North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Virginia Tech Hokies Odds

Betting Odds

Point Spread: Tar Heels (-6)
Game Total Line: (143)
(wagering lines available at Topbet)

The North Carolina Tar Heels will travel to Blacksburg this Thursday night to square-off against the Virginia Tech Hokies in an ACC matchup between two teams trying to get back to their winning ways. The tip-off from Cassell Coliseum is scheduled for 9 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.

North Carolina is still scratching its head over last Saturday’s 90-57 meltdown against Florida State in a game it was favored to win by six points on the road. The loss dropped the Tar Heels all the way to eighth in the polls and to 15-3 straight-up on the year. It was their first conference loss this season against two wins and the total went ‘over’ the 144-point line. North Carolina is now 9-8 against the spread overall and 3-3 ATS on the road.

Putting last Saturday’s loss aside, the Tar Heels remain the highest scoring team in the nation with an average of 85.2 points a game and are shooting 47.8 percent from the floor. Harrison Barnes leads the team in scoring with 16.8 points a game while John Henson and Tyler Zeller are each chipping-in another 14.4 points a night along with a combined 18.9 rebounds a game.

Virginia Tech’s start in conference play has been forgettable with three consecutive losses to Wake Forest, Florida State, and Boston College. The Hokies failed to cover the spread as favorites in all three games and are now 11-6 SU and 5-7-1 ATS. The total has stayed ‘under’ in nine of the 13 games.

Before the recent slide Virginia Tech was averaging close to 70 points a game, but has been held to less than 60 in all three losses. Erick Green leads the Hokies with 16.1 points a game and Dorenzo Hudson is the only other player scoring in double-figures with 11.4 points a game. Virginia Tech is shooting 43.6 percent from the field and pulling down an average of just 32.8 rebounds a game.

North Carolina is 1-4-1 ATS in its last six games in the ACC and 37-18-1 ATS in its last 56 games following a SU loss. The total has stayed ‘under’ in 20 of its last 28 games on the road.

Virginia Tech is 0-5 ATS in its last five conference games and 1-4 ATS in its last five games following a SU loss. The total has stayed ‘under’ in five of its last six games against the ACC.

Head-to-head in this series, the Tar Heels have won six of the last seven games SU, but are just 2-5 ATS. The total stayed ‘under’ in five of the seven meetings including the last three.

Spread Betting Pick

Given last Saturday’s loss, stick with North Carolina to go out and make a statement on Thursday night that it is still one of the top teams in the nation.
Take the North Carolina Tar Heels -6 at 5Dimes and get reduced juice.