The North Carolina Tar Heels and the Baylor Bears meet Saturday in NCAA Tournament Second Round action from Dickies Arena. North Carolina is 25-9 on the season so far. The Tar Heels took out Marquette in tournament action Thursday. As for Baylor, they’re 27-6 overall this year and coming off a blowout win over Norfolk State in their tourney game. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
North Carolina lost a couple of tough games back in November, and they also had a spotty stretch in January. Outside of that however, the Tar Heels have had a great run so far. North Carolina took a rough loss to Virginia Tech in the conference tourney but bounced back against Marquette on Thursday.
In the Thursday tournament game versus Marquette, North Carolina jumped out to a big 53-25 lead after one half. The Tar Heels kept the pace up with a 42-38 run from there in a 95-63 blowout win. Brady Manek (28 points; 11 boards) and Armando Bacot (17 points; 10 rebounds) both doubled up.
Over on the Baylor side, they lost to Texas Tech and Oklahoma State back-to-back in January but otherwise have avoided losing consecutive games all year. The Bears took a tough loss to Oklahoma on March 10, but bounced back with a win over Norfolk State on Thursday.
Matched up against Norfolk State in First Round tournament activity, the Bears didn’t have much trouble. Baylor it a 43-27 first-half run and cruised to the win 85-49. Tops in scoring was Matthew Mayer with 22 points and six rebounds during the victory.
PICK: I’m going to take a stab on North Carolina. The Tar Heels were on point in Thursday’s win over Marquette, shooting 45.9 percent from the field with a 57-38 rebounding advantage and 29 team assists. North Carolina had a bad outing versus Virginia Tech, but otherwise they’ve been great lately.
As for Baylor, they put up an impressive win over Norfolk State on Thursday; the outcome was never in doubt after the first half. That said, the Bears have had a few close escapes and sub-par games lately when they face quality teams. This matchup should be one of those situations, and I don’t know if Baylor can keep the cover pace. Should be a really excellent matchup, though.