North Carolina vs Wake Forest 1/4/23 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the North Carolina Tar Heels meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Dean Smith Center. Wake Forest is 10-4 so far this year. The Deacons beat Virginia Tech in their last game. As for North Carolina, they’re 9-5 on the season following a loss to Pittsburgh. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Wake Forest went 7-3 over their first 10 games this year, losing to LMU, Clemson and LSU during that stretch. The Deacons are 3-1 since then, beating Appalachian State, Duke and Virginia Tech with a loss to Rutgers otherwise. 

On Saturday versus Virginia Tech, Wake Forest held a 38-38 halftime tie. The Demon Deacons hit a 39-37 run from there and won the game 77-75. Tyree Appleby led the way on 24 points with seven assists. 

Over on the North Carolina side, they went 6-4 over their first 10 games with losses to Iowa State, Alabama, Indiana and Virginia Tech. The Tar Heels are 3-1 since then with wins over the Citadel, Ohio state and Michigan. 

North Carolina went into halftime up 40-34 in their Friday game versus Pittsburgh. The Tar Heels were outscored 42-34 in the second half and lost a tough one 76-74. Armando Bacot doubled up on 22 points with 13 rebounds in the defeat. 

PICK: I’m going to stay with North Carolina. We should have a pretty interesting matchup here, though. The Tar Heels didn’t have a great second half in the Pittsburgh game, and they ended up shooting 43.1 percent from the floor with 38 rebounds and 14 team assists. North Carolina has had their offense working well lately though, with 72 or more points in six straight games. As for Wake Forest, they’re coming off a pair of nice wins over Duke and Virginia Tech. The Deacons will be stout opponents here, and I expect this one to come down to the wire cover-wise. Should be a fun one, and I think North Carolina can eke out a cover if they play well.