North Carolina vs NC State basketball injury report and predictions, March 16: Availability of Dennis Parker Jr., MJ Rice and more

The NC State Wolfpack (21-14, 9-11 ACC) will face the North Carolina Tar Heels (27-6, 17-3 ACC) in the ACC Tournament final tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET. This matchup will be broadcast on ESPN from the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

NC State will be playing its fifth game in as many days after beating Louisville, Syracuse, Duke and Virginia to advance to the final.

The Tar Heels are attempting to win their ninth consecutive game tonight. They advanced past Florida State in the quarterfinal and Pittsburgh in the semifinal to get to their date with NC State in the championship.

NC State will once again have a few injuries to overcome against a dominant North Carolina team that is fully healthy. Here's the injury report heading into the ACC Conference championship.

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North Carolina vs. NC State basketball injuries

Dennis Parker Jr., NC State

Freshman guard Dennis Parker Jr. is questionable for this matchup as he continues to deal with an illness. His status remains up in the air after he hasn't been in action for the Wolfpack's previous five games.

Parker has played in 29 games this season, starting in 12. He is averaging 4.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.4 assists in his first season with NC State.

LJ Thomas, NC State

NC State guard LJ Thomas is out indefinitely with an undisclosed injury. Thomas stepped away from the team earlier this season after playing in 12 games.

He was averaging 2.6 points and 1.1 rebounds and scored his season-high 10 points against UMES earlier this season.

MJ Rice, NC State

Sophomore guard transfer from Kansas MJ Rice opted to redshirt the remainder of this season after appearing in nine games. Rice dealt with various injuries last season and announced he would be stepping away from basketball in September for personal reasons.

Rice made his first appearance for the Wolfpack on December 6 against UMES, where he tallied 11 total points. The final game he played this season came on January 13 against North Carolina before submitting his redshirt request to the NCAA.

Rice averaged 4.1 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.1 assists in the nine games this season.

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North Carolina vs. NC State basketball prediction

The North Carolina Tar Heels enter this contest as 10.5-point favorites against an NC State team that shocked many by making it this far in the ACC Tournament. These two teams met twice this season, with the Tar Heels victorious in both.

Their first meeting in January resulted in a 13-point victory for North Carolina behind 16 points from standout senior guard RJ Davis. Davis ranks 17th in the country in scoring average, with 21.1 points per game this season.

The second meeting between the Wolfpack and Tar Heels was a game in which four UNC starters combined for 64 of their 79 points. The Tar Heels shot 47.2% from the field and an impressive 23–27 from the free throw line in a 79–70 win.

While NC State couldn't manage to defeat the Tar Heels in either of their regular season matchups, they have gotten some excellent performances from senior forward DJ Burns Jr. throughout the ACC Tournament.

Burns is averaging 14.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists for NC State over the last four games of the conference tournament and is a nightmare matchup for any defender.

Senior guard DJ Horne is another weapon for the Wolfpack this season. He is the team's leading scorer this season and has put up big numbers off the bench after missing the ACC Tournament opener against Louisville.

NC State will likely come out aggressively swinging, but playing five games in five days is no small task. North Carolina has only had to play two games in the last six days, so they will be the more rested team.

Pair that with the talent they have all over the floor, and it should result in an ACC Tournament Championship victory for the Tar Heels.

Prediction: North Carolina Tar Heels 77 - NC State Wolfpack 68