How To Bet The North Carolina vs UCLA College Hoops Lines

Posted by Daniel Strum on Friday,December 18, 2015 9:47, EDT in

The streaking 22nd-ranked UCLA Bruins will look to extend their winning ways and take down the 11th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels when the two nationally-ranked hoops factories square off in an intriguing matchup on Saturday, Dec, 19 at 1:00 PM ET, live from the Barclays Center in L.A. Now, let’s find out if UCLA can pull off the NCAA Basketball odds upset!

How to bet on No. 11 Tar Heels @ No. 22 Bruins and Game Information

When: Dec. 19, at 1:00 PM ET
Where: Barclays Center

Why Bet The North Carolina Tar Heels?

The Tar Heels (7-1 SU, 4-3 ATS) have won four of their last five games and beat the snot out of the Tulane Green Wave in their 96-72 win on Wednesday night while narrowly failing to cover the spread as a 24.5-point home favorite.

North Carolina got a career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds from Brice Johnson while Marcus Paige added 16 points in the commanding win. “That was my biggest goal today — just play harder, and stay out of foul trouble,” said Johnson. “With Kennedy being out, I knew I’d have to play a little bit more. … I had to be able to step up.”

The Tar Heels average 84.4 points per game and limit their opponents to just 68.2 points per contest defensively.

Why Bet The UCLA Bruins?

The Bruins (6-3 SU, 3-6 ATS) have won each of their last five games and beat Louisiana Lafayette 89-80 on Tuesday night despite narrowly failing to cover the spread as a 9.5-point home favorite. Point guard Bryce Alford scored a team-high 27 points to lead his team to victory. “One thing I think Bryce has gotten into here in his junior year is that he’s really understanding the times when we need him to make the big shot,” head coach Steve Alford said about his son.

Alford nailed a three-pointer with less than two minutes remaining to give the Bruins some breathing room after the Cajuns trimmed the lead to six. “It’s something you learn through experience,” Alford said. “I went through stretches last year where I had to figure that out. I’m doing a lot better job this of knowing when to do that. Now I know when the team needs me to score,” he said.

The Bruins average 80.4 points per game and allow 75.4 points per contest defensively.

Expert Pick & Final Score Prediction

I know UCLA has a nice winning streak going right now, but the Bruins performance against Louisiana Lafayette leads me to believe they’re in a bit of trouble against North Carolina, even at home.

The Tar Heels are just 1-1-2 ATS over their last five games, but North Carolina has failed to cover the spread by a half-point once while pushing against the college basketball line twice. The Tar Heels average 4.9 points per game more than the Bruins while simultaneously allowing 4.8 fewer points per game defensively. North Carolina gets the narrow road win.

My final score prediction: North Carolina 85 UCLA 82