out completely flat en route to an 83-70 loss to the Golden Eagles as a 9.5-point favorite, then rallied from 16 points down to upend the Seminoles 78-70 after coming into the game as 2-point underdogs.
North Carolina enters Monday’s matchup with some momentum built on an 81-75 home win over the Orange in their prior encounter on January 12. Garrison Brooks (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Armando Bacot (15 points, 12 rebounds) led the charge as the Tar Heels finished with a 48-31 rebounding edge, a dominant showing that overshadowed the team’s 20.8 percent success rate from deep.
Syracuse News & Notes
The Orange had done well to rebound from that narrow loss to the rival Tar Heels, going 6-3 SU over their next nine games before dropping narrow decisions at Duke and Georgia Tech to drop back to .500 in conference play for the season. Now 0-6 in Quadrant 1 games, Syracuse’s only path to the NCAA Tournament is a run to the ACC Tournament championship.
Quincy Guerrier (14.7 ppg) led the way for the Orange with 23 points and 11 rebounds in their narrow January loss to the Tar Heels, and will once again be counted upon to lead the Orange – but he’s in a dreadful slump, having averaged just 10.4 points over his last seven games. He has shot above 40 percent just three times in that stretch while being held to single digits on three occasions.
Betting Pick: OVER 151 (-110)
Expect this game to feature even more scoring than in the previous meeting, when the sides combined to score 156 points even though the Tar Heels struggled from the field.
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Buy Sports Picks Now- The Tar Heels are 6-3 ATS in their last 9 games.
- Syracuse is 2-6 ATS in its last 8 games.
- The OVER is 8-4 in UNC’s last 12 games.
