Best UNC vs. Syracuse Betting Picks for Tuesday, Feb. 13

Exactly a month ago today, the Syracuse Orange suffered the worst loss for the program in 20 years when they visited North Carolina at Dean Smith Center. The 103-67 victory for the Tar Heels was one of the most lopsided games in the ACC this season as North Carolina thoroughly dominated the entire game, leading by 22 at halftime. Now head coach Adrian Aurty will look to exact revenge in this rematch, but they have a mountain to climb.

Syracuse has been one of the streakiest teams in the country. They get blown out regularly but have the capacity to stay in any game as they can get hot from deep on any given night.

However, Orange is dealing with significant personnel issues. Benny Williams has been dismissed from the program, Naheem McLeod is out for the season with a right foot injury, and Peter Carey is dealing with a minor injury that will likely keep him out of the UNC matchup. This leaves the Syracuse frontcourt extremely shorthanded, which can be a big area of concern against the Tar Heels' paint dominance.

The Tar Heels haven't looked convincing since their win against Duke ten days ago. They lost at home to Clemson and barely won against Miami last week, raising concerns about discipline and complacency. Virginia and Duke are breathing down their necks in the conference title race, so the Tar Heels can't afford to lose steam ahead of the final stretch of the season.

UNC vs. Syracuse Odds, Spread, and Total

UNC vs. Syracuse Betting Pick and Prediction

The Tar Heels aren't as dominant away from home. Syracuse will have the extra motivation advantage to make sure they don't get blown out again.

Yet, UNC has significant matchup advantages. The starting center for Syracuse is Maliq Brown, a 6'8 forward. His backup will be Mounir Hima, who has yet to play more than four minutes in any conference game this season. The Tar Heels have Armando Bacot, one of the most dominant big men in college basketball.

Syracuse has also been terrible against the spread all year. (9-15) They have beaten the spread only once in their last seven games. It is just really difficult to pick them against the best team in the ACC.

Pick: UNC -8.5

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.