North Carolina Tar Heels vs Iowa Hawkeyes Prediction, 12/8/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: North Carolina Tar Heels vs Iowa Hawkeyes

Date: Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, IA

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: North Carolina (+3.5)

Carver-Hawkeye Arena is the site where and the Iowa Hawkeyes (3-0) will play the North Carolina Tar Heels (3-1) on Tuesday. Iowa opens this game as 3.5-point favorites. The over/under is set at 156.5.

North Carolina comes into this contest with a mark of 3-1 for the campaign. They are giving up possession 15.8 times per contest and as a team are committing 16.8 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, North Carolina is snagging 49.0 boards per game and has tallied 40 dimes for the year, which is 174th in the nation in terms of passing. The Tar Heels are connecting on 27.1% on three-point shots (16 of 59) and 65.2% from the free throw line. They average 72.8 points per game (176th in college basketball) while going 41.9% from the field. On defense, the Tar Heels have forced 14.0 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 22.3 personal fouls. They are ranked 137th in college hoops in allowing assists to the opposition with 39 conceded on the campaign. The Tar Heels defense is allowing a field goal percentage of 37.3% (87 of 233) and they surrender 31.0 boards per contest as a unit. They are surrendering 29.4% on shots from downtown and they are ranked 53rd in D-1 in points per game allowed (60.8).

The North Carolina Tar Heels faced the Texas Longhorns and took a loss by a final of 69-67 in their last contest. North Carolina finished the game with a 41.4% FG percentage (24 out of 58) and buried 1 out of their 9 shots from beyond the arc. When shot from the charity stripe, the Tar Heels made 18 of their 32 attempts for a rate of 56.3%. In terms of hauling in rebounds, they collected 44 with 17 of them being offensive. They also doled out 6 dimes for the contest in addition to earning 2 steals and 4 blocks. In relation to defending, North Carolina allowed 41.4% from the floor on 24 out of 58. Texas earned 10 dimes and 10 steals in this matchup. In addition, the Longhorns pulled down 27 rebounds (6 offensive, 21 defensive) and got 4 blocks. Texas went 71.4% at the free throw line by making 10 of 14 shots. They also buried 9 out of their 22 tries from distance.

Garrison Brooks is a guy who was important in the game. He accounted for 18 points on 7 of 12 shooting. He saw the court for 30 mins and totaled 7 boards. Brooks finished 58.3% from the floor and also totaled 2 assists. One more player that played a role in the matchup for the Tar Heels was RJ Davis. He snagged 4 rebounds and accumulated 3 assists. He finished the game shooting 27.3% from the floor in the game by going 3-of-11 (11 points). When the game finished, Davis was on the hardwood for 33 minutes.

Iowa has a win-loss mark of 3-0 on the campaign. In terms of offensive execution, the Hawkeyes are connecting on 50.0% from the field, which has them ranked 95th in college basketball. Iowa has totaled 299 points for the year (99.7 per game) and they grab 46.0 rebounds per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 24.0 times per contest (5th in D-1) and they turn it over 10.0 times per game. The Hawkeyes are responsible for committing 16.7 personal fouls every game and they go 76.3% from the charity stripe. The Hawkeyes on the defensive end are ranked 115th in D-1 in PPG allowed with 67.0. They have forced 15.0 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 36.2% from the field (33rd in the nation). The Iowa defense allows 26.8% on 3-point shots (19 of 71) and their opponents are connecting on 69.6% of their foul shots. They have given up 14.0 assists and 38.0 total boards per game, which ranks 198th and 207th in those categories.

When they last stepped on the court, the Iowa Hawkeyes went home victorious with a score of 99-58 against the Western Illinois Leathernecks. The Hawkeyes corralled 42 defensive boards and 11 offensive rebounds for a total of 53 for the matchup. They rejected 7 shots while recording 4 steals in this matchup. The Leathernecks committed 23 personal fouls in this game which took the Hawkeyes to the free throw line for 33 shots. They were able to bury 25 of the free throws for a rate of 75.8%. When talking about shots from beyond the perimeter, Iowa made 8 of their 23 tries (34.8%). When the final whistle blew, the Hawkeyes finished 33 out of 70 from the field which gave them a percentage of 47.1%. The Hawkeyes allowed the Leathernecks to make 24 of their 80 attempts from the field which had them at 30.0% in this contest. They finished shooting 19.4% from beyond the arc by going 6 of 31 and finished the game at 4 out of 10 from the free throw line (40.0%). Concerning cleaning the glass, Iowa permitted Western Illinois to collect 39 overall (14 on the offensive side).

Luka Garza saw a lot of time on the hardwood for the Hawkeyes in this matchup. He buried 13 of 21 for the matchup giving him a rate of 61.9%, which had him sitting at 35 points. Garza had 10 rebounds in his 25 minutes played and had 2 assists for this contest. An additional guy that was pivotal for Iowa was Joe Wieskamp. He totaled 11 points in his 23 minutes on the hardwood by way of 2 of 6 shooting in the matchup. Wieskamp walked away from this one going 33.3% from the floor in addition to contributing 2 assists and 5 rebounds.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Iowa (-3.5)

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