Duke Blue Devils at Wake Forest Demon Deacons Betting Preview
Wednesday night features an ACC battle as the No. 8 Duke Blue Devils (12-2, 2-1 in ACC) take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (13-3, 3-2 in ACC). The Demon Deacons will host this one at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 pm ET.
Duke had its five-game winning streak snapped on Saturday at the hands of Miami. It was their first conference and home loss of the season. In the loss, Paolo Banchero led all scorers with 20 points. Wendall Moore had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
After losing two in a row, Wake Forest has bounced back recently with back-to-back wins. On Saturday, they took down Syracuse at home 77-74.
Alondes Williams led the way with a double-double as he had 25 points and 12 rebounds. Isaiah Mucius added 18 points, while Khadim Sy also added 13.
Duke is the favorite despite playing on the road. They are -192 to win, while the Deacon Demons’ moneyline sits at +158. The spread features Wake Forest +4.5 (-110), and the over/under for total points is 151.5 (-110).
More Odds
Duke currently has the second-best odds of winning the National Championship this season at +1000. The Demon Deacons are +20000 to win it all.
By The Numbers
Both of these teams have been stellar on offense this season. The Blue Devils rank sixth in scoring averaging 83.3 points per game (76.3 on the road). The Demon Deacons rank 17th, averaging 80 points per game.
Defensively, the Blue Devils again hold the edge. They rank 63rd in scoring defense allowing opponents 64.7 points per game (74.3 on the road). Wake Forest ranks 152nd allowing 68.6 points per game (64.1 at home).
Duke Looks To Get Back On Track
One thing about having younger teams is that you can occasionally hit speed bumps throughout the season. However, as long as the team is playing its best basketball when March rolls around, that is all that matters.
For Duke, they are hoping the home loss to Miami was just a speed bump and that they can get back on track Wednesday as they travel to Wake Forest.
Leading the way for Duke’s offense this season is freshman forward Paolo Banchero. The young star is averaging 17.3 points per game on 49.4% shooting. He is also chipping in 7.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.
Aside from Banchero, Duke has two other stars averaging double digits in Wendell Moore Jr. and Trevor Keels. Moore is averaging 16 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.3 steals. For Keels, the guard is averaging 12.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.7 steals per game.
Wake Forest Looking For Signature Conference Win
At 13-3, the Demon Deacons have gotten off to a strong start this season. Still, they would love to pick up a signature win on Wednesday as they host the No. 8 Blue Devils.
Wake Forest has four players averaging double-digits per game, but they are led by senior guard Alondes Williams. This season, Williams is averaging 20.4 points on 55% shooting. He is also adding 6.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.
The Demon Deacons are deep, though. Jake LaRavia (14.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.6 steals), Daivien Williamson (12.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.3 steals), and Isaiah Mucius (10.3 points, 3.8 rebounds) have all had nice starts to their seasons.
Other contributors for Wake Forest include Dallas Walton (8.2 points, 5.2 rebounds) and Khadim Sy (7.1 points, 4.5 rebounds).
Take Duke To Win And Cover On The Road
Wake Forest deserves a lot of credit at this point. Despite mild expectations before the season started, the Demon Deacons are 13-3 on the year and undefeated at home.
Even though Wake Forest has played well, they have not played anyone to the caliber of Duke. In fact, their lone matchup against a current top-25 team was a 15-point loss to No. 12 LSU.
While Wake Forest will put up a fight, expect Duke to eventually take control of this game and give the Demon Deacons their first loss at home.
Take Duke -4.5.
