North Carolina vs Virginia Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for February 25 (Cavaliers' Defense Frustrates Tar Heels)

North Carolina vs Virginia Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for February 25 (Cavaliers' Defense Frustrates Tar Heels)

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North Carolina vs Virginia Game Info

  • 2022-23 NCAA Basketball Regular Season Game
  • North Carolina (17-11, 9-8 ACC) vs. No. 6 Virginia (21-5, 13-4 ACC)
  • Date: Saturday, February 25, 2023
  • Time: 6:00 PM ET
  • Venue: Dean Smith Center -- Chapel Hill, North Carolina
  • Coverage: ESPN

Saturday, Feb. 25's NCAA college basketball slate features some ACC action between the North Carolina Tar Heels and No. 6 Virginia Cavaliers.

Virginia aims to rebound from Wednesday's disappointing 63-48 loss to Boston College. Meanwhile, North Carolina returns home after a 63-59 road win over Notre Dame that saw both Armando Bacot and Pete Nance finishing the game with double-doubles in points and rebounds.

Can Virginia win in its pursuit of the ACC's top spot? Or does North Carolina have what it takes to stand its ground at Dean Smith Center?

North Carolina vs Virginia Odds & Spread

North Carolina enters this contest as the clear home favorite on the moneyline and spread per FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This 6 p.m. ET clash also features an over/under of 131.5 points with the over being favored at -115 odds.

North Carolina vs Virginia Betting Trends

  • North Carolina has beaten the spread eight times in 28 games.
  • The Tar Heels have an ATS record of 8-14 as 1.5-point favorites or greater.
  • Out of 28 North Carolina's games so far this season, 12 have hit the over.
  • Virginia is 10-16-0 against the spread this season.
  • As a 1.5-point underdog or more, the Cavaliers have two wins ATS (2-2).
  • Virginia has seen 13 of its 26 games go over the point total.
North Carolina Rank North Carolina AVG Virginia AVG Virginia Rank
55th 77.3 Points Scored 68.3 268th
246th 72.1 Points Allowed 60.2 9th
8th 36.9 Rebounds 29.3 304th
59th 10 Off. Rebounds 6.7 315th
257th 6.7 3pt Made 7.3 192nd
279th 11.9 Assists 15.9 22nd
47th 10.6 Turnovers 8.4 4th

North Carolina vs Virginia Prediction & Pick

Defense usually translates well on the road and that's exactly how Virginia has been winning games. The Cavaliers only surrender 60.2 PPG (No. 8) on 41.7% shooting (No. 60) and have held their last five opponents to an average of 57.6 points.

With the way North Carolina has played lately, it's going to have a tough time solving Virginia's defense. While they normally put up a fair amount of points (77.3 PPG, No. 39), the Tar Heels have been held to a 68.0 PPG clip with a 37.6 field-goal percentage and 18.4% three-point rating over their last three games.

Virginia has also won eight of its last 10 meetings with North Carolina. With a disappointing effort against Boston College motivating them, expect the Cavaliers to fend off the Tar Heels once again.

Final Score Prediction: Virginia: 68 | North Carolina: 63

North Carolina vs Virginia Best Bet

Hitting the under has been a common occurrence for both North Carolina and Virginia. Not only is the under 10-2 in the Tar Heels' last 12 games, but it's also 8-2 in their last 10 ACC contests. Furthermore, the Cavaliers have experienced the under in four of their last five games.

If that isn't convincing enough to back the under, UNC and Virginia have finished with fewer than their projected point total in six of their last seven collisions. Considering how they averaged 118.3 points in those meetings, it's more likely than not that we'll see another low-scoring affair this evening.

Bet: Under 131.5 Points (-105)

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.