Wake Forest vs North Carolina 1/22/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The North Carolina Tar Heels and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons meet Saturday in college basketball action from LJVM Coliseum. North Carolina is currently 12-5 this year. The Tar Heels lost to Miami in their last outing. As for Wake Forest, they’re 15-4 on the season and fresh off a win over Georgia Tech. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

North Carolina posted a 10-3 run in their first 13 outings this year, losing to only Purdue, Tennessee and Kentucky along the way. Since then it’s been a 2-2 stretch with wins over Virginia and Georgia Tech between losses to Notre Dame and Miami. 

In the matchup versus the Hurricanes on Tuesday, North Carolina was drilled 49-22 in the first half. The Tar Heels kept up from there but still lost 85-57 in a blowout. Armando Bacot was the only double-digit scorer with 15 points, 12 rebounds and one assist. 

Over on the Wake Forest side, they posted an 11-3 run out of the gate this year with losses to LSU, Louisville and Miami. The Demon Deacons have hit a 4-1 record since, taking out Florida State, Syracuse, Virginia and Georgia Tech in that time. 

Matched up against Georgia Tech on Wednesday, Wake Forest put up 37 points in the first half and 43 more after the break in an 80-64 win. Alondes Williams topped the team on 19 points and nine assists. Isaiah Mucius added 18 points and two steals. 

The Deacons are 0-5 ATS in their last five as a home underdog and the under is 4-1 in their last five overall. The under is 5-0 in Wake’s last five at home. 

Meanwhile, the Tar Heels are 4-0 ATS in their last four after an ATS loss and 5-11-1 ATS in their last 17 road games. The under is 4-0-1 in UNC’s last five after an ATS loss.

PICK: I’m going to try Wake Forest. The Deacons took care of business in their last matchup versus Georgia Tech, shooting 56.9 percent from the floor with 34 rebounds and 23 team assists. Wake Forest has been scoring pretty well over this 4-1 stretch; they’ve hit 76 or more points in three of those games. 

As for North Carolina, they stumbled against a tough Miami team on Tuesday. That said, the Tar Heels have been solid on offense lately with 70 or more points in five of their last six. Wake Forest is really going to have to push on offense to bag a cover here, but I think they’re up to the challenge. Should be a fun one to watch.