Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs North Carolina Tar Heels Prediction, 1/20/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs North Carolina Tar Heels

Date: Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Location: Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, NC

TV: ACCN

Odds/Point Spread: Wake Forest (+11.5)

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons (3-5) head to Dean E. Smith Center on Wednesday where they'll meet the North Carolina Tar Heels (8-5). The odds on this matchup have North Carolina as 11.5-point favorites. The over/under opens at 142.

Wake Forest comes into this matchup with a mark of 3-5 for the season. The Demon Deacons are hitting 31.9% on shots from downtown (59 of 185) and 75.5% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 70.0 points per outing (225th in the country) on 44.8% from the field. They are turning it over 14.1 times per contest and as a unit are committing 17.0 personal fouls per game. As a team, Wake Forest is collecting 32.1 boards per contest and has tallied 94 dimes for the campaign, which has them ranked 308th in the country in terms of passing. Defensively, the Demon Deacons are forcing their opponents into 15.4 turnovers every game and they draw 16.3 personal fouls. They are relinquishing 31.5% on 3-point shots and they rank 92nd in Division 1 in opponents PPG (66.6). The Demon Deacons defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 45.7% (192 of 420) and they relinquish 31.3 rebounds per contest as a basketball team. They are ranked 47th in college basketball in allowing assists to the opposition with 98 relinquished this year.

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons stepped onto the hardwood against the Virginia Tech Hokies and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 64-60 in their last game. Wake Forest walked away from the contest having earned a 36.7% FG percentage (22 out of 60) and converted 7 out of their 23 3-pointers. From the charity stripe, the Demon Deacons converted 9 of 15 tries for a percentage of 60.0%. Regarding pulling down boards, they earned 28 with 9 of them being of the offensive variety. They also doled out 8 assists for this contest as well as getting 10 steals and 2 blocks. Concerning defense, Wake Forest allowed the other team to go 36.7% from the field on 22 of 60 shooting. Virginia Tech distributed 10 assists and had 5 steals in the game. In addition, the Hokies collected 26 rebounds (6 offensive, 20 defensive) and had 2 blocked shots. Virginia Tech walked away from this one shooting 69.6% from the charity stripe by knocking down 16 of their 23 shots. They knocked down 4 out of their 18 shots from three-point range.

Ismael Massoud is a player who was a major contributor for the game. He ended up finishing with 12 points on 4 of 9 shooting. He played for 22 mins and also snagged 4 rebounds. Massoud went 44.4% from the field and also earned 2 assists. One more player that was a determining factor in this game for the Demon Deacons was Daivien Williamson. He snagged 2 rebounds and tallied 2 dimes. He finished the game at 27.3% from the field for this game by going 3-of-11 (11 points). In all, Williamson was on the hardwood for 39 min.

North Carolina has a record of 8-5 so far this season. The Tar Heels commit 17.9 fouls every game and they shoot 68.9% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 14.3 times per game (125th in the country) and they are turning it over 15.3 times per contest. North Carolina has accounted for 951 pts for the season (73.2 per contest) and they snag 43.8 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Tar Heels are connecting on 41.8% from the floor, which is 284th in the nation. The Tar Heels on defense are ranked 158th in college hoops in PPG given up with 69.5. The North Carolina defense surrenders 35.5% on shots from distance (108 of 304) and their opposition makes 67.0% of their shots from the free throw line. They have relinquished 12.5 dimes and 31.9 rebounds every game, ranking them 151st and 62nd in Division 1. They are able to force 13.8 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 42.6% from the field (157th in college hoops).

The last time they took the hardwood, the North Carolina Tar Heels took a loss by a score of 82-75 when they played the Florida State Seminoles. The Tar Heels earned 15 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive boards for a total of 26 in the matchup. They rejected 2 attempts while earning 9 steals for the contest. The Seminoles committed 16 personal fouls for the matchup which got the Tar Heels to the free throw line for a total of 14 tries. They were able to make 11 of them for a clip of 78.6%. In reference to shooting from distance, North Carolina buried 10 out of 24 tries (41.7%). When all was said and done, the Tar Heels finished 27 for 62 from the floor which gave them a rate of 43.5%. The Tar Heels allowed the Seminoles to make 24 out of their 50 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 48.0% for the matchup. They finished the game shooting 50.0% from three-point range by connecting on 8 out of 16 and walked away from this one shooting 26 out of 27 from the free throw line (96.3%). In regard to rebounds, North Carolina allowed Florida State to snag 25 overall (5 on the offensive side).

RJ Davis ended up having an impact for the Tar Heels for this contest. He converted 6 of 9 for this contest for a field goal percentage of 66.7%, which had him sitting at 16 points. Davis totaled 4 rebounds in his 20 minutes played and had 3 assists for the matchup. An additional guy that was important for North Carolina was Kerwin Walton. He ended up walking away with 14 points in his 29 minutes on the hardwood by way of 5 of 13 shooting in this matchup. Walton ended up shooting 38.5% from the floor as well as earning 2 assists and 2 total rebounds.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take North Carolina (-11.5)

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