North Carolina vs. Syracuse prediction and odds for Tuesday, January 24 (Expect plenty of points)
By Josh Yourish
Okay so the North Carolina Tar Heels aren’t the best team in the country like everyone thought when they were the No. 1 team coming into the year, but they’ve won five of their last six in the ACC to get to 6-3 in the conference and 14-6 overall. The sky looked like it was falling in Syracuse too, but after a 3-4 start to the year, the Orange are 13-7 (6-3) and currently sit sixth in the ACC.
This would be a big win for either team, but Vegas like UNC and Vegas seems to think we’ll have a shootout on our hands up in upstate New York. Here are the odds and total:
North Carolina vs. Syracuse odds, spread and total
North Carolina vs. Syracuse prediction and pick
Syracuse has always been known for their defense and the zone wreaking havoc on their opponents, but that’s not been the case this year at all. The over is 13-7 in Syracuse games, and the Orange are 96th in points per game and 202nd in points allowed. That is the reason for the super high total, that and UNC’s fast pace of play. The Tar Heels particularly speed things up on the road where they average 75.9 possessions per game, which would be 14th in the country.
Joe Girard III started the year off cold from three, but he’s now shooting 38.2% and as a team the Orange are making 36.6% of their threes. They’ll shoot it better than UNC who is 297th in three-point percentage this season, but UNC will pound them on the glass. Syracuse is 307th in defensive rebounding percentage, while UNC is the top rebounding team in the ACC.
The Tar Heels are 1-4 on the road, so they can’t be trusted, but I still have a strong play for this game. Both of these teams have ways to score on each other, Syracuse from deep and UNC on the offensive glass, so despite the high total, I’m going with the over.
Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change