North Carolina basketball vs. NC State: Scouting report, score prediction for rivalry game

North Carolina basketball is running out of time to boost its NCAA Tournament resume.

With losses in four of their past five games, the Tar Heels (16-10, 8-7 ACC) are headed in the wrong direction ahead of their rivalry matchup with No. 23 NC State (20-7, 10-6) on Sunday (1 p.m., ESPN) at PNC Arena.

UNC, which earned an 80-69 win against the Wolfpack on Jan. 21 in Chapel Hill, is 8-1 in its past nine trips to Raleigh.

Here are some things to know and a score prediction ahead of Carolina’s game at NC State.

UNC’s NCAA Tournament chances

The Tar Heels haven’t done themselves any favors with a 1-4 record in February. With five games remaining, UNC remains in search of a resume-boosting win.

Carolina is 0-9 against Quad 1 opponents, and its one win against a ranked team came in mid-December against Ohio State, which now has a losing record.

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If the Tar Heels don’t start stacking wins, they could be on the wrong side of history as the first preseason No. 1 team in the AP poll to miss the NCAA Tournament.

NC State’s resurgence

Through 26 games, NC State had 20 victories and its best start in 17 years. The Wolfpack saw some of their shine fade in a loss at Syracuse, but this squad is in position to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018, Kevin Keatts’ first season with the program.

Terquavion Smith (18.3 points per game), Jarkell Joiner (16.1 ppg) and DJ Burns (12.3 ppg) nab most of the headlines for the Wolfpack, but Jack Clark’s return to the lineup could be an X factor against UNC. Clark, who was injured in late December and missed 10 games, had 15 points and eight rebounds off the bench at Syracuse.

Tar Heels need more from Pete Nance

Caleb Love, Armando Bacot, RJ Davis and Leaky Black accounted for 68 of UNC’s 72 points against Miami. If the Tar Heels are going to flip the script on their struggles, they must get more production from others, starting with their fifth starter: Pete Nance.

Ahead of exiting early because of a back injury against Wake Forest on Jan. 4, Nance was averaging 12.7 points per game. Now, the Northwestern grad transfer has seen his average dip to 9.7.

During the past four games, Nance has 15 points on 7-of-30 shooting, including an 0-for-13 stretch from 3-point range. For a player averaging 26.5 minutes per game, the production has to be better.

UNC vs. NC State score prediction

No. 23 NC State 76, UNC 73: The Tar Heels are searching for answers and the Wolfpack know exactly what theyr’e capable of as March draws closer. Raleigh has been kind to the Heels in the past – as far as racking up wins – but this group is 2-6 on the road.

Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC basketball vs. NC State: Scouting report, score prediction