Louisville vs. NC State prediction, pick, college basketball odds
Yesterday at 04:36 PM
NC State aims to end their 8-game skid as they host Louisville on Wednesday night. It’s time to continue our College Basketball odds series with a Louisville-NC State prediction and pick.
Louisville recently fell out of the AP Top 25 rankings after they suffered a 77-70 loss on the road to Georgia Tech. Since then, they have responded with two straight wins over Boston College and Miami. At 18-6 overall, the Cardinals have proven to themselves that they are back to play competitive basketball, and more importantly, are winning games. The Cardinals have impressive wins over Indiana, West Virginia, North Carolina, Virginia, Pitt, Clemson, and SMU. With their remaining schedule, there is no reason why they can’t finish the season undefeated.
NC State is on the other end of the white board. The Wolfpack are struggling to win games. Coming off a one-point loss to Stanford on the road only stings more. The thing about NC State is despite losing, they are playing competitive games. During this eight-game skid, they haven’t lost any one of them by more than 12. In fact, four of them were by three points of fewer. We can’t forget NC State’s incredible run to the Final Four last season. This rotation around the sun has not gone nearly as pleasant. NC State’s biggest win of the season was a double-overtime win against Florida State at home in early December.
Here are the Louisville-NC State College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel
College Basketball Odds: Louisville-NC State Odds
Louisville: -6.5 (-110)
Moneyline: -265
NC State: +6.5 (-110)
Moneyline: +215
Over: 140.5 (-110)
Under: 140.5 (-110)
How to Watch Louisville vs. NC State
Time: 7:00 ET/4:00 PT
TV: ESPN2
*Watch college basketball LIVE with fuboTV (Get Access | Save $30)*
Why Louisville Will Cover The Spread/Win
Former Wisconsin Badger Chucky Hepburn has been playing great basketball as of late. In the huge 98-73 win over SMU a few games ago, Chucky put up huge numbers. He scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds, and assisted on 16 buckets. Those 16 assists became a new school record and he recenlty was named to the Oscar Robinson Award Watch List. The senior averages 6.2 assists on the season as well as 15.0 points which both leads the team.
Terrence Edwards Jr. is second on the squad at 14.6 points per game. The senior is coming off a massive game against Miami as he scored 27 points and dished out 10 assists. He has 16 assists over his last two games which shows that he and Hepburn have been faciltating at an elite level. Edwards has scored 18+ in four straight games so expect the duo of him and Hepburn to keep going strong against another poor ACC opponent.
Louisville is 14-10 against the spread and 8-16 on Over/Under’s.
Why NC State Will Cover The Spread/Win
Even though the Wolfpack have been playing close games as of late, they still haven’t been covering the spread. They are just 8-15 ATS and also 8-15 on O/U’s. It seems that the sportbooks have been expecting them to playing better and even win a game as during their eight game losing streak, they have covered only twice. They didn’t even cover in their last win against Notre Dame on Janurary 8. If you are expecting them to cover in this game, then you must believe destiny is calling.
The Wolfpack contain three players who average double digits in scoring with Marcus Hill leading the way at 12.9 per game. Jayden Taylor is right behind him at 11.8 per game and then Dontrez Styles is third at 10.3. NC State is much better on the defensive end. They have two players who average at least one block per game and three who average at least one steal. Senior forward Ben Middlebrooks averages only 7.9 points but on the other end of the floor he adds 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steals.
If NC State cover this spread, it will be from their respectable defense slowing down the Louisville backcourt.
Final Louisville-NC State Prediction & Pick
I’m taking Louisville to cover this spread on the road as NC State extends their losing streak to nine games. The Under is also a good call as thr Under has hit a combined 31 times this season between these two programs.
Final Louisville-NC State Prediction & Pick: Louisville -6.5 (-110), Under 140.5 (-110)
The post Louisville vs. NC State prediction, pick, college basketball odds appeared first on ClutchPoints.
