North Carolina vs. NC State live stream: Betting odds, TV channel, prediction

CLEVELAND, OHIO - DECEMBER 19: Leaky Black #1 of the North Carolina Tar Heels drives around Devin Askew #2 and Cam'Ron Fletcher #21 of the Kentucky Wildcats during the first half at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on December 19, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

North Carolina hits the road for an ACC matchup against NC State.

ACC play is set to begin this week for North Carolina, which is coming off of a nice win against Kentucky over the weekend. The Tar Heels are now 5-2 and set for a tricky matchup against in-state rival NC State Tuesday night.

One thing that is unique about this North Carolina team is that it doesn’t have a true star player to run the entire offense through. The Tar Heels are the epitome of balanced scoring, with their top-four scorers averaging between 10 and 11.7 points per game — an approach that makes sense since North Carolina is built with an inside-out attack.

Roy Williams can roll out four quality bigs for the Tar Heels, including senior Garrison Brooks and sophomore Armando Bacot, for a team that has dominated the glass in the early going. North Carolina averages 45.4 rebounds per night, the ninth-most boards per game in the country.

This matchup is of great importance to NC State, which needs to rack up signature victories in the ACC after coasting through a soft non-conference schedule again. The Wolfpack caught a bad break seeing a game with UConn get canceled due to a COVID-19 issue with the Huskies, but they have only beaten four low-major programs with a loss to A-10 favorite Saint Louis in the mix as well.

One thing that NC State has going for it is its offense, which can be explosive and put pressure on a Tar Heels’ team that isn’t as dynamic on the perimeter. Tempo will be the key to this matchup since a slower-paced half-court game will heavily favor North Carolina, making it important for the Wolfpack to try and speed up the Tar Heels.

How to bet and watch North Carolina at NC State

Date: Tuesday, Dec. 22
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Location: Raleigh, NC
Venue: PNC Arena
TV: ACC Network
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Line: NC State -1.5 (FanDuel)
Prediction: NC State 80, North Carolina 70

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