The Wake Forest Demon Deacons (7-1, 0-0 ACC) and Clemson Tigers (6-2, 0-0) open their ACC play Friday at Littlejohn Coliseum. The opening tip will be at 7 p.m. ET (ACC Network Extra). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Wake Forest vs. Clemson odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Wake Forest has won 3 straight games since falling 77-75 in overtime to Loyola Marymount Nov. 20. All 3 wins have been straight-up and against the number, including the Deacons’ last game when they beat the Wisconsin Badgers 78-75 as a 6-point road underdog Tuesday.
The Tigers also downed a Big Ten foe Tuesday when they covered as 2-point favorites with a 101-94 overtime win over Penn State. Clemson shot 50.8% from the floor and 52.4% from 3-point range in that win over the Nittany Lions. Since Nov. 15, the Tigers have shot 49.1% and 41%, respectively, in those categories.
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Wake Forest at Clemson odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 11:25 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Wake Forest +130 (bet $100 to win $130) | Clemson -160 (bet $160 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Wake Forest +2.5 (-105) | Clemson -2.5 (-115)
- Over/Under (O/U): 142.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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Wake Forest at Clemson picks and predictions
Prediction
Clemson 72, Wake Forest 68
Moneyline
The host Tigers (-160) are a lean at the current price but really only an actionable value at -150 or better. PASS.
Against the spread
The Tigers have gone 7-2 ATS in the last 9 Wake-Clemson meetings, including 2 straight ATS wins by double-digit margins.
Clemson has played a couple of foes at the Quadrant 1 and 2 levels and is 2-0 ATS in those games (vs. Iowa Nov. 25 and vs. PSU Tuesday). The ATS win over Iowa (in a 74-71 loss) was instructive, as it was a slow (Clemson)-vs.-fast (Iowa) match-up as is this game against Wake Forest which has a top-quartile tempo number.
Clemson has 4 high-impact players that are upperclassmen. Look for the home five to log an impressive performance in this ACC lid-lifter.
BACK THE TIGERS -2.5 (-115).
Over/Under
Peg this match-up for a bit of shooting regression, but a likely exchange of Clemson points of turnovers and Wake Forest points at the line counter that regression just enough to make this a total to LAY OFF.
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