Texas vs North Carolina NCAA Basketball Gambling Lines
The 14th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels host the Texas Longhorns in Chapel Hill on Saturday night and will look to snap the Longhorns’ five-game winning streak. [ad-4468020]
Texas Longhorns (9-1) at 14 North Carolina Tar Heels (7-2)
Date: Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Time: 7:00 PM ET
Venue: Dean E. Smith Center
City: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Spread: North Carolina -11.5
Total: OFF
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North Carolina is coming off of a huge win over Kentucky and will look to summon the motivation to put forth a good effort in this one.
North Carolina faced a tall order in their last game but were able to come away with a win over Kentucky, 82-77. The Tar Heels picked up the win, but the spotlight remained on a growing Wildcats squad that is continuing develop, taking away from the win and allowing North Carolina to move up just four spots in the AP poll.
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Guard Marcus Paige carried a shorthanded Tar Heels squad, leading the team with a game-high 23 points on 6 of 13 shooting, even hitting on all 10 of his 10 free throw attempts.
The team also got 20 points out of forward James Michael McAdoo, who did most of his damage from the free throw line where he knocked down a dozen shots. Forward Brice Johnson quietly offered up a solid contribution off the bench, leading the team with seven rebounds, adding two blocks and a steal with eight points in the game.
The team shot 48.2 percent from the field in the game. An area that needs to be worked on is their free throw shooting, as the team hit on 57.8 percent of their free throws, and that number falls below 50 percent if Paige’s free throws are subtracted.
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As for the Longhorns, they picked up their fifth consecutive win in their last game, an 85-53 win over Texas State.
Center Cameron Ridley had a career night for Texas, scoring a career-high 22 points on 8 of 10 shooting, adding 10 boards, three steals, and two blocks. Guard Isaiah Taylor chipped in 15 points with eight assists and five boards. Center Prince Ibeh came off the bench and recorded seven points, six rebounds, and three blocks.
As a team, Texas shot 48.2 percent from the field, including 40 percent from three. They also did a fine job at the defensive end, limiting Texas State to just 29.7 percent shooting from the floor, although they did allow 16 offensive rebounds which is far too many given the quality of opponent.
The Tar Heels have looked very impressive this season, particularly at home, but finding the motivation to get up for this game in an obvious letdown spot will be tough, particularly with a short bench.
Texas likely won’t be able to pull off an outright upset, but they are an underrated squad that should be able to at least keep this one close enough to cover this big spread.
The Longhorns are 4-1 in the last five meetings between these teams.
The play: Texas +11.5
