Kentucky vs North Carolina 12/18/21 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The North Carolina Tar Heels and the Kentucky Wildcats meet Saturday in college basketball action from T-Mobile Arena. North Carolina enters this one at 8-2 so far. The Tar Heels are coming off a win over Furman. As for Kentucky, they’re 7-2 this year and fresh off a loss to Notre Dame. This matchup was originally scheduled between North Carolina and UCLA, but the Bruins had to pull out. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

North Carolina kicked off the year on a 3-0 run before taking consecutive losses to Purdue and Tennessee. The Tar Heels got back on track and hit a winning streak over UNC Asheville, Michigan, Georgia Tech, Elon and Furman over their next five outings. 

In the Furman game, North Carolina went into halftime with a 39-39 tie. The Tar Heels turned it on from there in an eventual 74-61 win. Leading scorer Dawson Garcia put up 20 points with 10 rebounds. 

Over on the Wildcats’ side, they lost to Duke in their opener. Kentucky then took out Robert Morris, Mount St. Mary’s, Ohio, Albany, North Florida, Central Michigan and Southern U before another loss to Notre Dame last weekend. 

Matched up against the Irish last Saturday, Kentucky carried a lean two-point lead into the break. The Wildcats were outscored 38-32 from there in a 66-62 defeat. Oscar Tshiebwe led the team on 25 points with seven rebounds. 

North Carolina is 0-3-1 ATS in their last four neutral-site games and 3-8-1 ATS in the last 12 games overall. The under is 5-0 in the Tar Heels’ last five overall. 

The over is 5-1 in North Carolina’s last six neutral site games and they’re 3-7-1 ATS in their last 11 as an underdog. The Tar Heels are 2-6 ATS in their last eight as a favorite. 

PICK: I’m going to try North Carolina. This one’s tough though; it’ll be interesting to see how Kentucky responds after their upset loss. In any case, the Tar Heels posted a nice effort versus Furman despite a tepid start. UNC hit 50 percent from the field with 44 rebounds and 18 team assists. It’s been a good five-game run for them. 

As for Kentucky, they were out-rebounded 33-28 in the Notre Dame game and came up with just nine team assists. It was an uncharacteristic performance by a Wildcats team that’s been tearing up the scoreboards this season. I like this one to be a highly competitive game, and I think North Carolina can power out a cover. Should be a fun one to watch.