Having just run up against one another over the weekend, both the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and Virginia Tech Hokies will have a pretty good idea of how the other team will likely attack them in the second round of the ACC Tournament. While both of these teams each look to be in the Big Dance, another win here would help solidify their seed even more. With that, look for both clubs to go all out in hopes of advancing.
At 7 p.m. ET, tune into ESPN2 for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Wednesday, March 8, 2017, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on Wednesday’s college basketball schedule.
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What a season it’s been in Winston Salem! More or less a bottom feeder since Tim Duncan and Chris Paul roamed the campus, the Deacs put forth a season to remember for the long suffering fans of the program. Wake Forest won 19 games and played to a .500 mark in conference play. While not overly impressive, the team played to a 16-13 record against the spread and enters off a win and cover against BC to move to 4-1 versus the linemakers in their last five games.
Seemingly playing for their Big Dance lives for a bulk of the second half of the regular season, the Hokies seemingly ran out of steam in the second half of last Saturday’s game against the Demon Deacons. They let a 47-42 halftime lead escape them and eventually fell 89-84 as 1.5 point favorites. The loss snapped the teams three game win streak and dropped them to 14-11-1 against the spread for the season. The Hokies invade Brooklyn having gone 2-1 straight up and against the spread in their three neutral court games.
Key Stat
22 – Wake Forest shot 33 free throws last Saturday in a game they weren’t playing in the comforts of their own gym. To get that many chances from the charity stripe on the road is simply insane. Especially when they were accrued against a VTECH squad ranked No. 31 in the country in committing personal fouls. The Hokies only allow their opponents to tally 20.2 percent of their points from the free throw line, but allowed WF to score 30 percent of theirs last week. If they can’t get the fouls under control this time around, they’ll likely fall for a second straight time with the Deacs ranked No. 13 at the stripe.
Player to Watch
John Collins – It’s going to be a huge shame if the Deacons big man decides to take his talents to the NBA next season. This kid has made a huge impact in his second year at the collegiate level, and is a major component of Wake Forest’s overall success. He was recently named to the All-ACC first team and was voted the league’s Most Improved Player. He had a quiet first half against the Hokies last week going scoreless, but went for 13 in the second to lead the Demon Deacons to the outright win. He pulled down a team-high 9 rebounds, but was plagued with foul trouble and enters this game having played all but five minutes against BC.
Free College Basketball ATS Pick
Virginia Tech hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2007, while Wake Forest hasn’t laced up its dancing shoes since 2010. With the Demon Deacons already logging a win in this tournament and already tallying that big win over Louisville, I think they’re already in the Field of 68. Danny Manning certainly has this program on the up and up, but I’m not convinced the team is at a point right now that it can take two straight from the Hokies playing unrested.
VTECH is a year ahead of WF in terms of rebuilding its program, and I just don’t see Zach LeDay and Seth Allen being held down this time around. The Hokies had last week’s game in hand before running out of gas. Now fully recharged with some time off and Wake fatigued, look for Virginia Tech to see this one all the way through and advance to the quarterfinals where the Seminoles await.
College Basketball Odds: Virginia Tech 77, Wake Forest 71
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