The Syracuse Orange and the UNC Tar Heels meet in college basketball action from the Dean Smith Center on Monday night.
The Syracuse Orange will look to rebound from back-to-back losses after a 97-72 loss to Duke in their last game. Buddy Boeheim leads the Orange in scoring with 19.1 PPG along with 3.3 APG while Joseph Girard III has 13.4 PPG and a team-high 4.2 APG. Jimmy Boeheim’s got 13.4 PPG and 6 RPG and Cole Swider has 12.9 PPG with a team-leading 6.8 RPG of his own. Jesse Edwards has 12 PPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Syracuse so far this season. As a team, Syracuse is averaging 76.8 PPG on 45.3% shooting from the field, 37.1% from three and 72.5% shooting from the foul line while allowing 74.8 PPG on 42.6% shooting from the field and 33.8% from three this season.
The North Carolina Tar Heels will attempt to build on their three-game win streak after an 84-74 win over NC State last time out. Armando Bacot leads UNC in scoring and rebounding with 16.3 PPG and 12.5 RPG, averaging a double-double per game while Caleb Love has 15.3 PPG with 3.2 RPG and a team-high 3.7 APG. R.J. Davis has 13.2 PPG with 3.7 RPG and 3.3 APG while Brady Manek has 13.9 PPG with 5.7 RPG to round out the scoring in double figures for the Tar Heels so far this season. As a team, North Carolina is averaging 77.7 PPG on 45.9% shooting from the field, 37.3% from behind the arc and 76.5% from the foul line while allowing 72.1 PPG on 43.2% shooting from the field and 34.5% from three this season.
Syracuse is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600 while the over is 8-1 in their last 9 Monday games. North Carolina is 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 games against a team with a winning record and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games following a win while the over is 7-2 in their last 9 games overall.
I get the case to be made both ways in this one, but I’m leaning towards North Carolina here. The Tar Heels are playing really well right now, and losses to Pitt and Duke are the only thing separating UNC from a double-digit wins streak and where they are now Syracuse is a solid team, but they were pummelled by Duke at home and going on the road to battle North Carolina is not an ideal spot to be in. I’ll side with UNC in this one.