Who’s Playing
North Carolina @ Baylor
Regular Season Records: North Carolina 25-9; Baylor 27-6
What to Know
The North Carolina Tar Heels and the #4 Baylor Bears are set to clash at 12:10 p.m. ET March 19 at Dickies Arena in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. These two teams are strolling into their contest after big wins in their previous games.
The Marquette Golden Eagles typically have all the answers at home, but on Thursday UNC proved too difficult a challenge. The Tar Heels were fully in charge, breezing past Marquette 95-63. Forward Brady Manek was the offensive standout of the game for UNC, shooting 5-for-10 from beyond the arc and finishing with a double-double on 28 points and 11 boards.
Meanwhile, Baylor earned some postseason bragging rights after a successful outing on Thursday. They put a hurting on the Norfolk State Spartans to the tune of 85-49. Five players on Baylor scored in the double digits: guard Matthew Mayer (22), forward Jeremy Sochan (15), forward Flo Thamba (14), guard Adam Flagler (11), and guard James Akinjo (10).
The Tar Heels are expected to lose this next one by 5.5. Those playing the odds have seen things go back and forth with UNC, who are 17-16-1 against the spread.
A pair of stats to keep an eye on: UNC is 348th worst in college basketball in takeaways, with only ten on average. To make matters even worse for UNC, Baylor ranks 24th in college basketball when it comes to takeaways, with 15.7 on average. So the cards are definitely stacked in Baylor’s favor.
How To Watch
- When: Saturday at 12:10 p.m. ET
- Where: Dickies Arena — Fort Worth, Texas
- TV: CBS
- Follow: CBS Sports App
Odds
The Bears are a solid 5.5-point favorite against the Tar Heels, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 5.5-point spread, and stayed right there.
Over/Under: -110
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Series History
This is the first time these teams have played each other within the last seven years.
