The No. 8 Wake Forest Demon Deacons kicked the ACC Tournament off with a bang, draining a 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds left to beat Syracuse in a thriller. Wake Forest now faces a quick turnaround against the No. 1 Miami Hurricanes in the quarterfinal round this morning.
Miami has three straight wins over the Demon Deacons, covering the spread in all three victories while averaging 88 points per game. The Hurricanes are hot, winning eight of their last nine thanks to one of the country’s best offenses.
Wake Forest, meanwhile, is just 1-6 against the spread (ATS) in its last seven contests and needs a huge win to bolster its NCAA Tournament resume.
Let’s check out the odds before my best bet for the matchup.
Wake Forest vs. Miami Odds, Spread, and Total
Wake Forest vs. Miami Prediction and Pick
The Hurricanes are a team I’m targeting as a potential Final Four squad and I think they’ll cover this modest spread with ease against a slumping Wake Forest group. There are several key advantages that will propel Miami to victory.
As evidenced by the Hurricanes’ 96-87 win last month, Miami just has too much offensive firepower for the Demon Deacons to handle.
Led by the stellar three-guard trio of Isaiah Wong, Jordan Miller and Nigel Pack, Miami ranks 21st nationally in effective field goal percentage (55.5%) with the fifth-best 3-point shooting percentage (40.6%). That’s problematic for Wake Forest, which ranks 241st in opponent 3-point shooting percentage (35.1%).
To make matters worse, the Demon Deacons are 297th in offensive rebounding percentage (24.6%) and the Hurricanes are eighth in opponent free throw rate (21.9%). That’s significant because the Demon Deacons won’t be able to generate easy points from put-backs or foul shots. In order to beat Miami, Wake Forest will need to outshoot them.
That’s a tall task that I don’t see the Demon Deacons completing successfully. Back the Hurricanes to cover the spread for a fourth straight game against Wake Forest as Miami’s offense proves overwhelming.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
