Pick on the spread for Clemson-North Carolina on February 11

After starting the year as the top ranked team in the country, the North Carolina Tar Heels has not just fallen out of the standings, but find themselves in possible danger of missing the NCAA Tournament if their three-game losing streak swells even further at home against the Clemson Tigers on Saturday.

Clemson Tigers and North Carolina Tar Heels (-7.5, 146.5)

Offense was expected to carry the Tar Heels to great heights this season, yet they rank just 66th in the country in points scored on a per possession basis due to a 3-point shooting percentage of 30.7%, which ranks 321st among the 363 Division I teams.

Clemson is the opposite of North Carolina as they began the season projected in the ACC Media Poll to not be in the upper half of the conference, but are in a three-way tie for first place in the conference standings thanks to their 3-point shooting.

As a collective, Clemson ranks 55th in the nation in 3-point shooting at 36.4% with four of their top five scorers in terms of points per game making at least 35.7% of their 3-point attempts.

Clemson also is good at playing fundamentally sound basketball, ranking second in the country in free throw shooting percentage at 80.2% and are 38th in the country in defensive rebound rate, allowing opponents to get a rebound on 22.5% of their missed shots.

The Tar Heels have shown this season they will not put opposing offenses under duress, ranking 343rd nationally in turnovers forced per possession at home and are 114th in the country in points allowed on a per possession basis.

The Tigers have been the more solid defense this season, ranking 14th nationally in opponent field goal shooting percentage at 39.7% and will continue to woes of North Carolina on Saturday.

The Play: Clemson +7.5

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