North Carolina vs Virginia Tech 3/11/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Virginia Tech Hokies & 25^th ranked North Carolina Tar Heels will square off at the Barclays Center this Friday night in the Semifinals of the New York Life ACC Tournament.

The 7-seed Virginia Tech Hokies improved to 21-12 on the season after defeating the 2-seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 87-80, last night. Virginia Tech was lights out on the offensive end against Notre Dame and was able to hold off the Fighting Irish for the victory after taking a 79-68 lead with 1:49 left in regulation. Virginia Tech shot 57.4% from the field & 36.8% from beyond the arc while allowing Notre Dame to shoot 52.9% from the field & 36.8% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Hokies was Keve Aluma who had 20 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, & 1 steal.

Coming into their game against Notre Dame, Virginia Tech was averaging 69.8 ppg on 46.7% shooting from the field. The Hokies were averaging 9.0 three-pointers per game on 39.0% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Virginia Tech has been led by Keve Aluma (15.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.0 bpg), Justyn Mutts (10.3 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.1 spg), Nahiem Alleyne (10.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.6 apg), & Hunter Cattoor (9.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.0 spg).

Defensively, Virginia Tech is holding their opponents to average of 61.7 ppg on 42.6% shooting from the field. The Hokies have a rebound margin of 1.9 and a turnover margin of 1.0.

The 3-seed North Carolina Tar Heels improved to 24-8 on the season after defeating the 6-seed Virginia Cavaliers, 63-43, last night. North Carolina was lights out on both ends of the court in the 1^st half and had no trouble securing the victory after going into halftime with a 33-13 lead. North Carolina shot 38.5% from the field & 26.1% from beyond the arc while holding Virginia to 34.6% shooting from the field & 27.3% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Tar Heels was Brady Manek who had 21 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, & 1 steal.

Coming into their game against Virginia, North Carolina was averaging 78.6 ppg on 45.8% shooting from the field. The Tar Heels were averaging 8.5 three-pointers per game on 37.4% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, North Carolina has been led by Armando Bacot (16.6 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.7 bpg), Caleb Love (15.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.7 apg, 1.2 spg), Brady Manek (14.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.9 apg), & R.J. Davis (13.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.1 spg).

Defensively, North Carolina is allowing their opponents to average 72.6 ppg on 43.6% shooting from the field. The Tar Heels have a rebound margin of 7.6 and a turnover margin of -1.7.

The Hokies are 2-5 ATS in thier last 7 netural stie games & 16-16-1 ATS overall on the season. The Tar Heels are 5-0-1 ATS in thier last 6 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record & 4-0 ATS in thier last 4 games overall.

North Carolina defeated Virginia Tech in both of their regular season matchups as the Tar Heels defeated the Hokies by a 78-68 margin at home in late January and by a 65-57 margin on the road in mid-February.

Virginia Tech has been led by their defense which ranks 18^th in scoring defense, however, despite shotting the ball well, the Hokies have at times this season had trouble putting up points on the scoreboard as they Hokies come into this game ranked just 206^th in scoring offense. North Carolina has been great on the offensive end, ranking t-27^th in scoring offense, 80^th in FG%, & 27^th in 3P-FG%, however, have struggled at times defensively, ranking only 265^th in scoring defense.

Virignia Tech has been playing some great basketball as of late, however, North Carolina is playing thier best basketball of the season and as I think the Tar Heels are going to have success limiting the Virignia Tech offense attack, similar to what we saw in their regular season matchup, I’m taking North Carolina to cover this small spread. Good Luck!