NCAA Basketball Betting – Tar Heels vs. Seminoles
The atmosphere will be buzzing on Saturday at Donald L. Tucker Center as the Florida State Seminoles host the No. 3 North Carolina Tar Heels in an ACC matinee.
Date/Time: 2:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 14, 2012
Venue: Donald L. Tucker Center, Tallahassee, Florida
Broadcast: ESPN
Spread: OFF
Over/Under: OFF
The Tar Heels check into this one with an overall record of 15-2, and are in first place in the conference at 2-0 with the nation’s highest scoring offense.
UNC is currently on a nine-game winning streak, narrowly losing at Kentucky back on December 13, 73-72.
Since then, the Heels have been on it, beating opponents by an average of 21 points per game including downing the Miami Hurricanes, 73-56 at home on Tuesday.
North Carolina went into the locker room on a hot streak and resumed it after halftime, using a 17-0 run that spanned the break en route to building their at-home record win streak at the Dean E. Smith Center to 28 games.
Once again, North Carolina’s dominant frontcourt had their way as Tyler Zeller (16 points, 10 rebounds) and John Henson (11 points, 14 rebounds) registered double-doubles, while the Tar Heels’ backcourt picked up the slack early, on Dexter Strickland’s 14 points and Kendall Marshall’s 12 points and seven rebounds.
It was the first time in nine games UNC failed to top 80 points in a game.
North Carolina’s guards also took Miami leading scorer Malcolm Grant out of the game early as he did not factor after going 0 for 6 from 3-point range and scoring five points, matching his season-low. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Meanwhile, the Seminoles have a record of 10-6 including 1-1 in the conference, and are coming off a 63-59 win, as they held off Virginia Tech for their first ACC win of the season.
Senior forward Bernard James had 18 points and 13 rebounds, his sixth double-double, and the Noles’ leading-scorer Ian Miller scored 15 points off the bench.
The Seminoles’ defense continued its scorching tempo, limiting the Hokies to 31 percent from the field. It marked the 114th time in 116 games that Florida State held an opponent under 50 percent shooting.
FSU also added to their conference-leading blocks total, turning away 13 Virginia Tech shots to reach 112 on the year — 5th best in the NCAA.
North Carolina is 3-1 on the road and Florida State is 8-1 at home.
Last year, the Tar Heels had a record of 2-0 against the Seminoles, with an average 11 point margin of victory. Over the last four seasons, North Carolina is 6-2 against Florida State, and 3-0 at Donald L. Tucker Center.
Free Pick: UNC-
The Tar Heels should put on a stronger offensive effort on the floor with an advantage against the Seminoles in assists, 19 per game, and scoring, 86 pts/game to 70 pts/game.
However, the Seminoles are better at blocked shots, and have been able to shut down some of the better offenses this season. But they haven’t been up against anyone with the offensive firepower the Heels possess.
