The Virginia Cavaliers and the North Carolina Tar Heels meet Saturday in college basketball action from Dean Smith Center. Virginia is sitting at 21-5 overall this year. The Cavaliers lost to Boston College in their last game. As for North Carolina, they’re currently 17-11 after a win versus Notre Dame on Wednesday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Virginia Cavaliers
Virginia opened up the year on a solid 16-3 run through 19 games. The Cavaliers are 5-2 since then, beating Syracuse, NC State, Duke, Louisville and Notre Dame. The pair of losses otherwise in that span came versus Virginia Tech and Boston College.
Matched up against Boston College on Wednesday, the Cavaliers were down 28-21 at the break. Virginia didn’t get any closer on a 35-27 second half and lost 63-48. Jayden Gardner was the only team scorer in double-figures with 16 points.
North Carolina Tar Heels
Over on the Tar Heels’ side, they started out the year on a 14-6 run through 20 outings. North Carolina is 3-5 in their last eight outings, taking losses to Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, Duke, Miami and NC State with wins over Syracuse, Clemson and Notre Dame.
In the Notre Dame matchup, the Tar Heels were trailing 27-19 going into the second half. North Carolina fought back on a 44-32 run from there and won it 63-59. Armando Bacot doubled on 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Pete Nance posted 11 points and 10 boards of his own.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably stick with Virginia here. This is a tough one, though; you could make a case either way. The Cavaliers are coming off a listless loss to a mediocre Boston College team, and they’d had a few close calls in the previous four-game win streak. Virginia is doing it with defense these days: they’ve held opponents to 63 or fewer points in five straight outings. The last time these teams met up back on January 10 at John Paul Jones Arena, Virginia powered out a 65-58 victory thanks to a 38-29 run in the second half. This one will likely be close the whole way as well, but I like the Cavaliers to rebound from the Boston College loss and ultimately pull off the cover.