NCAA Odds: North Carolina State Wolfpack vs No 8 North Carolina Tar Heels
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Frank Martin
North Carolina State Wolfpack will try to validate its presence as an ACC contender Thursday when it travels to Chapel Hill looking to end a 10-game losing streak to the shorthanded North Carolina Tar Heels.
First-year coach Mark Gottfried has changed the atmosphere at North Carolina State, bringing hope to a program that hasn’t reached the NCAA Tournament since 2006 – the same year it last beat North Carolina. The eighth-ranked Tar Heels, meanwhile, have had a week to integrate a replacement for guard Dexter Strickland – their best perimeter defender who suffered a torn ACL in last Thursday’s win over Virginia Tech.
North Carolina has won the last 10 meetings by an average of 15.6 points. Harrison Barnes, who scored a season-high 27 points against the Hokies, averaged 20.5 points in two wins over North Carolina State last season.
- North Carolina State Wolfpack @ #8 North Carolina Tar Heels
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, January 26, 2012
Where: Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
The Tar Heels have opened as 13.5-point favorites on SBG Global Sportsbook’s Live NCAA Basketball Odds.
North Carolina State Wolfpack (15-5, 4-1 ACC): The Wolfpack has won three straight. A victory over North Carolina would not only match last season’s conference win total, but mark the school’s best league start since 1988-89. Five players average double figures, led by junior forward Scott Wood (13.8 points), who is shooting 45.3 percent from beyond the arc and has made an NCAA-record 58 straight free throws. Sophomore point guard Lorenzo Brown is the catalyst of the ACC’s fourth-highest scoring offense (77.0). Brown is seventh in the nation in assists (6.9) and the Wolpack is eighth in the nation in that category (17.4). North Carolina State also has the muscle to compete with the best rebounding team in the country. Led by the frontcourt of C.J. Leslie and Richard Howell, the Wolfpack ranks 22nd in the nation in rebounding margin (6.8).
North Carolina Tar Heels (16-3, 3-1 ACC): North Carolina erased the bitter taste of a 33-point loss to Florida State with an 82-68 victory over Virginia Tech last Thursday. The win was tempered by the loss of Strickland, who is also the team’s backup point guard. His absence will place more of a burden on sensational sophomore point guard Kendall Marshall, who is second in the nation in assists (9.5). Strickland (7.5 points) was an afterthought on the nation’s highest scoring offense (85.0), but he was a key member of the ACC's second-best defense (38.5 percent). Sophomore Reggie Bullock and freshman P.J. Hairston will try to fill the void. The frontcourt tandem of John Henson and Tyler Zeller will also need to keep it is strong play.
1. “Winning is what breeds confidence. We have to win big games. That’s what changes your program.” – Gottfried, on the importance of beating North Carolina.
2. North Carolina has won 29 straight in Chapel Hill, three shy of the school record set from 1926-1929.
3. Wood is averaging 3.8 points in four meetings against North Carolina – his lowest mark vs. any ACC foe.
NCAA BASKETBALL PREDICTION: Tar Heels 68, Wolfpack 57
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c.j. leslie - dean e. smith student activities center - dexter strickland - harrison barnes - john henson - lorenzo brown - mark gottfried - north carolina state wolfpack - north carolina tar heels - p.j. hairston
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