The UCLA Bruins (8-3) and North Carolina Tar Heels (8-2) will face off at the Barclays Center for this game. Action begins at 1:00 pm ET on Saturday, Dec. 19 and can be seen on CBS.
The Bruins enter this game hoping for similar success after topping Louisiana-Lafayette 89-80 on Tuesday. Bryce Alford was the game’s leading scorer with 27 points on 10-for-15 shooting. The Tar Heels, meanwhile, are coming off a 96-72 win against Tulane on Wednesday. Brice Johnson claimed his sixth double-double of the season with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
Over the last five games, Isaac Hamilton has taken his game to another level for the Bruins, averaging 17.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.0 steals, and 2.0 three-pointers.
The Tar Heels will look to keep miscues at a minimum in this matchup. They’re ranked 13th in the nation at avoiding mistakes (TO% of 14.9%). Conversely, UCLA forces the 48th-fewest errors in the nation, with just 16.6% of opponents’ possessions resulting in a turnover.
North Carolina takes on UCLA as a six-point favorite. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is sitting at 163 points. Despite being 8-3 Straight Up (SU), the Bruins have struggled to cover the spread in most of their matchups, only managing a record of 4-7 Against The Spread (ATS).
Over on the other bench, the Tar Heels have records of 3-5-2 ATS and 8-2 SU. Offensively, they average 85.3 points per game, which is good for 25th in the country. The Tar Heels are an unselfish team with an average of 19.7 assists per game, ranking eighth in Division I. Defensive rebounding is an area where North Carolina has excelled. The Tar Heels average 28.3 defensive rebounds per game, making them one of the best in the nation. Taking care of the basketball is something the Tar Heels do very well, averaging just 10.7 turnovers per game.
These two will be squaring off for the first time this season. In their most recent meeting a season ago, North Carolina came out on top, bumping its SU record to 1-0. Furthermore, North Carolina holds the advantage ATS with a record of 1-0.
Predictions: SU Winner – UNC, ATS Winner – UNC, O/U – Over
Notes
North Carolina is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games.
UCLA averages 80.4 points per game (ranked 63rd). North Carolina, on the other hand, allows 70.2 points per game (ranked 163rd).
North Carolina averages 88.0 points per away game (ranked 38th). UCLA allows 66.0 points per home game (ranked 30th).
Ranked 83rd, the UCLA Bruins have an offensive rating of 111.4. The North Carolina Tar Heels rank 136th with a defensive rating of just 99.1.
UCLA averages 72.1 possessions per game, scoring 1.114 points on each possession. While North Carolina averages fewer possessions per game with 71.7, they score more points per possession with 1.189.
The UCLA Bruins average an effective field goal percentage of 51.9% this season. The North Carolina Tar Heels have split their games this season (1-1) when opponents have an eFG% of 51.9% or greater.
The UCLA Bruins average 16.0 three point attempts per game, while the North Carolina Tar Heels attempt 18.0. When attempting 20 or more three pointers in a game, UCLA is 2-1 while North Carolina is undefeated (5-0).
The fourth-ranked team in the category, North Carolina has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.84 this season. UCLA ranks 91st with an A/TO of 1.23.
UCLA ranks 48th in rebounds per game with 41.2 and North Carolina ranks 47th with 41.2 rebounds per game.
North Carolina ranks 127th in offensive rebounds, while UCLA ranks at 64th in defensive rebounds.
On average, UCLA forces a turnover rate of 16.6%. When North Carolina turns over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a winning 4-1 record.
