A pair of Atlantic Coast Conference teams are set to square off on Tuesday. The North Carolina Tar Heels are on the road at the Syracuse Orange. North Carolina is 19-5 on the season, and leading the conference standings. The Tar Heels are 8-2 in their last 10 games, including a road win at Miami on Saturday.
For Syracuse, they come into this game 10th in the conference standings. The Orange are coming off a home loss to Clemson. Overall, Syracuse sits at 15-9 on the season.
The North Carolina Tar Heels are -8 on the road in this game. The total is set at 156.5.
Tar Heels Look to win ACC Title
After beating Duke at home, the Tar Heels looked to be ready to run away with the conference title. But, a home loss to Clemson has them sweating a little. It was nice for the Tar Heels to grab a road win, but they need to be ready to go if they want to keep the conference lead.
North Carolina is one of the top scoring teams in all of College Basketball. The Tar Heels are scoring 82.5 points per game. The rebounding for North Carolina is in the Top 10 with nearly 39 per game. The Tar Heels are led by RJ Davis, with 21.5 points per game, while Armando Bacot is scoring 14.2 points and ripping down 10.3 rebounds per game.
The North Carolina Tar Heels will play a relatively average conference schedule to end the month of February. Following this game, they are at home against Virginia Tech. While they go on the road to Virginia next, they come back home and host the Miami Hurricanes.
Orange Struggles Continue
The Orange have not won back to back games since January 16th and 20th over Pittsburgh and Miami. The Orange have not lost back to back games since late November; when Tennessee and Gonzaga smacked them. The Orange scored 94 in a recent win over Louisville, but just 68 in the loss to Clemson.
Judah Mintz is having a nice season for the Orange. He is leading a group of three guys scoring double digits per game for the Orange. Mintz is at 18.2 points per game. Next is JJ Starling, with 13.2 per game.
Syracuse knows they will have to get hot, and do so in a hurry if they want any chance at an at large in the big dance. The Orange have a game at Georgia Tech next. After that, they are at North Carolina State. The final two games in February for the Orange are at home against Notre Dame and Virginia Tech.
Tar Heels Top Orange
North Carolina will be tested in this game. The Orange are never an easy team to beat, especially when playing on the road. But, this is not the same talent that Syracuse has had in previous seasons. One team is much better than the other, and that is going to play out in this game. When push comes to shove, the North Carolina Tar Heels win this game, and cover the spread over the Orange. Bet North Carolina -8 over Syracuse on Tuesday.
