NCAA Basketball Free Pick – Thursday, January 13, 2011
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Virginia Tech Hokies (10-4) at North Carolina Tar Heels (11-4)
Thursday, January 13, 2011, 09:00 PM EST on ESPN
Spread: North Carolina -6
Over/Under: 141
The North Carolina Tar Heels will try to inch closer to the Top 25 as they host the Virginia Tech Hokies in ACC action on Thursday night.
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North Carolina staved off an upset in its ACC conference opener on the road against Virginia, winning by a narrow six points to a very poor Cavaliers team. The Heels are 11-4 overall, but they shouldn’t be lulled into comfortably as most of those wins have come against mediocre squads, while they have struggled against top 25 opponents.
They did beat Kentucky, but at the same time have lost to Minnesota, Vanderbilt, Texas, and Illinois. They are scoring 79.4 PPG on 46.4 percent shooting and are also 5th in the country in rebounding with 42.3 per game. Leading scorer Tyler Zeller is averaging 14.5 PPG and 7.6 RPG. Harrison Barnes hasn’t played to his expectations, but he is still averaging 11.7 PPG and 5.5 RPG. John Henson is averaging 9.9 PPG and leads UNC with 8.4 RPG and 2.7 BPG.
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As for the Hokies, they come into Thursday’s road game riding an impressive six-game winning streak that includes a win over FSU in their conference opener 71-59. Things weren’t looking good for VT as they has dropped three straight games against Purdue, UNLV, Kansas State, but have posted wins against Oklahoma State, Penn State, Mississippi State and FSU.
Offensively they are putting up 70.9 PPG on 46.7percent shooting. Malcolm Delaney is one of the top players in the ACC and leads the team with18.6 PPG and 4 APG. Jeff Allen is averaging 13.4 PPG and a team high 9.8 RPG. Dorenzo Hudson is also averaging double figures with 10.4 PPG.
Allen led all scoring for the Hokies with 24 points on eye-popping 58 percent shooting in 32 minutes with 11 rebounds in the team’s victory over the Seminoles.
The ACC has seen better seasons, so Virginia Tech should finish with a solid conference record, but UNC is one of the team’s that is a bit better than the Hokies.
North Carolina blows away Virginia Tech in two specific performance areas and tops them in a few more. The Tar Heels have a big advantage in scoring, which means they’ll have no trouble putting points on the board. They are also better at rebounding, and blocked shots.
Last season, the Hokies went 1-1 against the Tar Heels. In four years, Virginia Tech has a record of 3-5 against North Carolina, and 1-2 at Dean E. Smith Center.
The Hokies will have to box out well if they want to win this one.
The odds makers have the North Carolina as a -6 point favorite with an over/under of 141.
Free Pick: UNC 73, VT 68
Virginia Tech Hokies Betting Trends:
- Virginia Tech is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
- Virginia Tech is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games on the road
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Virginia Tech’s last 6 games on the road
- Virginia Tech is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against North Carolina
North Carolina Tar Heels Betting Trends:
- North Carolina is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games
- North Carolina is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games at home
- North Carolina is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Virginia Tech
- North Carolina is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Virginia Tech
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