Western Carolina Catamounts vs North Carolina Tar Heels Prediction, 11/2/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Western Carolina Catamounts vs North Carolina Tar Heels

Date: Monday, November 2, 2026

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

TV: ESPN+

The Western Carolina Catamounts (15-16 last year) are on their way to Dean E. Smith Center on Monday where they will go up against the North Carolina Tar Heels (24-9 last season).

The Western Carolina Catamounts played East Tennessee State and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 69-67 in their last game. Western Carolina finished with a 37.7% field goal percentage (20 of 53) and converted 8 out of their 28 shots from 3-point land. At the charity stripe, the Catamounts knocked down 19 of their 25 shots for a percentage of 76.0%. When talking about hauling in boards, they collected 33 with 12 of them being of the offensive sort. They also recorded 9 dimes in this game in addition to forcing 10 turnovers and getting 7 steals. Regarding defending, Western Carolina allowed the other team to go 47.1% from the floor on 24 of 51 shooting. East Tennessee State recorded 10 dimes and had 8 steals for the game. Furthermore, East Tennessee State had 28 boards (6 offensive, 22 defensive), but didn't notch a block. East Tennessee State finished the game at 61.9% at the charity stripe by making 13 of 21 attempts. They buried 8 of their 23 shots from beyond the arc. In reference to fouls, the Catamounts finished with 16 and East Tennessee State totaled 15 fouls.

Marcus Kell is one player who was a major factor in this game. He notched 18 points on 6 out of 13 shooting. He saw the court for 31 minutes played and collected 3 boards. He ended up shooting 46.2% from the field and also recorded 1 assist.

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Western Carolina enters this matchup after finishing with a record of 15-16 last season. They averaged 78.5 points per contest (109th in the country) while going 44.5% from the floor. The Catamounts connected on 33.4% on 3-pointers (269 of 806) and 71.6% from the free throw line. As a unit, Western Carolina pulled in 38.9 boards per game and had 397 assists over the course of last year, which ranked 292nd in the country in terms of passing. They turned it over 11.5 times per game and as a team committed 19.0 fouls per contest.

On the defensive end, the Catamounts were able to force 10.7 turnovers per contest while drawing 15.4 fouls. They gave up 36.2% on shots from distance and they were 273rd in the nation in opponents PPG (77.3). The Catamounts defense allowed a shooting percentage of 46.1% (813 of 1,765) and they conceded 32.4 boards per contest as a unit. They were ranked 53rd in D-1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 389 surrendered last season.

The last time they took the court, the North Carolina Tar Heels took a loss by a score of 82-78 when they faced VCU. When talking about attacking the glass, North Carolina permitted VCU to grab 35 in total (6 on the offensive glass). They finished the game shooting 42.3% from distance by going 11 out of 26 and ended up shooting 11 out of 16 from the charity stripe (68.8%). The Tar Heels permitted VCU to make 30 out of 66 tries from the field which had them sitting at 45.5% in the game. In all, the Tar Heels walked away from this one shooting 29 out of 70 from the floor which had them sitting at 41.4%. In reference to shooting from downtown, North Carolina knocked down 8 of their 29 attempts (27.6%). They were able to convert 12 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 60.0%. VCU committed 17 fouls for the game which got the Tar Heels to the charity stripe for a total of 20 shots. They also coughed up the ball 7 times, while recording 8 steals for the matchup. The Tar Heels recorded 32 defensive boards and 7 offensive rebounds for a total of 39 in the matchup.

Henri Veesaar ended up having an impact for the Tar Heels for the matchup. He made 9 out of 18 in the matchup for a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and had 10 rebounds. He racked up 26 points in his 42 minutes of playing time and added 4 assists in the game.

North Carolina had a win-loss mark of 24-9 last year. The Tar Heels were responsible for committing 14.7 fouls per contest while shooting 68.2% from the free throw line. They dished out assists 16.0 times per game (60th in college) and they coughed up possession 9.6 times per contest. North Carolina scored 2,631 pts last season (79.7 per contest) and they pulled in 38.2 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Tar Heels hit 47.1% from the field, which had them ranked 63rd in the nation.

The North Carolina defense conceded 34.7% on shots from behind the 3-point line (268 of 772) and opponents connected on 70.0% of their shots from the charity stripe. They allowed 21.0 assists and 34.4 total boards per game, which ranked them 317th and 178th in those categories. The Tar Heels defensively were ranked 116th in college in PPG surrendered with 71.6. They were able to force 9.4 turnovers on a nightly basis and allowed teams to shoot 41.9% from the field (57th in D-1).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Western Carolina

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