The Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the Loyola Marymount Lions meet Sunday in college basketball action from Montego Bay Convention Centre. Wake Forest is rolling along at 4-0 so far this year. The Demons beat La Salle in their last game. As for Loyola Marymount, they’re 3-2 and coming off a win over Georgetown. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Wake Forest kicked off their 2022-23 season with a matchup versus Fairfield. The Deacons won that one 71-59, then took out Georgia 81-71 in game two. The Utah Valley game was close but still a win 68-65 for the Deacons.
On Friday versus La Salle, Wake Forest nursed a two-point halftime lead. The Deacons surged for 40 points in the second for a 75-63 win. Tyree Appleby led the team on 23 points, and Damari Monsanto added 14 points with five boards.
Over on the Loyola Marymount side, they drilled Life Pacific 99-49 in their opener then lost to UC Riverside 81-79. The Lions beat UC Davis 85-75 in game three but then lost another one 79-64 to UC Irvine.
The Lions got back into the win column on Friday versus Georgetown. Loyola Marymount trailed 42-32 by halftime but managed a 52-24 run in the second for an 84-66 win. Keli Leaupepe posted 15 points and nine rebounds to lead the way.
PICK: I’m going to try Wake Forest here. Probably not going near it, though. Wake has had a close game or two along the way but they’re doing pretty well so far. The Deacons shot 44.6 percent from the floor with a 35-33 rebounding advantage against La Salle in their last outing. As for LMU, they had a bad first half in their last game versus Georgetown. The Lions were able to recover and eventually shot 47.8 percent from the field. I don’t think LMU will be able to do that against a tougher opponent in Wake Forest, though.