The Lehigh Mountain Hawks and the North Carolina Tar Heels meet Sunday in college basketball action from Dean Smith Center. Lehigh is 0-2 on the season so far and coming off a nine-point loss to Penn State. As for North Carolina, they won their first matchup of the year over Radford on Monday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Lehigh Mountain Hawks 

The Mountain Hawks kicked off their 2023-24 season on Monday versus Cornell. Lehigh had a 44-39 lead at halftime but faded in the second half for an 84-78 loss. Tyler Whitney-Sidney was the team’s leading scorer on 23 points, and Dominic Parolin added 16 points with eight rebounds. Bube Momah had six points with a team-high 10 boards. 

Game two versus Penn State didn’t go any better for Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks were able to maintain pace through the first half 38-38, however they faded again late in a 74-64 defeat. Keith Higgins was the only player in double-figures this time with 23 points and eight rebounds. Momah had eight points and two rebounds in this one. 

North Carolina Tar Heels

Over on the Tar Heels’ side, they’re coming off a 20-13 overall run last year and an 11-9 finish in ACC games. North Carolina finished in seventh place among the conference standings with that result. After a win over Boston College in the first game of the ACC Tournament, the Tar Heels’ season ended with a loss to Virginia in the quarterfinals. 

North Carolina got off to a nice start in their first matchup of the 2023-24 season versus Radford. The Tar Heels had a modest 46-41 lead at the break, then turned it on for an 86-70 win in the end. Armando Bacot topped the team with 25 points and 13 rebounds, while both Cormac Ryan and RJ Davis added 13 points apiece. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’m going to take a stab on Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks haven’t been stellar so far though two games, and they’ve struggled in the second halves of both. Lehigh didn’t shoot well against Penn State with 38.1 percent from the field and 23.1 percent from 3-point range. That said, the Mountain Hawks out-rebounded the Nittany Lions 40-38. 

As for North Carolina, they shot very well versus Radford (52.5 percent) in the opener but weren’t great from the line (65.2 percent) and had a very modest rebounding edge 37-34. Lehigh needs to keep the pressure up in the second half, but I think they can follow along for a cover if they stay strong on the boards—and shoot better—here.