Hurricanes blow into North Carolina to take on the Wolfpack
Miami Hurricanes (14-5 SU, 7-7 ATS) at North Carolina State Wolfpack (10-7 SU, 7-5-1 ATS)
BetUS NCAA Basketball Sports Betting Odds: MIAMI -1.5
Here are some of the NCAA basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* MIA has won seven of its last nine games SU
* MIA has covered two of its last six games * MIA has played four of its last six games OVER the total
* MIA has covered its last four road games
* MIA has lost six of its last nine road games SU
* NCS has lost five of its last six games SU
* NCS is 4-2-1 ATS in its last seven games * NCS has played three of its last four games OVER the total
* NCS has won nine of its last 11 home games SU
* NCS has played four of its last six home games OVER the total
Also…
* Four of the last five meetings have gone OVER the total
* MIA has had the rebounding edge in each of the last four meetings
* NCS has made more three-pointers in five of the last six meetings
There is still some unfinished business between these schools. Last season the Wolfpack dealt Miami a heart-breaking overtime loss, but then Miami got a little revenge by eliminating North Carolina State from the ACC tournament, winning a 13-point decision and holding N.C. State to just 50 points.
These clubs are probably at different levels right now. North Carolina State has played reasonably well against teams like Davidson and Marquette, but they haven’t really gitten over the hump against tough opposition. On Saturday, Boston College’s Tyrese Rice scored 25 points, and he powered the Eagles to a 79-68 win over the Wolfpack at Chestnut Hill. N.C. State has now lost five of its last six games.
Miami suffered a gut-wrenching loss on Sunday when the ‘Canes lost to Virginia tech in overtime. Jack McClinton had a rough shooting night, hitting just six of 21 shots. Miami’s defense failed it too, giving up 49% from the floor and 43% from beyond the arc. While the Hurricanes have just one day to get over that loss, at the same time Miami has to avoid being in look-ahead mode. They have Maryland coming next, followed by a back-breaking trio of games against Wake Forest, Duke and North Carolina – arguably three of the top five teams in the country.
N.C. State has some faults, for sure, and McClinton is a good bet to bounce back with a strong effort, but the Wolfpack has fought tooth-and-nail in losses to Florida (68-66), Marquette (68-65) and Davidson (72-67) and has a couple of pillars up front in Brandon Costner (14.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg) and Ben McCauley (13.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg) and depth, as twelve different players are averaging at least 12 minutes a game. If this team can avoid a lot of costly turnovers (they committed just 10 against BC), this can be a real “trap” game for Miami. We’ll take the points with North Carolina State, the 1.5-point home underdog in the BetUS NCAA college basketball sports betting odds.
