North Carolina vs UNC Wilmington 11/7/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
UNC Wilmington Seahawks (0-0) vs. North Carolina Tar Heels (0-0)
November 7, 2022 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: North Carolina Tar Heels -23 / UNC Wilmington Seahawks +23; Over/Under: +146
(Get latest betting odds)
The UNC Wilmington Seahawks and North Carolina Tar Heels meet Monday in college basketball action at the Dean E. Smith Center. The UNC Wilmington Seahawks are coming off a 27-win season, their second best season in school history. The North Carolina Tar Heels are coming off a 29-win season, the second time in the last 4 years they’ve reached that number.
The UNC Wilmington Seahawks are coming off their eighth season where they won at least 20 games. Shykeim Phillips returns after averaging 11.3 points and 3.8 rebounds, while Trazarien White averaged 6.9 points and 4.7 rebounds. Jamahri Harvey played in over 500 minutes last season, and Amari Kelly averaged 2.8 rebounds. The UNC Wilmington Seahawks lost their top-2 scorers from last season and 4 of their top-5 scorers overall. There’s going to be some serous adjusting for UNC Wilmington, as this isn’t the same club. The good news for the Seahawks is Phillips is one of the better players in the CAA.
The North Carolina Tar Heels enter the second season under coach Hubert Davis. Armando Bacot returns after averaging 16.3 points and 13.1 rebounds, while Caleb Love averaged 15.9 points and 3.6 assists. R.J. Davis is a third double-digit returning scorer, and Leaky Black averaged 4.3 rebounds. The North Carolina Tar Heels returns the majority of their key producers from last season and added Northwestern transfer Pete Nance, which is ridiculous. Of course, UNC also has top recruits in Jalen Washington, Seth Trimble and Tyler Nickel. Bottom line is, the Tar Heels are absolutely loaded and will be the team to beat this season.
The Seahawks are 11-1 ATS in their last 12 road games and 22-5 ATS in their last 27 games overall. The Tar Heels are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games and 15-5-1 ATS in their last 21 games overall. The under is 4-1 in Seahawks last 5 road games.
The UNC Wilmington Seahawks have a lot of production to replace, while the North Carolina Tar Heels are loaded with talent and arguably the team to beat this season. However, it’s the first game of the season, where most teams are still getting the jitters out of the way. This is also an in-state matchup where there should be motivation on the side of UNC Wilmington. Lot of points. I’ll grab them.
