The North Carolina Tar Heels and Ohio State Buckeyes meet Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York City at 3 p.m. ET.
The unranked Tar Heels lost four consecutive games, but North Carolina enters this matchup with a little energy after back-to-back wins against Georgia Tech and The Citadel.
The Buckeyes have had a little more success this season, and Ohio State remains in the tail end of The Associated Press’ Top 25 rankings at No. 23.
Can North Carolina continue its momentum? Or will the ranked Ohio State Buckeyes be a little too much? We’ll discuss in our college basketball picks and predictions for North Carolina vs. Ohio State on Saturday, December 17.
North Carolina vs Ohio State best odds
North Carolina vs Ohio State picks and predictions
The Tar Heels hit the century mark last time out against The Citadel, covering a 27-point number. UNC has covered back-to-back games for the first time this season after opening with a 1-7-1 ATS mark to start the season.
The good news for the Tar Heels is that Armando Bacot is back healthy and doing his thing. The Preseason ACC Player of the Year suffered a shoulder injury in the loss to Indiana on November 30 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, and he missed the Virginia Tech loss.
Bacot was back and better than ever with a 75-59 win over Georgia Tech on December 10, and he went for 14 points and 11 rebounds with two blocked shots against The Citadel. Bacot has four consecutive double-doubles, and he has posted double-doubles in six of the past seven outings, too.
One of the Buckeyes’ losses this season was on a neutral floor against San Diego State in the Maui Invitational, but they bounced back with wins against Cincinnati and Texas Tech in Hawaii.
Ohio State lost its only previous game against an ACC foe this season at Duke on November 30, but it will avenge that loss with a victory at MSG.
My best bet: Ohio State +1.5 (-110 at BetMGM)
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North Carolina vs Ohio State spread analysis
The Buckeyes have managed 79.0 PPG, and Ohio State is very accurate with a 48.1% field-goal percentage. Ohio State is a good free-throw shooting team, too, hitting at a 77.5% clip to rank No. 20 in the country.
Defensively, Ohio State is decent enough, limiting the opposition to 63.6 PPG to rank No. 67. The best asset of the D is its ability to prevent the three, as the opposition has hit at a 27.9% clip to rank No. 28.
The Tar Heels have been a little bit erratic, but this team can roll up big points when it’s locked in. UNC is averaging 80.9 PPG to rank No. 41 overall. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the Heels are hitting just 31.5% from behind the 3-point line.
Defensively, North Carolina has really struggled, too, allowing 73.5 ppg to rank just No. 284, and it has a hard time protecting against the three, allowing 34.4% from downtown.
The Heels are 6-2-1 ATS in the past nine games on a neutral floor, and it is 14-6-2 ATS in the past 22 games against winning teams. However, UNC is just 3-7-1 ATS in the past 11 games overall.
The Buckeyes have struggled against the number, going 2-5 ATS in the past seven against winning teams, while going 1-8 ATS in the past nine following a straight-up win.
However, while those trends look rather ominous for an Ohio State win, UNC lost at Indiana on November 30 against another Big Ten team, and it is 0-4 SU/0-3-1 ATS in four games against Power 5 teams outside of the ACC.
North Carolina vs Ohio State Over/Under analysis
The Tar Heels have cashed the Over in 17 of the past 25 neutral floor games, including 2-1 in their three games this season in Portland, Ore. It had a 103-101 overtime loss against Alabama on November 27 in one of its best games of the season despite the loss. UNC has hit triple digits in points on three occasions.
UNC is a strong offensive club, and it is hitting at a 45.7% clip from the field. The Tar Heels are also just a so-so free-throw shooting team, hitting 75.4%, and that could be an issue down the stretch in a potentially close game.
Ohio State cashed the Under against Rutgers in the Big Ten opener, snapping a 3-0 Over run.
That includes its lone matchup against an ACC team at Duke. Like UNC, the Over is 2-1 in three neutral-floor games for the Buckeyes, too.
Combine the Over with Ohio State and the points for a nice parlay opportunity.
North Carolina vs Ohio State betting trend to know
The Tar Heels are just 1-4 ATS in the past five games against teams with a winning percentage of .600 or better. Find more College basketball betting trends for Houston vs. Virginia.
North Carolina vs Ohio State game info
| Location: | Madison Square Garden, New York, NY |
| Date: | Saturday, December 17, 2022 |
| Tip-off: | 3:00 p.m. ET |
| TV: | CBS |
