The No. 3 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels leave the comforts of home to play an Atlantic Coast Conference game with the Maryland Terrapins at Comcast Center in College Park, MD. North Carolina has won 10 straight games and enters the Maryland game with a 24-2 record overall and a 10-2 mark in the ACC. The Tar Heels hold a 2-1/2 game lead in the conference standings over four teams that are tied for second.The Terrapins are now 16-9 overall and 5-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, one game out of seventh place in the conference.
Sports odds professionals at online sportsbook BetUS.com list North Carolina as a 12-point favorite over Maryland with a 162 1/2 total. North Carolina is also a -900 favorite on the BetUS.com moneyline. Maryland backers are getting +650 moneyline odds as a home court underdog.
Consensus Preseason Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough continues to live up to his advance billing for North Carolina this season. The senior forward leads the ACC in scoring at 21.4 points per game and is one of five Tar Heels averaging in double figures. Hansbrough is also 10th in the league and tops on the Tar Heels in rebounding with a 7.5 rpg average. Offensively, Carolina is averaging 91.7 points per game this year, nearly 10 points per game higher than the next-best team in the ACC (Wake Forest, 82.1).
Sports-Odds.com predicts the Terps will battle hard on home court but that will not be enough for the powerful Tar Heels. However; covering the +12 point spread is within reach. The Pick: Maryland covers ATS +12.
