Wake Forest vs VCU 3/19/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The VCU Rams and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons met in college basketball action from the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in an NIT tournament matchup on Saturday.

The VCU Rams come into this one fresh off of their 90-79 win over Princeton in the first round of the NIT. Adrian Baldwin JR. and Keshawn Curry each have 23 points with Baldwin Jr adding 5 assists while Curry shot 10 of 16 from the floor. Vince Williams Jr. had 17 points on 6 of 9 shooting with 3 threes and team-highs of 11 rebounds and 6 assists for the double-double. Jayden Nunn also had 13 points to cap off the scoring in double figures for VCU in the winning effort.

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons booked their spot in the second round by virtue of their 74-64 win over Towson last time out. Dallas Walton led the charge for the Deacs with 17 points on 5 of 11 shooting with 7 rebounds while Damari Monsanto had 14 points on 5 of 10 shooting with 4 threes and Isaiah Mucius had 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting to cap off the scoring in double figures for Wake Forest in the win. Jake LaRavia also had 9 points with a team-high 8 rebounds and 5 assists and Alonde Williams also had 6 points with 6 boards and 5 assists of his own in the win.

VCU is 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games as an underdog and 11-3 Ats in their last 14 road games while the under is 12-4 in their last 16 games as a road underdog. Wake Forest is 11-5 ATS in their last 16 games overall and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 6-1 in their last 7 games overall.

I get the case to be made either way here, but I’m leaning towards Wake Forest in this one. VCU’s going to look to control the pace in this one but while they may control it, Wake Forest is likely going to hit their shots, and hit the ones that VCU will not. I think this is just one of those games that Wake Forest wins by 7 or 8 points, so give me the Demon Deacons here.