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North Carolina Tar Heels at Florida State Seminoles Betting Preview

Big Monday in the ACC brings us an intriguing battle between the North Carolina Tar Heels and No. 5 Florida State Seminoles. At home, the Seminoles are favored by 9.5 points, with an over/under of 143.5 points.

Despite suffering a loss to Virginia last week, there is little doubt that Florida State is one of the best teams in the ACC and the country. That loss is the only defeat for Leonard Hamilton’s team in its last 12 games.

The Seminoles are 18-3 overall and 8-2 in ACC play, keeping them within striking distance for the regular-season conference title and a potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Meanwhile, a nightmare season for Roy Williams and the Tar Heels continues. North Carolina is currently second-to-last in the ACC with a 3-7 conference record and a 10-11 overall record.

After back-to-back wins over Miami and North Carolina State, the Tar Heels went back to losing over the weekend, dropping a 71-70 heartbreaker at home to Boston College. With just two wins in its last eight games, North Carolina is in danger of not making the NCAA Tournament for just the second time since Williams took over in 2003.

Guess Who’s Back

The silver lining for North Carolina is that star freshman Cole Anthony played against Boston College on Saturday after missing the previous 11 games with a knee injury. Anthony didn’t miss a beat, scoring 26 points in 26 minutes of play off the bench. Boston College couldn’t handle him, sending Anthony to the free-throw line 14 times, with the freshman going perfect from the charity stripe.

The bad news is that Anthony’s return wasn’t enough for the Tar Heels to beat a .500 Boston College team at home. North Carolina continues to be a flawed team that can struggle to defend and is shooting under 30 percent from the perimeter on the season. To make matters worse, point guard Brandon Robinson suffered a sprained ankle late in the Boston College game. He leads North Carolina in three-point shots made and assists, causing the Tar Heels another blow if he can’t play Monday or isn’t at 100 percent.

Attack with Numbers

As usual, the Seminoles are employing one of the deepest rosters in college basketball. Florida State utilizes 10 players in most games who all play at least 10 minutes. Hamilton is able to keep his team fresh and play the best matchups, allowing Florida State to push the tempo and wear teams down.

While only three players average over 10 points per game, the Seminoles have more than enough options to overcome top scorers Devin Vassell or Trent Forrest having an off night.

However, unlike in past years, the Seminoles don’t have high-level big men. FSU’s two 7-footers, Balsa Koprivica and Dominik Olejniczak, are both role players who don’t play extensive minutes. As a result, the Seminoles can be vulnerable on the boards and don’t always have an intimidating rim-protector, which allows teams to do some damage if they can get the ball into the paint.

Another Close One

In most of their losses this season, the Tar Heels have managed to stay competitive. With Anthony back, they’re not going to go down without a fight. Bet on North Carolina to stay within 10 points and beat the spread against Florida State.

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