North Carolina vs. Miami (Florida) Prediction, Odds and Key Players for Saturday, Feb. 10 (Target total)

North Carolina couldn’t build on the momentum of a Tobacco Road victory over rival Duke with a home loss to Clemson, and now hit the road to face another struggling ACC foe in Miami.

The Hurricanes have had the Tar Heels number of late, including a road win at the Dean Center last season, but this is a different Miami team this year, evident in the team’s 60-38 loss at Virginia last game. Can UNC get back on track and stay in the mix for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament?

Here’s our full betting preview for this ACC showdown on Saturday afternoon with odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.

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North Carolina

RJ Davis: Davis had an uneven showing in the team’s upset loss to Clemson on Tuesday. While he had 22 points, he made only two of 10 shots from inside the arc. Can we count on a bounce back effort from the senior guard who is enjoying a career year? He is averaging 21 points per game for the Tar Heels while shooting north of 41% from beyond the arc.

Miami (Florida)

Nijel Pack: The Hurricanes are going to need Pack to match Davis’ performance, and it simply has to be better than Monday’s game against Virginia where he scored two points while missing all eight of his shots from the floor. Pack’s efficiency numbers are a bit down, but he’s still averaging double figures and has scored at least 10 in all but two conference games.

The Tar Heels had a bit of a letdown after outclassing rival Duke last weekend as Clemson scorched the nets in Chapel Hill en route to a win. However, there has been some predictable dop off in the Tar Heels perimeter defense.

The team is still tops in the ACC in three-point percentage allowed at below 28%, but the team has benefitted from teams missing a ton of open looks. UNC is still due a four percent rise in three-point percentage with the team ranking 328th in open three rate, per ShotQuality.

However, Miami won’t be able to slow down North Carolina on the other side of the floor. The Hurricanes are outside the top 200 in field goal percentage at the rim, which should lead to a big effort for Armando Bacot.

Both teams like to play fast, each inside the top third nationally in pace according to Haslametrics, and I see both teams lighting up the scoreboard en route to an over game.

PICK: 154.5

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.