The No. 7 North Carolina Tar Heels begin a four-game homestand against the Stanford Cardinal at the Dean Smith Center. North Carolina is a perfect 11-0 all-time vs Stanford and it traveled to tip off against the Cardinal last season and picked up a 96-72 victory. The Heels are 17-point favorites in tonight’s game with the total Sportsbook at 155 points.
- Stanford is 0-5 SU and ATS in its last five games vs North Carolina (avg. losing margin: 16.0).
- North Carolina is 6-2 ATS in its last eight games at home.
- The total has gone UNDER in seven of North Carolina’s last nine games (avg. combined score: 147.56).
Stanford vs North Carolina Game Center
Cardinal shooting well in the early stages of the season
Stanford is off to a 2-0 start for the fifth straight season and is being led by two of its younger players. Sophomore forward KZ Okpala has been the game-high scorer in each of the first two games for the Cardinal, averaging 26 points and 6.5 rebounds. Meanwhile, freshman guard Cormac Ryan is averaging 15 points per game.
Stanford opened the season with a game in which everything they shot went in, hitting 73.3 percent from beyond the arc and 51.8 percent from the floor overall in a 96-74 triumph over Seattle. The Cardinal will have to watch their discipline moving forward, though, as they are averaging 24 personal fouls through their first two games. The Cardinal followed that dominant performance with a solid 72-59 win over UNC Wilmington when they shot just 13.3 percent from beyond the arc.
North Carolina plays its first game on home court this year
The Tar Heels opened the season with a two-game road swing and now get to show off in front of their home crowd with a couple of games under their belt. UNC put on a brilliant performance on Friday, outscoring Elon 116-67, its most points in a game in over a decade. Its two 2018 McDonald’s All-American recruits looked much more comfortable than they did in their first game against Wofford to open the season.
Forward Nassir Little came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points while adding seven rebounds and Coby White added 14 points in 21 minutes of play. UNC shot 51.7 percent from the floor and 29.2 percent from deep. Most impressively, the Heels outrebounded Elon 60-31, including grabbing 36 defensive boards to the Phoenix’s 10 offensive rebounds.
Should you be on the UNDER tonight?
UNC’s defense has been great to open the season and Sportsbook has the total Sportsbook at 155 points. Both the Tar Heels and Cardinal are 1-1 for the OVER/UNDER thus far this season, but there are plenty of other trends pointing toward the UNDER. UNC has gone UNDER in seven of its last nine games, while Stanford has gone UNDER in 10 of its last 13 road games with an average combined score of 140.92.
The Tar Heels have held their opponents to 67 points in each of the first two games, and have dominated the defensive boards. However, both teams have outstanding offenses when they are on, hitting nearly 50 percent of their shots from the floor and north of 30 percent from the perimeter. I like the UNDER on tonight’s game because Stanford has had a rough travel schedule to start the year and I think it may struggle offensively tonight against a tough UNC squad.
My take on Stanford vs UNC
I like the UNDER 155 points in tonight’s game. UNC absolutely torched Elon last time out, but Stanford is a tougher opponent. The Tar Heels shot better against Wofford, shooting 40.9 percent from beyond the arc, but were held to just 78 points while taking 59 shots in total.
Meanwhile, Stanford shot 73.3 percent from three-point range to put up 96 points in its season-Sportsbook game but it was kept to just 72 points against UNC Wilmington on Friday. Both teams have trends pointing toward the UNDER as the Tar Heels have gone UNDER in seven of their last nine games and the Cardinal have gone UNDER in 10 of their last 13 road games.
