The Iowa Hawkeyes travel to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in college basketball action tonight. The game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN. Currently the odds for the game have the Tar Heels favored by a small margin in this one.
North Carolina has been pretty solid to start the season. Roy Williams once again has a team poised to make a very good run during the regular season, but it already has a bump in the road with a loss last week to Butler in Atlantis. UNC rebounded well from that loss, though, by knocking off a pair of ranked teams in UCLA and Florida.
Iowa will give them another test. The Hawkeyes and Tar Heels are meeting as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, which the Big Ten has dominated to this point by winning six of the eight matchups. Iowa has a chance but it's going to be their toughest test of the season potentially. The Hawkeyes have already lost to Texas and Syracuse, but North Carolina is probably better than both of those teams.
Marcus Paige is a potential player of the year candidate and leads the Tar Heels. He's one of the best guards in the country and if he gets UNC going in transition tonight, it's going to be a tough game for Iowa. Kennedy Meeks also has been playing well down on the blocks for Williams' squad, averaging close to a double-double. For the year the Tar Heels are averaging better than 81 points per game.
Iowa has a bunch of scrappy players. They average better than 73 points per game themselves and have some experience that should help them tonight in what is going to be a tough atmosphere. Both teams rebound the basketball well, but UNC is going to be very tough to beat at home.
Look for the Tar Heels to pick up a solid win here over the Hawkeyes.
Free Pick: North Carolina 84, Iowa 70
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