The North Carolina Tar Heels (8-6) travel to face off against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-6) on Saturday, January 4th. This game will be played at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend and televised on CBS. Both North Carolina and Notre Dame will be looking to bounce back from losses in their previous games. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:00 ET.

North Carolina Tar Heels vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Tar Heels Look To Bounce Back From A Loss

North Carolina’s season record dropped to 8-6 after an 83-70 road loss to Louisville on Wednesday. The Tar Heels entered the game as +1.5 point underdogs and failed to cover the spread. The combined points for the game were 153, falling short of the 164.5 O/U line.

UNC trailed 37-31 at halftime and couldn’t turn things around in the 2nd half, where they were outscored 46-39 by the Cardinals.

The Fighting Irish Look To Bounce Back From A Loss

Notre Dame Fighting Irish Recent Game/Games

The Fighting Irish dropped to 7-6 on the season after an 86-75 road loss to Georgia Tech on Tuesday. Notre Dame entered the game as +1.5 point underdogs and failed to cover the spread. The game’s total points of 161 exceeded the pre-game O/U line of 142.5.

Notre Dame struggled in the first half, falling behind 43-24. Although they scored 51 points in the second half, they allowed 43 points, preventing a comeback.

Tar Heels Offense Breakdown

In their latest game, the Tar Heels put up 70 points, shooting 40% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc, hitting just 4 of 16 three-point attempts. Their effective field goal percentage was 43.3%, and they connected on 78.3% of their free throws, going 18 for 23 from the line.

Chucky Hepburn led the way with 26 points and 7 assists, shooting 62.5% from the field. Ian Jackson added 23 points, hitting 2 of 5 from deep, while Reyne Smith contributed 17 points, knocking down 4 threes at a 40% clip.

Fighting Irish Offense Breakdown

Notre Dame put up 75 points in their last game, shooting 43.5% from the field and 42.9% from beyond the arc. They were efficient from the free-throw line, hitting 85.7% of their attempts, and their effective field goal percentage was 51.6%.

The Irish grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and dished out 17 assists. Tae Davis led the way with 27 points and 7 rebounds, shooting 56.2% from the field. Javian McCollum and Duncan Powell each added 21 points, with McCollum contributing 6 assists.

Tar Heels Team Defense

North Carolina’s defense gave up 83 points, with their opponent shooting 44% from the field. The Tar Heels struggled to contain two-point shots, allowing 62% shooting on 32 attempts.

From beyond the arc, North Carolina held their opponent to 23% shooting, with just 6 made threes on 26 attempts. They also sent their opponent to the free-throw line 39 times, where they converted 25 free throws.

Fighting Irish Team Defense

Despite North Carolina’s defensive struggles, allowing 83 points, they did manage to limit their opponent’s three-point shooting to just 23%, with only 6 made threes on 26 attempts. However, the Tar Heels couldn’t contain the inside game, as they gave up 62% shooting from two-point range, with 20 baskets made inside the arc.

North Carolina also sent their opponent to the free-throw line 39 times, where they converted 25 attempts for 64%. The Tar Heels gave up 10 offensive rebounds, contributing to their defensive woes in this game.

Tar Heels vs Fighting Irish Trends

• North Carolina has played well in their previous 5 road games, going 3-2 straight up. In this stretch, they averaged 81 points per game while allowing 79. The team also performed well vs the spread at 4-1.
• Across the Fighting Irish last three home games, the team averaged 59 points per game while allowing 73. Their record vs the spread in these contests was 1-2, while going 0-3 straight-up.
• Going back to their last ten games as the underdog, the Fighting Irish have a straight up record of 2-8. But, their mark vs the spread was just 5-4-1.
• Spanning across their last ten games as the betting favorite, the Tar Heels have gone 3-7 vs the spread. Their overall record in these games was 7-3.

Tar Heels vs Fighting Irish Prediction

As the underdogs with a spread of +4.5, we recommend going with the Fighting Irish on the point spread. We not only see them covering the spread but also have a strong likelihood of winning this one outright, especially if you’re seeking a higher payout on the moneyline.

Right now, the over/under line for the game is sitting at 155.5 and given that our model is projecting 145 points between the teams, we like the under.

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All odds are courtesy of Action247 Sportsbook. Good luck!!

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* All odds are provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.**All views expressed are my own. My picks are my own and are not a guarantee, bet at your own risk.Action247 does not warrant the accuracy of completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these post.