Saturday NCAA: South Region – LSU vs. North Carolina
The regular season champs in the SEC and ACC face off Saturday in Greensboro as the South No. 8 LSU Tigers have to deal with the No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels playing in their own backyard.
North Carolina has opened as an 11-point WagerWeb.com favorite – which is the biggest current spread of any game Saturday.
The question here again surrounds Heels point guard Ty Lawson’s injured toe. The ACC player of the year sat out Thursday’s win over 101-58 win over Radford, his third straight game on the sideline. The Heels didn’t need him to beat Radford, but they might to beat what is probably the SEC’s best team.
Lawson did dress for Thursday’s game and declared himself “ready to play” Saturday. However, coach Roy Williams said Lawson would need to practice Friday afternoon, then see if he experienced any swelling in the toe later in the evening.
The final decision would come once the Heels see how Lawson feels in the hours leading up to the game – so bettors on WagerWeb.com might want to wait until the last second to put their money down. Williams did say Lawson would start if he’s ready to play.
UNC has averaged 90.5 points per game this season, but that drops to just 74.5 in the two ACC Tournament games in which Lawson sat out, including a 73-70 semifinal loss to Florida State.
Bobby Frasor and Larry Drew II took Lawson’s minutes Thursday did OK. Frasor finished with seven points and three assists in 24 minutes and Drew had two points and five assists in 19 minutes. But they aren’t Lawson.
“We prepare for him just like he’s going to play,” LSU’s Tasmin Mitchell said of Lawson. “We’re not taking nothing for granted. We’re going to prepare for him like he’s going to come out there and lead the team.”
LSU has some UNC-quality players in guard Marcus Thornton, the SEC Player of the Year who scored 30 points in the 75-71 opening-round win over Butler, Garrett Temple and Mitchell. Six-foot-11 center Chris Johnson made four blocks on Thursday and will get the main assignment on UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough.
“They’re a lot more talented and athletic,” North Carolina junior wing Wayne Ellington said of LSU. “It’s going to be a big-time challenge for us.”
In my opinion, 11 points is too many to give.
WagerWeb.com Trends
* Fighting Tigers are 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games as an underdog of 7.0-12.5.
* Fighting Tigers are 4-9 ATS in their last 13 non-conference games.
* Fighting Tigers are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games following a S.U. win.
* Fighting Tigers are 11-30-1 ATS in their last 42 Saturday games.
* Fighting Tigers are 2-7 ATS in their last 9 neutral site games.
* Tar Heels are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 NCAA Tournament games as a favorite of 7.0-12.5.
* Tar Heels are 8-0 ATS in their last 8 vs. Southeastern.
* Tar Heels are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 NCAA Tournament games.
* Tar Heels are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 NCAA Tournament games as a favorite.
* Tar Heels are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 neutral site games.
* Tar Heels are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 neutral site games as a favorite.
* Tar Heels are 41-18 ATS in their last 59 non-conference games.
* Tar Heels are 35-16 ATS in their last 51 games following a SU win of more than 20 points.
* Tar Heels are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 Saturday games.
* Tar Heels are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite.
* Tar Heels are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
* Tar Heels are 4-17 ATS in their last 21 games following a S.U. win.
* Tar Heels are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
* Tar Heels are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record.
* Tar Heels are 1-10 ATS in their last 11 games following a ATS win.
* Tar Heels are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.
* Tar Heels are 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games after scoring more than 90 points in their previous game.
* Tar Heels are 0-7 ATS in their last 7 games as a favorite of 7.0-12.5.
NCAA Basketball Betting at WagerWeb.com
