The 12-6 (7-10-1 ATS) Tar Heels look like a new team this calendar year, entering this contest 7-2 in 2021. The bad news is, they travel north as a heavy underdog to play a Virginia Cavalier team (14-3 SU, 9-7-1 ATS) that has won 18 out of their last 19 against a conference opponent.
- Date/Time: February 13, 6:00 p.m. ET
- Arena: John Paul Jones Arena
- TV Coverage: ESPN
- Sportsbook Odds: Virginia -6.5 |130.5 O/U (Line History)
- North Carolina vs Virginia (Matchup Report)
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
Winning 10 of the last 11 games, Virginia comes into this matchup red hot. It enters as a six-point favorite The Cavaliers face a Roy Williams UNC team that started rocky but has put together an impressive recent stretch. The total for this contest opened at 130.5 and has gone down ever so slightly.
North Carolina News & Notes
Despite the rough start to this CBB season, the Tar Heels have won seven out of nine games to kick off the 2021 year. The offense has been flowing for Roy Williams' lineup hitting the 75-point mark in six out of the last seven games. Offensive rebounding has been the major bright spot this season as they currently rank second in the country in that category.
Freshman Caleb Love is coming off a season high 25 points vs. Duke last Saturday and has really come alive recently. The young 6-foot-4 guard averages a shade over 11 points per game and has finally found some rhythm from behind the arc sinking four of five three-pointers against the Blue Devils.
Virginia News & Notes
UVA comes into this matchup as one of the hottest teams in college basketball. Tony Bennett’s team is coming off maybe their best defensive performance of the season holding Georgia Tech to just 49 points on Wednesday. No surprise, this team ranks sixth in the nation for fewest points against at 59.4 per game.
This really seems to be the year for Virginia as it truly plans the offense around the two senior big men Sam Hauser and Jay Huff. Hauser, a real NBA talent, leads this team in points per game at 14.9 along with the team's best rebounding average at 7.2. Not far behind is the 7-foot-1 Jay Huff who averages 13.2 and 6.4 along with an ACC best 2.4 blocks per game.
Betting Pick: Cavaliers -6
This season has overall been a disappointing year for North Carolina. Too much height and grittiness on this Virginia roster calls for a low-scoring relatively easy victory for the Cavs. Virginia will dominate on both sides of the ball and most likely win by double digits.
- Virginia is 18-1 in its last 19 vs. the ACC.
- Virginia is 6-0 ATS in its last eight vs North Carolina.
- The OVER is 5-2 in North Carolina's last seven games.
