Western Illinois Leathernecks (26-5, 18-4 OVC) at North Carolina Tar Heels (26-7, 15-5 ACC)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Friday, 5:30 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Tar Heels -26.5; over/under is 132.5
BOTTOM LINE: No. 15 North Carolina plays Western Illinois in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Tar Heels’ record in ACC games is 15-5, and their record is 11-2 in non-conference play. North Carolina scores 75.4 points and has outscored opponents by 16.4 points per game.
The Leathernecks are 18-4 in OVC play. Western Illinois ranks second in the OVC allowing 60.1 points while holding opponents to 37.3% shooting.
North Carolina makes 45.6% of its shots from the field this season, which is 8.3 percentage points higher than Western Illinois has allowed to its opponents (37.3%). Western Illinois averages 16.9 more points per game (75.9) than North Carolina allows to opponents (59.0).
TOP PERFORMERS: Lanie Grant averages 2.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Tar Heels, scoring 10.6 points while shooting 43.1% from beyond the arc. Nyla Harris is averaging 11.3 points and 6.7 rebounds over the last 10 games.
Mia Nicastro is averaging 24.1 points and 9.8 rebounds for the Leathernecks. Addi Brownfield is averaging 12.5 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Tar Heels: 8-2, averaging 74.1 points, 36.0 rebounds, 16.0 assists, 6.8 steals and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 59.9 points per game.
Leathernecks: 8-2, averaging 73.3 points, 30.8 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 8.0 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 48.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 59.6 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
