East Carolina Pirates vs North Carolina Tar Heels Prediction, 12/22/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: East Carolina Pirates vs North Carolina Tar Heels

Date: Monday, December 22, 2025

Location: Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, NC

TV: ACC Network

Dean E. Smith Center is the site where the North Carolina Tar Heels (10-1) will meet the East Carolina Pirates (5-7) on Monday.

The East Carolina Pirates stepped onto the hardwood against Presbyterian and took home the win by a score of 74-53 in their last contest. In reference to personal fouls, the Pirates ended up with 14 while Presbyterian finished the game with 22 personal fouls. They buried 1 of their 11 tries from 3-point land. Presbyterian finished 71.4% when shooting free throws by converting 10 of 14 tries. Furthermore, Presbyterian totaled 22 rebounds (8 offensive, 14 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Presbyterian distributed 8 assists and had 8 steals in this matchup. Regarding the defense, East Carolina allowed 39.6% from the floor on 21 of 53 shooting. They also dished out 13 assists in this contest as well as creating 18 turnovers and getting 8 steals. With respect to grabbing rebounds, they earned a total of 24 with 3 of them being offensive. When they shot from the free throw line, the Pirates knocked down 22 of their 26 attempts for a percentage of 84.6%. East Carolina ended the game with a 54.5% FG percentage (24 of 44) and converted 4 out of their 12 shots from 3-point land.

Jordan Riley is a guy who had an impact in this matchup. He racked up 24 points on 8 out of 14 shooting. He played for 39 mins and totaled 4 boards. He finished the game at 57.1% from the field and totaled 3 assists.

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East Carolina comes into this contest with a win-loss record of 5-7 so far this season. They are giving up possession 13.7 times per game and as a squad are committing 16.3 personal fouls per contest. As a team, East Carolina is pulling down 35.8 rebounds per contest and has tallied 130 assists on the campaign, which is 334th in the nation in terms of passing the rock. The Pirates are connecting on 25.9% on 3-pointers (57 of 220) and 71.2% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 68.4 points per contest (330th in the nation) while going 40.7% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Pirates are able to force 12.8 turnovers per contest and they draw 20.6 personal fouls. They are 256th in D-1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 165 conceded for the campaign. The Pirates are allowing a shooting percentage of 45.1% (314 of 696) and they relinquish 33.8 boards per game as a squad. They give up 34.3% on 3-pointers and they are ranked 212th in college in points per game from their opponents (74.3).

When they last played, the North Carolina Tar Heels walked away with a victory by a final of 77-58 when they played East Tennessee State. The Tar Heels snagged 28 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive rebounds for a total of 35 for this contest. They coughed it up 7 times, while getting 3 steals in this contest. East Tennessee State earned 19 personal fouls in this game which took the Tar Heels to the charity stripe for 23 tries. They were able to convert 15 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 65.2%. With regard to shooting from distance, North Carolina buried 8 of 25 attempts (32.0%). When the final whistle blew, the Tar Heels went 27 for 50 from the floor which had them shooting 54.0%. The Tar Heels allowed East Tennessee State to bury 20 of 52 attempts from the field which had them shooting 38.5% for the game. They finished 30.4% from 3-point land by hitting 7 of 23 and walked away from this one shooting 11 out of 16 at the free throw line (68.8%). In regard to how they rebounded, North Carolina permitted East Tennessee State to grab 21 in total (5 on the offensive side).

Henri Veesaar pitched in for the Tar Heels in this game. He had 26 points in his 28 minutes on the court and totaled 2 assists in the game. He buried 10 out of 11 in this matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 90.9%, and added 8 rebounds.

North Carolina has a mark of 10-1 for the season. The Tar Heels are committing 14.8 fouls every game while shooting 69.6% from the free throw line. They are getting an assist 16.5 times per contest (80th in D-1) and they are giving up possession 10.2 times per game. North Carolina has scored 888 pts so far this season (80.7 per contest) and they collect 42.1 rebounds per game. As an offensive unit, the Tar Heels are connecting on 47.2% from the floor, which is ranked 101st in college hoops.

The North Carolina defense concedes 30.3% on shots from distance (74 of 244) and their opponents are connecting on 70.2% of their free throw attempts. They give up 10.5 assists and 32.6 rebounds on a nightly basis, which ranks them 30th and 97th in D-1. The Tar Heels on the defensive side of the court are 18th in college in points allowed per contest with 64.1. They are forcing their opponents into 9.4 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 37.0% from the floor (10th in college hoops).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take North Carolina

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