North Carolina vs East Carolina Prediction 12/22/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The East Carolina Pirates and the North Carolina Tar Heels meet Tuesday in college basketball action from the Dean E. Smith Assembly Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s an East Carolina Pirates vs. North Carolina Tar Heels prediction.

East Carolina Pirates Recap

The East Carolina Pirates come into this game looking to add on to their 74-53 win over Presbyterian last time out to sit at 5-7 this season. After this game, East Carolina will head home for a game against Tulane.

Pirates Win Back-To-Back Games

Jordan Riley leads the Pirates with 19.8 PPG along with 5 RPG while Giovanni Emejuru has 13.6 PPG of his own along with a team-high 9.4 RPG to lead the Pirates in rebounding and to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for East Carolina so far this season. Tybo Bailey has 8.9 PPG with 2.7 RPG while Corey Caulker has 8.1 PPG with 3 RPG and 3.1 APG to lead the Pirates in assists. As a team, East Carolina is averaging 68.9 PPG on 40.7% shooting from the field, 26.8% from three and 70.1% from the foul line this season.

Why the East Carolina Pirates will win

• East Carolina has won seven of its last eight Monday night games.

North Carolina Tar Heels Recap

The North Carolina Tar Heels come into this game looking to add on to their 71-70 win over Ohio State last time out to sit at 11-1 on the year. After this game, North Carolina will take on Florida State at home in their opener in conference play. 

Tar Heels Win 5 In A Row

Caleb Wilson leads the Tar Heels in scoring and rebounding with 19.9 PPG and 9.9 RPG along with 2.1 APG while Henri Veesaar has 15.9 PPG with 8.3 RPG. Seth Trimble has 14.5 PPG along with 5 RPG and 3.5 APG while Luka Bogavac has 12 PPG with 2.6 RPG and 3.4 APG to cap off the Tar Heels’ group of double-digit scorers. Kyan Evans has 7.9 PPG with 3 RPG and 4.4 APG to lead the Tar Heels in assists so far this season. As a team, North Carolina is averaging 83.3 PPG on 46.8% shooting from the field, 31.8% from three and 72% from the foul line this season. 

Why the North Carolina Tar Heels will win

• North Carolina has won each of its last 14 games as an AP-ranked team against a non-AP-ranked team at Dean E. Smith Center.
• East Carolina has lost each of its last six games against AP-ranked opponents.

Total Points Facts

• Each of North Carolina’s last six games have produced a total of 142 or fewer points.
• Each of East Carolina’s last four night games have produced a total of 142 or fewer points.

East Carolina Pirates vs. North Carolina Tar Heels Prediction

I’m on North Carolina in this one. I just think that North Carolina is the better team by a fair margin here, despite the fact that the Tar Heels have been guilty of playing with their food in a lot of these games against inferior competition this season. I just don’t think that ECU has enough to hang around in this game, so give me the Tar Heels in a blowout.