Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs North Carolina State Wolfpack Prediction, 2/22/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs NC State Wolfpack

Date: Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Location: PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC

TV: ACCNX

The NC State Wolfpack (21-7) will try to beat the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (17-10) at PNC Arena on Wednesday.

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons faced off with Miami and took a loss by a final of 96-87 in their last game. Wake Forest ended having earned a 55.2% field goal percentage (32 out of 58) and knocked down 15 of their 35 shots from beyond the arc. From the free throw line, the Demon Deacons knocked down 8 of their 8 attempts for a percentage of 100.0%. In relation to rebounding, they earned 25 with 4 of them being offensive. They also dished out 22 assists in the game while forcing 10 turnovers and earning 5 steals. With respect to the defense, Wake Forest let their opponent shoot 58.7% from the floor on 37 of 63 shooting. Miami doled out 16 assists and had 12 steals for the game. In addition, Miami pulled down 25 rebounds (6 offensive, 19 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Miami ended up shooting 77.8% from the charity stripe by converting 14 of 18 tries. They also converted 8 of 16 shots from beyond the perimeter. Regarding fouls, the Demon Deacons ended up with 16 and Miami recorded 9 fouls.

Tyree Appleby is one guy who was a major factor for the matchup. He walked away from this one shooting 60.0% from the field and also earned 9 assists. He was on the court for 36 mins and totaled 2 boards. He ended up walking away with 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting.

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Wake Forest comes into this matchup with a record of 17-10 on the campaign. They average 78.0 points per outing (46th in Division 1) while hitting 46.7% from the floor. The Demon Deacons are hitting 36.9% on 3-point shots (250 of 677) and 75.3% from the free throw line. As a unit, Wake Forest is pulling down 34.3 boards per contest and has accounted for 358 assists this season, which is 206th in college basketball in terms of passing the rock. They lose possession via turnover 11.8 times per contest and as a group they are committing 16.0 personal fouls every game.

On the defensive end of the court, the Demon Deacons are able to force 12.4 turnovers per game and they draw 18.6 personal fouls. They are giving up 34.7% on shots from beyond the perimeter while they are 296th in Division 1 in points per game from their opponents (73.9). The Demon Deacons defensively are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 44.3% (723 of 1,632) and they concede 34.6 rebounds per contest as a group. They rank 151st in the country in giving up assists with 341 surrendered so far this year.

In their last game, the NC State Wolfpack went home victorious with a score of 77-69 against North Carolina. With respect to rebounding, North Carolina State allowed North Carolina to pull down 45 in total (17 on the offensive side). They finished the game shooting 31.8% from three-point range by going 7 of 22 and ended up shooting 18 out of 24 from the free throw line (75.0%). The Wolfpack allowed North Carolina to knock down 22 out of their 62 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 35.5% in this matchup. In all, the Wolfpack shot 32 out of 71 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 45.1%. When discussing shooting from downtown, North Carolina State converted 5 of their 18 tries (27.8%). They were able to bury 8 of the free throw tries for a rate of 80.0%. North Carolina committed 16 fouls for this contest which took the Wolfpack to the free throw line for 10 tries. They also coughed it up 2 times, while earning 7 steals in the matchup. The Wolfpack earned 22 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive boards totaling 31 for this contest.

Jarkel Joiner ended up having an impact for the Wolfpack in this game. He converted 11 of 21 in the game giving him a rate of 52.4%, and added 1 rebound. He accumulated 29 points in his 39 mins of playing time and had 1 assist in this matchup.

North Carolina State has a win-loss record of 21-7 for the season. The Wolfpack are responsible for committing 17.4 fouls per game and they go 72.1% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 13.5 times per contest (156th in college basketball) and they are turning it over 9.7 times per game. North Carolina State has accounted for 2,201 points so far this year (78.6 per game) and they snag 37.6 rebounds per game. In terms of offensive execution, the Wolfpack are hitting on 45.0% from the field, which is 165th in college basketball.

The Wolfpack on defense are ranked 158th in college basketball in PPG given up with 69.2. They are forcing 13.6 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 43.4% from the field (170th in D-1). The North Carolina State defense allows 30.9% on shots from behind the 3-point line (158 of 512) and their opposition makes 72.0% of their free throw attempts. They give up 11.5 assists and 35.1 rebounds every game, which ranks them 92nd and 256th in those categories.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take North Carolina State

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