Auburn Tigers vs North Carolina Tar Heels Prediction, Odds and Picks for Tuesday, 11/26/24

Things got wild during the first round of the Maui Invitational, but it has given us a tremendous Day 2 matchup between the Auburn Tigers and North Carolina Tar Heels. Both teams were left for dead at halftime on Monday, trailing by almost 20. Auburn managed to rally against #5 Iowa State, dominating the second half 50-32 and winning on a late basket. North Carolina was awful in the first half against a Dayton team that refused to miss, posting 51 points in the first half. Yet the Tar Heels also rallied in the second half, posting an eye-popping 59 points of their own to win by 2. Both teams expended a ton of energy, and one wonders how the legs will be on Tuesday night, as this game may become an early test of endurance and fatigue. For my Auburn vs North Carolina pick though, I am going to go with Auburn -4.

Both teams are clearly great offensively, and they had very similar blueprints to their comeback wins on Monday. Both teams hit 9 shots from deep, and both made a living at the free throw line—18 for Auburn and 27 for the Heels. I think the difference in this game is going to be the Auburn defense and rebounding. Auburn is better inside, and they have one of the better post players in the country in Johni Broome. On the glass yesterday, Carolina was even with Dayton, while Auburn out-rebounded a typically sound Iowa State team. Auburn also plays better defensively. In short, I think Auburn has several paths to victory, while North Carolina’s only path in this one is to out-shoot the Tigers, especially from deep. Lots of folks are pointing at Auburn as potentially the best team in the country right now, and today is a good day to prove it. Give me the Tigers to cover.

Auburn Tigers vs North Carolina Tar Heels Prediction: Auburn -4 (-110) available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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