How to watch North Carolina vs. California basketball game
Halftime Report
Only one more half stands between N. Carolina and the win they were favored to collect coming into this evening. They have jumped out to a quick 39-29 lead against California.
N. Carolina entered the match having won three straight and they’re just one half away from another. Will they make it four, or will California step up and spoil it? We’ll know soon.
Who’s Playing
California Golden Bears @ N. Carolina Tar Heels
Current Records: California 8-8, N. Carolina 11-6
How To Watch
- When: Wednesday, January 15, 2025 at 7 p.m. ET
- Where: Dean E. Smith Center — Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- TV: ACC Network
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online Streaming: Catch select College Basketball matches on Fubo (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $13.00
What to Know
We’ve got another exciting ACC matchup on schedule as the N. Carolina Tar Heels and the California Golden Bears are set to tip at 7:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday at Dean E. Smith Center. The timing is sure in the Tar Heels’ favor as the team sits on four straight wins at home while the Golden Bears have been banged up by three consecutive losses on the road.
Last Saturday, N. Carolina narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past North Carolina State 63-61. The 63-point effort marked the Tar Heels’ lowest-scoring game of the season, but in the end it didn’t matter.
N. Carolina’s success was spearheaded by the efforts of Ian Jackson, who went 8 for 15 en route to 21 points, and Jalen Washington, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 12 rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Washington a new career-high in offensive rebounds (six).
N. Carolina was working as a unit and finished the game with 17 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as North Carolina State only posted seven.
Meanwhile, the point spread may have favored California last Saturday, but the final result did not. They fell just short of Va. Tech by a score of 71-68. The close match was extra heartbreaking for the Golden Bears, who almost overcame a 22 point deficit.
The losing side was boosted by Andrej Stojakovic, who scored 24 points. The matchup was his third in a row with at least 22.4 points.
N. Carolina is on a roll lately: they’ve won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 11-6 record this season. As for California, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-8.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. N. Carolina hasn’t had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 83.2 points per game. However, it’s not like California struggles in that department as they’ve been averaging 77. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Going forward, N. Carolina is the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by 14.5 points. They are a gamble against the spread as they sit with a 6-11 ATS record.
Odds
N. Carolina is a big 14.5-point favorite against California, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Tar Heels as a 13.5-point favorite.
The oddsmakers are expecting fireworks from the offense and set the over/under at a high 161.5 points.
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