North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Dayton Flyers Betting Odds

Opening Line: Dayton -3 / North Carolina +3 O/U 137.5

Time: 7 PM EST Thursday March 31, 2010 on ESPN

On Thursday night in the Big Apple the North Carolina Tar Heels take on the Dayton Flyers in the NIT finals. Neither team made it to the Big Dance, but each can finish the season on a high note with a NIT win.

Dayton had a .500 record in the Atlantic 10 conference, which cost them a shot at getting in the NCAA tournament, but they did win 24 games this season including beating such solid teams as Georgia Tech, Xavier, and Cincinnati.

In their semifinals wins, which were both ugly games, North Carolina beat Rhode Island 68-67 in OT and Dayton beat Mississippi 68-63.

This season North Carolina is 13-20-1 ATS and Dayton is 18-15 ATS.

North Carolina’s offense averages 74.7 ppg and is led by F Deon Thompson (13.7 ppg) and in win over Rhode Island he had a big game going for 16 points and he grabbed 13 boards. North Carolina has to score in the frontcourt, as the leading scoring UNC guard (Larry Drew II) is only averaging 8.4 ppg.

In their win over Rhode Island in the semis the Tar Heels did not shoot the rock well only shooting 35.8% from the floor and only had a 3-pt FG% of 12.5% (2/16). However, they won the game because of their defense, which held Rhode Island to only 36.8% and they also forced 16 turnovers.

Dayton averages 70 ppg and they have a well-balanced offense with the trio of F Chris Wright (13.7 ppg), G/F Chris Johnson (11.8 ppg), and G Marcus Johnson (9 ppg). In the win over Mississippi in the semis Chris Johnson had 22 points and 10 boards, but he only shot 5/14 from the field.

Just like North Carolina Dayton won their semifinals game with their defense, as they only shot 33.3%, but held Mississippi to 34.4% shooting.

The Flyers are a good team n the boards with both Chris Johnson and Wright are each averaging around 7 rebounds per game. North Carolina F Deon Thompson is the main guy on the boards for the Tar Heels averaging 6.6 rpg, but he will need help from teammates so the Flyers do not dominate the boards.

Betting Trends

Dayton is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games and has an Over record of 5-2 in their last 7 games.

North Carolina is 8-3 ATS in their last 11 neutral site games and has an Under record of 20-7 in their last 27 games.

Our Selection : Take Under 139 points.