The No. 22 NC State Wolfpack (19-5, 9-4 ACC) will look to add another loss to the No. 9 Virginia Cavaliers (17-4, 9-3) in Charlottesville Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET (ACC Network). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the NC State vs. Virginia odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
NC State, despite not being ranked, comes into this game on a 4-game winning streak since losing 80-69 to UNC Jan. 21. The Wolfpack, who came into that game as 6.5-point underdogs, were not able to keep it close against their rivals. But they have been able to win convincingly since then. This includes the last 2 games, a 94-66 win over Florida State as 10-point favorites and most recently, a 72-64 win as 14-point favorites against Georgia Tech Saturday.
As NC State was beating Georgia Tech, Virginia was losing to cross-state rival Virginia Tech 74-68 as 2-point underdogs. This was the Cavaliers’ 3rd-straight loss at Virginia Tech, and they will be happy to get back on their home court for this showdown with the Wolfpack.
Virginia, one of the slowest teams in the nation, will look to use its defense, which ranks 10th at 60.9 points, to hold down an NC State offense, which ranks 28th at 79.6 points. While doing so, Virginia will look to improve on its 213rd ranked offense averaging only 70.3 points.