Virginia Tech vs North Carolina 12/4/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The North Carolina Tar Heels and the Virginia Tech Hokies meet Sunday in college basketball action from Cassell Coliseum. North Carolina comes into this matchup at 5-3 overall. The Tar Heels lost to Indiana in their last game. As for Virginia Tech, they’re 7-1 on the season and fresh off a win over Minnesota. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

North Carolina won five straight games over UNC Wilmington, Charleston, Gardner-Webb, James Madison and Portland to kick off the year. The Tar Heels fell to Iowa State and Alabama in their next pair. 

On Wednesday against Indiana, North Carolina made it three in a row with a 77-65 defeat. The Tar Heels were down 35-29 at the break and ultimately didn’t get closer. Both Pete Nance (15 points; 12 rebounds) and Armando Bacot (12 points; 10 rebounds) doubled up. 

Over on the Virginia Tech side, they won five straight to kick off the year as well: the Hokies beat Delaware State, Lehigh, William & Mary, Old Dominion and Penn State before a loss to Charleston and another win over Charleston Southern. 

On Monday versus Minnesota, the Hokies got off to a 39-27 halftime edge. Virginia Tech was outscored 30-28 from there but still won 67-57. Sean Pedulla led the way with 17 points, and Justyn Mutts had 16 points with nine boards. 

PICK: I might take a stab on Virginia Tech here. Regardless, this should be a pretty great matchup. The Hokies have been playing pretty good basketball this year—outside of the Charleston loss, anyway. Still, Virginia Tech is coming off a solid performance versus Minnesota with 49.1 percent shooting from the field and 42 rebounds. The Hokies have held opponents to 64 points or fewer in three of their last four games, but keeping the Tar Heels in check will be tricky. 

North Carolina didn’t shoot very well (33.9 percent) against a great Indiana team in their last outing. It’s been a tough three-game stretch for the Tar Heels, but generally they’ve remained competitive. This will be another challenging matchup and I like Virginia Tech to get in there and cover/win.