The North Carolina Tar Heels and Wake Forest Demon Deacons take to the court tonight in ACC College Basketball action. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN2. Currently the odds for the game have the Tar Heels favored on the road to get the win.
North Carolina is one of the best rebounding teams in the country and that's helped them win games. Wake Forest, though, is also a good rebounding team and will look to neutralize the Tar Heels on the glass in this game, which many teams aren't able to do. North Carolina comes into this game tonight fresh off winning three straight in the conference, notably knocking off Louisville.
Roy Williams' team has a couple of losses on the season, some not so good, but North Carolina still only has one ACC loss, joining Notre Dame (who beat UNC) and Syracuse. All three are looking up on undefeated at No. 2 Virginia, which North Carolina will play in a couple of weeks. Although they are a much better basketball team than Wake Forest, the Heels cannot look past a conference opponent while playing on the road. North Carolina has won all three of their conference road battles already this season.
And North Carolina remembers what happened last year while playing at Wake Forest — the Demon Deacons forced UNC into a bunch of turnovers, took them out of their game and picked up a six-point win over Williams' club. UNC hasn't lost two straight at Wake Forest in 12 years.
This line probably should be higher, but note that Wake Forest has been scoring a lot of points the past four games in ACC play. The Demon Deacons put up 76 against Louisville, 65 against Duke, 76 against Georgia Tech in a win and 83 in an overtime loss last week to Syracuse. A pair of Deacons — Codi Miller-McIntyre (13.3) and Devin Thomas (12.9) — average in double digits this season and both will have to play big tonight. Thomas is the best rebounder on Wake Forest, but can he battle enough on the glass to give Wake Forest an edge?
The Tar Heels' front line of Kennedy Meeks and Brice Johnson give them big bodies on the interior, wearing down opponents. Both are double-double type players and should be able to have big games tonight.
North Carolina can win ugly and they can play flashy — overall they average 79 points a game. Wake Forest will have to slow them down in order to stay in the game, but Marcus Paige will lead the Tar Heels to a comfortable win.
Free Pick: North Carolina 75, Wake Forest 66
The NBA At The Halfway Mark
Teddy Covers from Pregame.com and Pauly Howard give their opinions on the NBA as we near the halfway mark of the season.
$25 of picks FREE! No Obligation - No Credit Card Required - Becoming a member is Fast and Free!
Get more Free Picks from the Pregame Pros HERE.
Be sure and check out Pregame.tv every week for our videos that include handicapping tips, Webinars, analysis and Free Plays.