The top team in the ACC hits the road to battle one of the worst in the conference when the third-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels crash McCamish Pavilion and take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
Carolina is looking for their 11th straight win and trying to move to 10-0 in ACC play. They’re a healthy 9-point road favorite in the college basketball odds.
The Yellow Jackets have lost three straight, with just one win in their last nine. Only Louisville sits below them in the 14-team ACC.
With a showdown against the seventh-ranked Duke Blue Devils next, does UNC overlook Georgia Tech? Read below for my preview and college basketball picks for Tuesday, January 30.
North Carolina vs Georgia Tech best odds
North Carolina vs Georgia Tech picks and predictions
The North Carolina Tar Heels are about as crisp a team as there is going right now in college hoops. They’re coming off a 75-68 win over a tough Florida State team, sweeping the two-game regular season series.
They’ve been doing it with defense across this 10-game fun run, holding every opponent to 70 points or less, including five games at 64 or fewer. That’s helped push the Tar Heels to the fourth-best defensive efficiency rating at KenPom, looking up at only top-ranked Houston, No. 4 Tennessee, and No. 12 Iowa State. They are allowing 69 points per game on the year, which ranks 114th, and they’re holding teams to 39.7% shooting from the field and 29.2% from 3-point range, with each ranking 21st in college hoops.
This is not a good sign for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, who since winning a 93-90 2OT game over Clemson has averaged just 65.7 points across three straight losses to Virginia, Pitt, and Virginia Tech. That’s even below their season average of 72.8 points per game, which ranks outside of the Top 230, while their 42.8% shooting from the field and 32.2% mark from 3-point range rank outside the Top 250.
Scoring isn’t a problem for the Tar Heels, who rank 21st at 83.1 points per game. Their shooting splits are above average — 45.6% from the field (135th) and 35.4% from distance (100th), but they make up for it with a relentless attack that gets them to the stripe.
UNC is 12th in the nation at just under 25 free throws per game, making nearly 19, which ranks fifth. They’re also a Top-10 rebounding unit, grabbing 11 offensive boards per contest (65th). They offset a loose performance with the ball vs. Florida State (committing 17 turnovers) by pulling down 16 offensive boards and finishing with a +9 rebounding edge.
North Carolina has won three straight against Georgia Tech and covered all three — the last two as double-digit favorites. It’s safe to say this edition of the Heels are better than the previous iterations. Look for them to take this one going away.
My best bet: North Carolina -9 (-110 at DraftKings)
North Carolina vs Georgia Tech same-game parlay
North Carolina -9
Harrison Ingram Over 9.5 rebounds
RJ Davis Over 2.5 3-pointers
Part of the reason North Carolina has started cleaning the glass is the emergence of junior forward Harrison Ingram.
Armando Bacot still leads the team in rebounding at 9.9 per game, but Ingram’s recent play has boosted his total to 8.6 per contest. He’s coming off a 13-point, 17-rebound effort against FSU, the third straight game he’s finished with a double-double. Over the last eight games, Ingram has grabbed at least 10 boards in six of them.
Georgia Tech is among the better offensive rebounding teams in the country, ranking 61st at 11.6 per contest, so Ingram’s board work will be crucial on the defensive side. And he can attack the glass on the other end, where the Jackets are just 212th in defensive rebounding.
We can stretch this to a 3-legged SGP if we include ACC leading scorer RJ Davis to the mix.
The senior guard’s long-range shooting has been prominent during UNC’s winning streak, hitting at least three 3-pointers in seven of the last 10 games. In those three other games, Davis had two makes in each.
Over the last 10 games, he is shooting 33-for-72 from 3-point range, a deft 45.8% clip. With his line set at 2.5 makes for Tuesday, he should be right around that number again.
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North Carolina vs Georgia Tech spread and Over/Under analysis
Since the line opened Monday, UNC has been as high as an 11.5-point favorite, but you’ll mostly now find the books settled in at the 9-9.5-point range.
Carolina has a solid 12-7-1 record against the spread, powered by a crisp 8-1-1 ATS mark over the last 10. Georgia Tech has covered the spread in just eight of their 20 games this year.
The total has stayed almost exclusively at 152.5 points, with just a few sites still offering 151.5.
The Yellow Jackets have seen the Over cash in eight of their last 10 outings, pushing their record to 11-9-0. UNC has seen the Over hit in just nine of 20 games.
North Carolina vs Georgia Tech betting trend to know
The Under has connected in three of the last four head-to-head meetings. Find more college basketball betting trends for North Carolina vs. Georgia Tech.
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North Carolina vs Georgia Tech game info
| Location: | Hank McCamish Pavilion, Atlanta, GA |
| Date: | Tuesday, January 30, 2024 |
| Tip-off: | 7:00 p.m. ET |
| TV: | ESPN |
North Carolina vs Georgia Tech key injuries
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