North Carolina Tar Heels vs Duke Blue Devils Prediction, 2/1/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: North Carolina Tar Heels vs Duke Blue Devils

Date: Saturday, February 1, 2025

Location: Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC

TV: ESPN+

The North Carolina Tar Heels (13-9) are en route to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday where they will meet the Duke Blue Devils (18-2).

The North Carolina Tar Heels played Pittsburgh and ended up losing by a score of 73-65 in their last contest. North Carolina walked away from the game with a 44.1% field goal percentage (26 of 59) and made 7 of 24 3-point shots. From the charity stripe, the Tar Heels made 6 of 9 shots for a percentage of 66.7%. When it comes to rebounding, they earned 37 with 9 of them being on the offensive end. They also distributed 15 assists in this game as well as forcing the other team into 6 turnovers and having 3 steals. When discussing defense, North Carolina let their opponent shoot 43.6% from the field on 24 of 55 shooting. Pittsburgh earned 12 assists and had 8 steals for this game. Furthermore, Pittsburgh pulled down 26 boards (5 offensive, 21 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Pittsburgh finished 80.0% from the charity stripe by burying 16 of 20 attempts. They knocked down 9 of their 26 shots from 3-point land. When discussing personal fouls, the Tar Heels finished with 19 and Pittsburgh racked up 11 personal fouls.

RJ Davis is one player who was a factor for the matchup. He racked up 16 points on 6 out of 12 shooting. He was on the court for 39 mins played and pulled down 4 boards. He went 50.0% from the floor and also recorded 5 assists.

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North Carolina will play this game with a record of 13-9 on the year. They turn it over 11.0 times per contest and as a unit they commit 18.0 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, North Carolina is pulling down 37.8 boards per game and is sitting with 318 assists for the season, which is 97th in Division 1 in terms of passing. The Tar Heels are connecting on 32.1% on three-point shots (160 of 498) and 74.8% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 81.7 pts per contest (37th in D-1) while going 46.9% from the floor.

On the defensive end of the court, the Tar Heels are forcing 11.1 turnovers every game while drawing 18.0 personal fouls. They relinquish 32.7% on shots from downtown and they are 301st in the country in points per game allowed (76.2). The Tar Heels defense is allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 42.4% (594 of 1,402) and they relinquish 35.4 rebounds per contest as a squad. They are ranked 232nd in the nation in giving up assists to the opposition with 285 surrendered this year.

In their last game, the Duke Blue Devils walked away with a victory by a final of 74-64 against North Carolina State. The Blue Devils were able to corral 25 defensive boards and 11 offensive boards totaling 36 in the game. They gave up possession of the ball 7 times, while getting 8 steals for the matchup. North Carolina State committed 21 personal fouls in this contest which got the Blue Devils to the free throw line for a total of 28 attempts. They were able to make 24 of those for a rate of 85.7%. Pertaining to 3-point attempts, Duke made 4 of 20 tries (20.0%). Overall, the Blue Devils finished 23 out of 59 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 39.0%. The Blue Devils permitted North Carolina State to knock down 24 out of 59 attempts from the field which left them shooting 40.7% in this contest. They finished 45.5% from downtown by connecting on 10 out of 22 and finished the game at 6 out of 7 from the charity stripe (85.7%). In the matter of team rebounding, Duke permitted North Carolina State to grab 23 in total (4 on the offensive glass).

Cooper Flagg ended up being a major contributor for the Blue Devils in this matchup. He made 8 of 17 for this game for a field goal rate of 47.1%, and totaled 7 rebounds. He earned 28 points in his 37 mins on the court and had 3 dimes for the contest.

Duke has a record of 18-2 so far this season. When it comes to offensive execution, the Blue Devils are shooting 47.4% from the field, which is 58th in the country. Duke has earned 1,600 points this season (80.0 per contest) and they pull down 40.0 boards per contest. They are dishing out assists 16.8 times per game (32nd in college) and they are losing possession via turnover 10.4 times per contest. The Blue Devils commit 15.9 fouls per contest while shooting 76.5% from the free throw line.

The Blue Devils are ranked 5th in the nation in PPG given up with 59.6. They have forced 11.9 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 37.2% from the field (5th in college). The Duke defense allows 31.1% on shots from beyond the arc (135 of 434) and their opposition knocks down 70.8% of their foul shots. They relinquish 11.9 assists and 30.3 boards per game, which ranks 80th and 16th in college.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take North Carolina

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