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North Carolina Washington State Odds, Picks, & Predictions
We are almost to round 3 of the NCAA tournament and this is the time where championship teams take form. This Thursday we are set to see #1 North Carolina take on #4 Washington State for the chance to move on to the Elite 8, and just one step closer to a birth in the Final Four.#1 North Carolina has looked unstoppable so far in the NCAA Tournament, as they have won both games by more than 30-points. The Tar Heels came into the tournament as the #1 overall seed, but it was hard to tell when the brackets came out. For instance this is the only region that had all 4 top seeds advance into the Sweet 16, and the only upset at all was when #9 beat #8 Indiana. North Carolina made both #16 Mt St. Mary’s and #9 Arkansas look as though they were in a different class. This team is loaded with talent, but none more important than junior Tyler Hansbrough who comes in averaging 22.8 PPG and 10.2 RPG. G Wayne Ellington is the next leading scorer at 16.8 PPG, but the player that the team greatly needed for its title run is G Ty Lawson. Lawson went down with an ankle sprain towards the end of the season, but is finally back in the starting lineup, and the team hasn’t looked better.
#4 Washington State will be up for the task against a very good North Carolina team, as they too have blown out both of their first two opponents, in #13 Winthrop by 31-points and #5 Notre Dame by 20-points. The Cougars come in playing some of the best defense in the country and will really have its hands full against UNC. The Cougars are led by a trio of guards, Senior Derrick Low is the leading scorer at 14 PPG, Senior Kyle Weaver comes in at 12.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 4.3 APG, and Junior Taylor Rochestie comes in averaging 10.7 PPG, 3.2 RPG and a team leading 4.8 APG. What will really help the Cougars is that they are an old team that knows how to work well as a unit. They will have to play a near perfect game to have a chance at beating the Tar Heels.
First off lets get this straight we believe the Tar Heels will win the game, its just we see it being much closer than what the sportsbooks are predicting. Both teams are coming in playing great defense and should prevent either team from going on a huge run to put the game out of reach. This should be a great game from start to finish, and we see it coming down to free throws late and North Carolina winning by a slim margin. The Cougars are better than people are giving them credit. Over the last 5 seasons the underdog is 35 -8 against a favorite who is coming in outscoring their opponents by 8+ PPG, in the 2nd half of the season, after scoring more than 80 points for 3 straight games.
While the defenses will keep the game close, that doesn’t mean that it will keep the score lower than 143-points. While we don’t predict the score to be in the 80-90 range, we do see a pretty high scoring game. Washington State has been averaging 70 PPG over the last 5 games and should be able to reach that in the up tempo pace the Tar Heels will bring to the game.
Final Score - North Carolina 79 - Washington State 73
So head over to Sportsbook.com today and take our advice on these two plays, and win big this weekend. Sportsbook.com has all your betting needs for the NCAA Tournament. Feel free to leave any comments in the comment box.
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