Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs Virginia Cavaliers Prediction, 2/17/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs Virginia Cavaliers

Date: Saturday, February 17, 2024

Location: John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA

TV: ESPN+

The Virginia Cavaliers (19-6) will try to defeat the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (16-8) at John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday.

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons stepped onto the hardwood against Duke and took a loss by a final of 77-69 in their last contest. Wake Forest finished the contest with a 39.1% field goal percentage (27 out of 69) and knocked down 6 of their 26 shots from downtown. At the free throw line, the Demon Deacons knocked down 9 of 13 tries for a rate of 69.2%. In relation to pulling down boards, they collected a total of 35 with 13 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 11 assists in the game while forcing the other team into 13 turnovers and getting 9 steals. Pertaining to the defense, Wake Forest allowed their opponent to shoot 47.3% from the field on 26 of 55 shooting. Duke dished out 14 dimes and had 4 steals for the contest. In addition, Duke grabbed 37 rebounds (7 offensive, 30 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Duke finished the contest at 72.0% from the charity stripe by knocking down 18 of their 25 attempts. They made 7 of their 25 shots from 3-point range. In regard to personal fouls, the Demon Deacons finished with 21 while Duke accounted for 17 personal fouls.

Hunter Sallis is one player who was important in this matchup. He racked up 22 points on 10 out of 20 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 38 mins and totaled 5 boards. He ended up shooting 50.0% from the field and also totaled 4 dimes.

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Wake Forest heads into this one with a win-loss record of 16-8 for the season. They are turning it over 11.1 times per game and as a team they are committing 15.8 personal fouls per contest. As a unit, Wake Forest is pulling in 35.2 rebounds per game and has accounted for 298 dimes on the season, which is 268th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. The Demon Deacons are connecting on 37.3% from downtown (203 of 544) and 79.9% from the free throw line. They have an average of 80.3 points per contest (45th in Division 1) on 47.4% from the floor.

On the defensive end, the Demon Deacons are able to force 11.7 turnovers per contest and they draw 17.9 fouls. They are 18th in Division 1 in giving up assists with 251 conceded so far this season. The Demon Deacons defense is allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 42.9% (615 of 1,434) and they relinquish 33.1 boards per game as a squad. They are conceding 31.7% from 3-point land and they rank 145th in the country in opponents PPG (70.7).

The last time they took the hardwood, the Virginia Cavaliers took a loss by a score of 74-63 when they played Pittsburgh. The Cavaliers were able to corral 18 defensive rebounds and 1 offensive boards for a total of 19 in this matchup. They also gave up possession of the ball 5 times, while recording 4 steals for the game. Pittsburgh had 11 personal fouls in the game which took the Cavaliers to the charity stripe for 13 tries. They were able to knock down 9 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 69.2%. Regarding shots from distance, Virginia converted 4 of 14 attempts (28.6%). When the final whistle blew, the Cavaliers shot 25 for 50 from the field which had them shooting 50.0%. The Cavaliers allowed Pittsburgh to knock down 26 out of 58 tries from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 44.8% for the matchup. They finished the game shooting 43.8% from 3-point land via 14 out of 32 and walked away from this one shooting 8 out of 11 from the charity stripe (72.7%). When talking about how they cleaned up the glass, Virginia allowed Pittsburgh to snag 31 in total (9 offensive).

Reece Beekman was important for the Cavaliers for the matchup. He tallied 19 points in his 33 mins on the hardwood and had 5 assists in this contest. He converted 8 of 14 for this contest giving him a rate of 57.1%, and earned 6 rebounds.

Virginia has a mark of 19-6 for the campaign. The Cavaliers commit 13.8 fouls per game while shooting 65.7% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 16.0 times per game (39th in college basketball) and they turn the ball over 8.2 times per contest. Virginia has 1,641 pts this year (65.6 per game) and they grab 32.4 rebounds per contest. As an offense, the Cavaliers are hitting on 45.1% from the floor, which ranks 158th in the country.

The Virginia defense gives up 31.5% on shots from behind the 3-point line (166 of 527) and opponents are connecting on 73.2% of their free throw shots. They have surrendered 10.6 dimes and 33.7 boards per game, which has them ranked 25th and 124th in college hoops. The Cavaliers on defense are ranked 3rd in college hoops in PPG given up with 58.4. They have forced 13.0 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 39.6% from the floor (14th in college hoops).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Virginia

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