North Carolina vs Loyola-Maryland College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions 11/9/21

The Loyola (MD) Greyhounds and North Carolina Tar Heels meet Tuesday in college basketball action at the Dean E. Smith Center. The Loyola (MD) Greyhounds won six games last year and enter the fourth year under coach Tavaras Hardy. The North Carolina Tar Heels won 18 games last season and begin the Hubert Davis coaching era.

The Loyola (MD) Greyhounds lose their best player in Santi Aldama, but they do return two of their three double-digit scorers, which gives them a fighting chance in the Patriot. The Loyola (MD) Greyhounds are an experienced team in terms of class, but there are a lot of players who are a bit short in terms of production. Jaylin Andrews returns after averaging 11.6 points and 4.9 rebounds, while Cameron Spencer averaged 10.2 points and 3 assists. Alonso Faure averaged 13.4 minutes per game last season and Golden Dike averaged 6.2 rebounds.

The North Carolina Tar Heels return their top-two scorers from last season and get two quality transfers in Dawson Garcia and Brady Manek. UNC also landed a couple of solid recruits in Dontrez Styles and D’Marco Dunn. North Carolina isn’t short on proven talent and a good enough roster that can compete for an ACC title. However, not having Roy Williams on the bench for the first time since 2002-03 will be interesting. Armando Bacot returns after averaging 12.3 points and 7.8 rebounds, while Caleb Love averaged 10.5 points and 3.6 assists. R.J. Davis averaged 1.9 assists per game and Kerwin Walton averaged 1.7 rebounds.

The Loyola (MD) Greyhounds are thin in terms of production from their entire roster, and now they’re going up against a quality UNC team that’s out to start the Davis era off right. The North Carolina Tar Heels have enough in place to make some noise, and it’s important they start off strong to make people forget about Roy Williams. I’ll back UNC and whatever the line is.