Indiana Hoosiers vs North Carolina Tar Heels Sweet 16 Betting Preview & Odds
Friday night Sweet 16 hoops and we will take a look at the game between the Indiana Hoosiers and the North Carolina Tar Heels, which will take place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. TBS will carry this game, which has a start time of 7:57 pm EST.
Current betting odds for this game have the have the Heels listed as 5.5 point favorites, while the total has been set at 158.5
The Indiana Hoosiers were the Big 10 regular season champs this year and they have continued that strong play with a 25 point win over Tenn-Chattanooga in the opening round and then following that up with a huge 6 point win over Kentucky in round two. The Hoosiers have now won 7 of their last 8 games overall and they are 6-2 ATS in those games.The Big 10 Conference is 7-1 ATS the last 8 times it has been a Sweet 16 dog of 6 or less and the Hoosiers are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 non-conference games, but they are also 12-26 in their last 38 games following an ATS win and just 2-5 their last 7 vs the ACC. Leading the charge for Hoosiers this year is Yogi Ferrell, who averages 17.1 ppg on the year and had 18 in the win over Kentucky. Troy Williams on the team at 13.0 ppg, while he leads the team in rebounding at 6.0 rpg. Rounding out the double digit scorers on the team is Thomas Bryan, who averages 11.9 ppg. And led Indiana with 19 points vs the Cats. Indiana is a very good offensive team that checks in ranked 10th in the nation in scoring, putting up 82.5 ppg, while also ranking 1st in shooting overall, 5th from long range and 68th at the charity stripe. At the defensive end of the floor they have been decent as they come in ranked 102nd in the nation in points allowed, allowing 69.0 ppg, while also ranking 223rd in defensive FG% overall and 124th in 3-pt defense. The Hoosiers are 113th in the nation in rebounding, while they commit just 13.5 turnovers per game (260th) and force 13.2 turnovers per game (115th).
The North Carolina Tar Heels are the #1 seed in the East. They made it to the Sweet 16 by beating Florida Gulf Coast by 16 and then Providence by 19. They have now won their last 7 games in a row and haven’t really been tested in either of their first two games of the tournament, but they will be here. Carolina is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games vs a team with a winning record and they are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 neutral site games, but we also note that Roy Williams is just 6-11 ATS in his last 17 games vs a Big 10 foe that is off a SU & ATS win and Sweet 16 favs of 5 or more are just 3-7 ATS the last 10. Leading the team in scoring is Brice Johnson, who averages 16.8 ppg and led the team with 21 points vs Providence. He also lead the the team in rebounding at 10.5 ppg. Joel Berry (12.7 ppg), Justin Jackson (12.1 ppg) and Marcus Paige (12.0 ppg) also average in double figures for the Heels. Overall the Carolina is 12th in the nation in scoring at 82.4 ppg, while also ranking 23rd in shooting and 33rd from the charity stripe, but they are very weak from long range, where they are 308th. The defense has been decent as they come in ranked 111th in points allowed (69.4 ppg) and 55th in defensive FG%, but they are just 234th at defending the arc. North Carolina is 9th in the nation in rebounding, while they commit just 10.9 turnovers per game (33rd) and force 13.1 turnovers per game (127th).
