East Tennessee State Buccaneers vs North Carolina Tar Heels Prediction, 12/16/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: East Tennessee State Buccaneers vs North Carolina Tar Heels

Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2025

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

TV: ACC Network

The East Tennessee State Buccaneers (8-3) are traveling to Dean E. Smith Center on Tuesday where they will try to defeat the North Carolina Tar Heels (9-1).

The East Tennessee State Buccaneers stepped onto the hardwood against Austin Peay and ended up losing by a score of 76-75 in their last game. Concerning personal fouls, the Buccaneers ended up finishing with 18 and Austin Peay totaled 11 personal fouls. They made 11 of 33 tries from three-point range. Austin Peay went 88.2% at the charity stripe by converting 15 of 17 attempts. Additionally, Austin Peay snagged 34 rebounds (9 offensive, 25 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Austin Peay recorded 17 assists and had 10 steals for this contest. In relation to defending, East Tennessee State allowed the other team to shoot 40.3% from the floor on 25 of 62 shooting. They also doled out 17 dimes in this game while forcing the other team into 11 turnovers and getting 8 steals. Pertaining to hauling in rebounds, they compiled a total of 32 with 8 of them being on the offensive end. At the charity stripe, the Buccaneers converted 11 of their 14 tries for a rate of 78.6%. East Tennessee State walked away from the game with a 45.9% FG percentage (28 of 61) and converted 8 of 28 3-point attempts.

Brian Taylor is one guy who was a major contributor in this matchup. He finished the game shooting 57.1% from the field and distributed 3 assists. He saw the court for 33 minutes and snagged 4 rebounds. He accumulated 19 points on 8 out of 14 shooting.

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East Tennessee State comes into this game with a mark of 8-3 on the season. They turn the ball over 11.8 times per game and as a squad they are committing 16.0 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, East Tennessee State is grabbing 37.3 boards per game and has totaled 180 dimes so far this season, which has them ranked 77th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. The Buccaneers are connecting on 32.4% on shots beyond the perimeter (90 of 278) and 70.9% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 80.7 pts per game (121st in the country) while connecting on 49.1% from the field.

Defensively, the Buccaneers are able to force 15.4 turnovers per game and they draw 13.5 fouls. They concede 30.4% on shots from distance while they are 30th in college in opponents PPG (65.5). The Buccaneers are giving up a shooting percentage of 39.0% (247 of 633) and they relinquish 33.2 rebounds per contest as a team. They are 157th in D-1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 139 relinquished on the year.

When they last stepped on the court, the North Carolina Tar Heels went home victorious with a score of 80-62 when they faced USC Upstate. The Tar Heels corralled 29 defensive boards and 7 offensive rebounds for a total of 36 for the game. They coughed up the ball 6 times, while recording 5 steals for this game. USC Upstate had 15 fouls for the contest which took the Tar Heels to the charity stripe for a total of 22 shots. They were able to convert 14 of those for a percentage of 63.6%. Regarding 3-pointers, North Carolina converted 10 of their 23 tries (43.5%). When this game wrapped up, the Tar Heels went 28 for 55 from the field which gave them a percentage of 50.9%. The Tar Heels permitted USC Upstate to make 25 of their 66 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 37.9% in this matchup. They finished 37.0% from 3-point land via 10 of 27 and ended up going 2 out of 3 from the free throw line (66.7%). Regarding rebounding, North Carolina allowed USC Upstate to grab 29 in all (9 offensive).

Caleb Wilson ended up being a factor for the Tar Heels in this matchup. He earned 20 points in his 32 mins on the hardwood and accumulated 3 assists in this game. He buried 6 out of 7 for this game for a field goal rate of 85.7%, and tallied 11 rebounds.

North Carolina has a win-loss mark of 9-1 on the campaign. The Tar Heels are responsible for committing 14.8 fouls per game while shooting 70.0% from the charity stripe. They are getting an assist 16.4 times per game (88th in the country) and they are losing possession via turnover 10.5 times per contest. North Carolina has totaled 811 pts for the year (81.1 per contest) and they pull down 42.8 rebounds per contest. When it comes to executing on offense, the Tar Heels are shooting 46.6% from the floor, which is 138th in the nation.

The Tar Heels on the defensive end are ranked 22nd in college in points given up per game with 64.7. They are forcing their opponents into 9.6 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 36.9% from the floor (9th in college). The North Carolina defense allows 30.3% on 3-point attempts (67 of 221) and their opposition makes 70.3% of their foul shots. They relinquish 10.5 assists and 33.6 total rebounds per game, which has them ranked 32nd and 135th in the nation.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take North Carolina

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