North Carolina Tar Heels vs Duke Blue Devils Betting Preview/Prop Pick

The North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils meet up on Saturday night for the second semifinal game at the Final Four. This will be the first time that this historic and legendary rivalry is played out in the NCAA Tournament. 

North Carolina entered the NCAA Tournament as the number 8 seed in the East Region after an up-and-down regular season. The Tar Heels have put it all together of late, and they picked up a 69-49 win over Saint Peter’s in the Elite Eight. 

Duke was given the number two seed in the West Region, but the Blue Devils have looked like a top team throughout the tournament. The Blue Devils earned a 78-69 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Elite Eight. 

The Duke Blue Devils are four-point betting favorites over the North Carolina Tar Heels. 

Tar Heels Tough to Defend

North Carolina has an All-American player patrolling the paint in Armando Bacot, and they’ve turned into a great shooting team. The Tar Heels are scoring over 78 points per game this season, and they have been great on offense in the NCAA Tournament.

Bacot is going to be a problem for North Carolina as he is averaging 16.5 points and 12.8 rebounds per game. It has been the shooting of Brady Manek and Caleb Love that has turned this North Carolina team into a monster.

There are still some concerns on the defensive side for UNC, but that hasn’t been an issue in the NCAA Tournament. North Carolina has more to prove in this game, and that could be a factor. 

Duke Playing With Pace

Duke is scoring over 80 points per game this season, and they don’t wait around for the defense to get set up. The Blue Devils aren’t always a great shooting team, but they find ways to get the ball inside and score.

Freshman Paolo Banchero has poured in over 17 points per game this season, and he will be a future NBA star. Wendell Moore Jr. leads the team with 4.4 assists, and he has also been a scoring threat in the NCAA Tournament. 

The Blue Devils will take some chances on the defensive end, but they have to find a way to contest shooters on Saturday night. Duke is trying to give Coach K a title to send him off into retirement in grand fashion. 

Duke Rolls Over Rival

North Carolina comes into this game with a ton of momentum, and they have confidence that they can beat Duke. The Tar Heels are going to have to shoot the ball well again, but getting shots against the Blue Devils is never easy.

This Duke team just has so much offensive talent, and they should pick apart a UNC team with little depth. This game will be intense for 40 minutes, but the score will start to spread out a bit in the second half. 

Bet the Duke Blue Devils -4.0 as they advance to the National Championship Game with a double-digit win over North Carolina.

Prop Pick

North Carolina (-120) UNDER 74.5 Points

Duke is allowing 66.0 points per game on defense, which ranks No. 85 in the nation, while holding teams to 41.3 percent shooting, which ranks No. 65, and 30.2 percent from 3-pt range, which ranks No. 37. Scores have gone UNDER in four of North Carolina’s last five games following a win (UNC beat St. Peter’s on Sunday).

With Dunkel predicting a Duke victory by the score of 76-66, take the Tar Heels (-120) to finish UNDER their Vegas team total of 74.5 points against the Blue Devils.

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