Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs Louisville Cardinals Prediction, 1/28/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs Louisville Cardinals

Date: Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY

TV: ESPN+

KFC Yum! Center is where the Louisville Cardinals (15-5) will take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (15-5) on Tuesday.

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons stepped onto the hardwood against Duke and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 63-56 in their last contest. In the matter of personal fouls, the Demon Deacons ended up finishing with 19 and Duke had 22 personal fouls. They converted 9 out of their 32 attempts from distance. Duke ended up going 70.6% at the free throw line by making 12 of 17 shots. In addition, Duke snagged 43 rebounds (12 offensive, 31 defensive), but didn't notch a rejection. Duke earned 14 dimes and had 4 steals for the contest. In relation to defense, Wake Forest allowed their opponent to shoot 36.8% from the floor on 21 out of 57 shooting. They also recorded 12 dimes for this contest as well as forcing 16 turnovers and earning 8 steals. In relation to grabbing boards, they compiled a total of 26 with 2 of them being on the offensive end. When they shot from the free throw line, the Demon Deacons converted 15 of their 23 shots for a rate of 65.2%. Wake Forest finished the game with a 37.3% field goal percentage (19 of 51) and made 3 of their 18 three-point shots.

Juke Harris is a player who was a contributor for this contest. He went 38.5% from the floor but wasn't able to get a dime. He played 27 minutes and also snagged 5 rebounds. He ended up with 14 points on 5 of 13 shooting.

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Wake Forest will enter this contest with a mark of 15-5 on the season. They are averaging 70.0 points per outing (288th in D-1) while hitting 44.2% from the field. The Demon Deacons are connecting on 27.7% on shots from distance (117 of 423) and 74.6% from the free throw line. As a unit, Wake Forest is pulling in 33.7 rebounds per contest and has earned 229 dimes this season, which ranks 333rd in the nation in terms of passing the rock. They are turning it over 11.6 times per contest and as a group are committing 16.6 fouls every game.

On the defensive end of the court, the Demon Deacons are forcing their opponents into 14.4 turnovers per contest while drawing 18.0 fouls. They are giving up 30.5% on three-point shots while they are 40th in D-1 in PPG allowed (65.6). The Demon Deacons are giving up a field goal percentage of 39.0% (448 of 1,150) and they relinquish 35.6 boards per game as a team. They currently rank 150th in college hoops in giving up assists to the opposition with 255 surrendered so far this year.

When they last stepped on the court, the Louisville Cardinals walked away with a victory by a final of 98-73 when they played SMU. The Cardinals were able to collect 22 defensive rebounds and 12 offensive boards totaling 34 for the game. They also turned it over 7 times, while earning 3 steals for the matchup. SMU had 19 personal fouls in this matchup which took the Cardinals to the free throw line for a total of 19 tries. They were able to make 17 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 89.5%. With regard to shooting from downtown, Louisville converted 19 of 42 tries (45.2%). At the conclusion of this game, the Cardinals finished the game shooting 31 out of 67 from the field which had them shooting 46.3%. The Cardinals allowed SMU to convert 23 out of their 57 tries from the field which left them with a rate of 40.4% for the game. They went 33.3% from downtown by going 6 of 18 and ended up shooting 21 out of 24 from the charity stripe (87.5%). In reference to rebounds, Louisville allowed SMU to grab 27 in total (9 on the offensive side).

Reyne Smith ended up being a major contributor for the Cardinals for this contest. He earned 30 points in his 37 mins of playing time and accumulated 1 assist for this game. He converted 10 of 18 in the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 55.6%, and had 3 rebounds.

Louisville has a record of 15-5 on the season. The Cardinals are responsible for committing 16.1 fouls per contest and they go 74.0% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 14.2 times per game (148th in the country) and they are turning it over 11.1 times per contest. Louisville has accounted for 1,587 points for the season (79.4 per contest) and they pull in 38.5 boards per contest. When it comes to offensive execution, the Cardinals are shooting 43.8% from the field, which ranks 240th in college.

The Louisville defense surrenders 34.9% on 3-point shots (155 of 444) and their opponents are knocking down 71.8% of their foul shots. They have surrendered 12.4 dimes and 33.2 rebounds per game, which ranks 120th and 113th in the country. The Cardinals defensively are ranked 126th in college in points allowed per contest with 69.8. They are forcing their opponents into 13.5 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 43.7% from the floor (203rd in D-1).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Wake Forest

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