NC State vs. South Carolina Final Score Prediction for NCAA Tournament Final Four
The most anticipated Final Four in the history of women's college basketball is set to take place this week. On one side of the bracket, you have Caitlin Clark and Iowa taking on Paige Bueckers and UConn. On the other side of the bracket you have undefeated South Carolina and a No. 3 seed in NC State.
The first of two games on Friday night will feature the latter. While most of the talk has been around Iowa and UConn, South Carolina is quietly an overwhelming favorite to win the National Championship for the second time in three years.
In this article, we're going to take a look at the odds, our best bet, and then I'll attempt to predict the exact final score.
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NC State vs. South Carolina odds, spread, and total
NC State vs. South Carolina betting preview
Our very own Shelby Dermer broke down why he's backing South Carolina in his full betting preview for the game. Here's a portion of his breakdown:
"South Carolina is No. 1 in the country in opposing field goal percentage (32.1%) and what’s been lost during NC State’s magical run to the Final Four is the Wolfpack’s shooting struggles. In four NCAA Tournament games, NC State has combined to shoot just 42.6% from the field.
"The Wolfpack have relied heavily on getting to the free-throw line, averaging 22 attempts from the charity stripe in the tournament. They shouldn’t get many opportunities for freebies on Friday against a South Carolina squad that is No. 2 in the ACC in fouls per game (14.1).
"Overall, South Carolina has too much firepower for NC State’s underdog story to continue. Lay the big number with the Gamecocks as Dawn Staley’s group chases the program’s second national title in three years."
NC State vs. South Carolina expert score prediction
I have to agree with Shelby. I have no interest in fading the Gamecocks in this spot so I will be taking South Carolina to cover the 11.5-point spread. With that being said, we still have to think about the total if we're going to prediction the exact score.
The total for the game is set at 139.5 and I think it's going to go OVER that number. South Carolina is third in the country in points per game, averaging 85.6. NC State also ranks inside the top 50, coming in at 47th in points per game, averaging 73.8. That's a combined 159.4 points per game, well above the set total of 139.5.
Of course, defense plays a role in this as well, but NC State enters the game ranking 76th in opponent points per game, giving up 60.2 per game.
Still, I think both offenses in this game are too good for the final combined score to go below this total. I'll predict a South Carolina win, cover, and the total ending OVER 139.5.
Final score prediction: NC State 64, South Carolina 80
Game odds update periodically and are subject to change.