The Wake Forest Demon Deacons (3-1 overall, 0-1 ACC) visit the Virginia Cavaliers (5-2, 1-0) in a Wednesday night ACC tussle at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze the Wake Forest-Virginia college basketball betting odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
Virginia is No. 21 in the Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.
Wake Forest at Virginia: Betting odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 11:10 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Wake Forest +950 (bet $100 to win $950) | Virginia -2000 (bet $2,000 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Wake Forest +14.5 (-105) | Virginia -14.5 (-115)
- Over/Under: 123.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Wake Forest at Virginia: Three things to know
- Virginia has allowed just 60.7 points per game, a figure which ranks second in the ACC and 23rd in NCAA-I. Opponents are shooting just 40.5% from the floor. In Charlottesville, the Wahoos have been even stingier with just 51.7 PPG allowed on 35% shooting.
- Wake Forest is right behind UVA in the defensive rankings. The Demon Deacons are 25th in the nation, allowing 60.8 PPG. WFU has played a weak schedule, however, one ranked as a bottom-75 slate. It’s a schedule just four games deep, as Wake Forest was idle for more than a month before facing NCAA-II Catawba last week.
- Solid and rotation-deep defensive rebounding is one key facet to Virginia’s strength on defense. The Cavaliers rank 20th in the nation in preventing second-chance points. They’ve held foes to 6 or fewer offensive boards in 4 of 7 games.
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Wake Forest at Virginia: Odds, betting lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Virginia 67, Wake Forest 53
Money line (ML)
Too much gray area with small sample sizes: PASS.
Against the spread (ATS)
Again, a PASS on a low-data game, especially it being a conference affair with a big spread.
Over/Under (O/U)
Virginia is 3-0 at home with the Under hitting in two of those three games. The Under is 3-1 in the Deacons’ last four road games against teams with a winning record, and it’s 8-3 in the Wahoos’ last 11 games overall.
The total here reflects Virginia’s soul-crushing pace of play. The Cavaliers routinely play games down into the low-60s and even high-50s as far as possessions go.
Peg Wednesday’s game as having decent value on the UNDER 123.5 (-110). UVA comes in on a six-day layoff, and the game is also just the second real game back for a Wake Forest offense looking to find itself. The Under is 21-9 in the last 30 games with Virginia favored by 12-to-18 points at home.
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