North Carolina Tar Heels vs Wake Forest Demon Deacons Prediction, 1/21/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: North Carolina Tar Heels vs Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Date: Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Location: LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem, NC

TV: ESPN+

The North Carolina Tar Heels (12-7) are en route to LJVM Coliseum on Tuesday where they will try to defeat the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (14-4).

The North Carolina Tar Heels took the court against Stanford and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 72-71 in their last contest. Concerning personal fouls, the Tar Heels ended up with 15 and Stanford accounted for 17 personal fouls. They buried 7 of 22 tries from beyond the arc. Stanford finished shooting 92.9% from the free throw line by making 13 of their 14 shots. Moreover, Stanford totaled 30 rebounds (6 offensive, 24 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Stanford distributed 15 dimes and had 3 steals in this contest. When discussing defending, North Carolina allowed the other team to go 43.3% from the floor on 26 of 60 shooting. They also doled out 14 assists for this game in addition to forcing 8 turnovers and getting 3 steals. With respect to rebounding, they earned a total of 30 with 4 of them being of the offensive variety. At the charity stripe, the Tar Heels made 20 of 24 attempts for a percentage of 83.3%. North Carolina ended the game with a 42.6% field goal percentage (23 of 54) and converted 5 out of their 18 shots from distance.

RJ Davis is one guy who was a contributor in the matchup. He scored 19 points on 6 of 15 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 38 minutes and also snagged 3 boards. He finished shooting 40.0% from the floor and earned 5 dimes.

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North Carolina will enter this matchup with a win-loss mark of 12-7 so far this year. They have an average of 82.3 points per contest (34th in the country) while hitting 47.0% from the floor. The Tar Heels are connecting on 32.6% on shots beyond the perimeter (139 of 426) and 75.1% from the free throw line. As a team, North Carolina is collecting 38.1 rebounds per game and has accumulated 269 assists on the year, which has them ranked 138th in D-1 in terms of passing. They are losing possession via turnover 11.0 times per contest and as a squad they are committing 18.0 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

On the defensive end, the Tar Heels are forcing 11.4 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.2 personal fouls. They are currently ranked 203rd in college hoops in allowing assists to the opposition with 246 relinquished on the campaign. The Tar Heels defense is allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 41.8% (512 of 1,226) and they surrender 36.2 boards per contest as a team. They give up 31.9% on 3-point attempts and they rank 295th in Division 1 in opponents points per game (75.8).

The last time they took the court, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons got the win with a final of 72-63 against Virginia Tech. The Demon Deacons were able to snag 21 defensive rebounds and 4 offensive rebounds totaling 25 for the matchup. They turned it over 7 times, while recording 6 steals for this game. Virginia Tech committed 15 personal fouls in this matchup which got the Demon Deacons to the charity stripe for 17 tries. They were able to make 14 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 82.4%. Pertaining to 3-point attempts, Wake Forest knocked down 6 of 19 tries (31.6%). When all was said and done, the Demon Deacons ended up going 26 for 57 from the field which gave them a rate of 45.6%. The Demon Deacons allowed Virginia Tech to knock down 21 out of 52 tries from the field which had them sitting at 40.4% in this game. They finished 31.6% from distance by connecting on 6 of 19 and walked away from this one shooting 15 out of 19 at the free throw line (78.9%). When it comes to cleaning the glass, Wake Forest permitted Virginia Tech to grab 33 in all (8 on the offensive glass).

Hunter Sallis ended up being a major contributor for the Demon Deacons for the game. He made 10 out of 17 in this game for a field goal rate of 58.8%, and accounted for 7 rebounds. He scored 24 points in his 38 minutes on the hardwood and accumulated 2 assists for the game.

Wake Forest has a win-loss record of 14-4 on the year. The Demon Deacons commit 16.4 personal fouls every game and they shoot 74.9% from the charity stripe. Their rate of earning assists is at 11.7 times per game (323rd in the country) and they are giving up possession 11.5 times per game. Wake Forest has accounted for 1,276 pts this season (70.9 per game) and they collect 33.6 boards per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Demon Deacons are shooting 44.8% from the field, which has them ranked 191st in Division 1.

The Wake Forest defense concedes 31.1% on shots from distance (142 of 457) and opponents are connecting on 77.8% of their foul shots. They surrender 12.4 assists and 35.2 rebounds per game, which ranks 130th and 225th in college hoops. The Demon Deacons on the defensive end are ranked 42nd in the country in PPG given up with 65.7. They are forcing 14.4 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 39.0% from the floor (22nd in Division 1).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Wake Forest

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