The No. 8 seed North Carolina Tar Heels (24-9) and the No. 9 seed Marquette Golden Eagles (19-12) will meet in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday at 4:30 PM. North Carolina is favored by three points in the matchup. Here’s everything you need to know about this 8-9 matchup when filling out your brackets.
Rankings courtesy of the Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.
North Carolina is 17-16-1 against the spread this season compared to Marquette’s 16-14-1 ATS record. A total of 19 out of the Tar Heels’ 34 games this season have hit the over, and 15 of the Golden Eagles’ 31 games have gone over. The two teams score 151.9 points per game combined, 0.1 less than this matchup’s total. Over the past 10 contests, North Carolina has a 7-3-0 record against the spread while going 8-2 overall. Marquette has gone 3-6-1 against the spread and 5-5 overall in its last 10 matches.
Here is what you need to get ready for Thursday’s college basketball action.
Marquette at North Carolina odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list.
- Spread: North Carolina -3
- Total: 152
- Moneyline: North Carolina -152, Marquette +129
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Marquette at North Carolina odds, spread, & more
Prediction
North Carolina 74, Marquette 73
Moneyline
- The Tar Heels have compiled a 22-4 record in games they were favored on the moneyline (winning 84.6% of those games).
- When playing as a moneyline favorite with odds of -152 or shorter, North Carolina has a 21-1 record (winning 95.5% of its games).
- The Tar Heels have a 60.3% chance to win this matchup based on the moneyline’s implied probability.
- This season, the Golden Eagles have been the underdog 18 times and won 10, or 55.6%, of those games.
- Marquette has a record of 6-6, a 50% win rate, when set as an underdog of +129 or more by bookmakers this season.
- The bookmakers’ moneyline implies a 43.7% chance of a victory for the Golden Eagles.
Against the spread
- The 77.5 points per game the Tar Heels put up are 6.6 more points than the Golden Eagles give up (70.9).
- When North Carolina totals more than 70.9 points, it is 13-8-1 against the spread and 19-4 overall.
- When Marquette allows fewer than 77.5 points, it is 15-8 against the spread and 19-4 overall.
- The Golden Eagles’ 74.4 points per game are only 2.7 more points than the 71.7 the Tar Heels give up.
- Marquette has put together an 11-8-1 ATS record and a 15-5 overall record in games it scores more than 71.7 points.
- North Carolina has an ATS record of 11-5 and a 16-0 record overall when its opponents score fewer than 74.4 points.
- The Tar Heels have totaled 191 more points than their opponents this season (5.8 per game on average), and the Golden Eagles have scored 109 more points than their opponents (3.5 per game).
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Over/Under
- The Tar Heels have an average implied point total equal to their implied total in Thursday’s game (78).
- This season, North Carolina has put up more than 78 points 16 times.
- The average implied point total on the season for the Golden Eagles (74.8) is 0.2 fewer points than the team’s implied total in this matchup (75).
- This year, Marquette has scored more than 75 points 17 times.
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