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Wake Forest vs North Carolina Prediction 1/21/25 College Basketball Picks Today

North Carolina (12-7) vs. Wake Forest (14-4)
January 21, 2025 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: Wake Forest -1.5; Over/Under: 146.5
(Get latest betting odds)

The North Carolina Tar Heels and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons meet Tuesday in college basketball action from LJVM Coliseum. Here’s a Wake Forest vs North Carolina prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Wake Forest vs North Carolina pick.

North Carolina Tar Heels Betting Preview

The Tar Heels don’t have the greatest record in the world (relatively speaking) this year. That said, they’ve really only got one bad stretch of games in the books, spanning from late November into mid-December or so. The Tar Heels would start things off 4-1 with a lone loss to Kansas amid wins over Elon, American University, Hawaii, and Dayton. A 2-4 run commenced afterward, featuring wins over Georgia Tech and La Salle among losses to Auburn, Michigan State, Alabama, and Florida in that time. After wins over UCLA and Campbell, UNC took another loss to Louisville. The Tar Heels would manage another win streak over Notre Dame, SMU, NC State, and California from there, but they dropped a tough one to Stanford over the weekend to fall to 12-7 overall on the year through 19 games so far.


In the Stanford matchup back on Saturday, the Tar Heels came out of halftime sporting a slim 36-35 edge. North Carolina would get outscored 37-35 the rest of the way, however, eventually taking the loss 72-71. RJ Davis was the team’s top scorer with 19 points, three boards, and five assists in the defeat, while Elliot Cadeau chipped in 12 points with five assists and six rebounds. Ven-Allen Lubin led the team off the bench with 13 points and five rebounds.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons Betting Preview

Over on the Deacons’ side, they’ve been a model of consistency so far this year. It’s been all victories for Wake Forest this year—outside of a middling run stretching from mid-November into mid-December. After dispatching Coppin State, North Carolina A&T, Michigan, and South Carolina Upstate in their first four games, the Deacons hit a 5-4 stretch over the next nine outings. Wake Forest lost to Xavier, Florida, Texas A&M, and Clemson in that time with wins otherwise versus Western Carolina, Detroit, Minnesota, Boston College, and James Madison. Since then it’s been a string of five straight victories for the Demon Deacons, though. Those wins have come courtesy of Syracuse, NC State, Miami, Stanford, and Virginia Tech in succession, giving Wake Forest a solid 14-4 overall run in their first 18 games of the year.

Matched up against Virginia Tech over the weekend, the Demon Deacons came out of halftime with a 31-29 edge. Wake Forest got better from there on a 41-34 run though, and took the eventual win 72-63. Hunter Sallis led the team with 24 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Cameron Hildreth added 21 points with three rebounds and one assist, while Juke Harris put up six points and three boards in 22 minutes off the bench.

Why the Wake Forest Demon Deacons will win

  • Wake Forest has won each of its last 10 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
  • North Carolina has lost each of its last three games at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
  • Wake Forest has won the first half in 14 of its last 16 night games against the Atlantic Coast Conference at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Why the North Carolina Tar Heels will win

  • North Carolina has won eight of its last nine night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
  • North Carolina has won the first half in eight of its last nine games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Wake Forest vs North Carolina Prediction

I’m going to stay with Wake Forest. This should be a pretty fun matchup regardless of the outcome, though. The Demon Deacons did a good job against a middling Virginia Tech squad in their last outing, eventually notching 45.6 percent shooting from the field with only seven turnovers. Wake Forest did get out-rebounded 35-29 however, so they’ll need to hit the glass a little harder in this one. Still, the Deacons have been on a great scoring pace lately, posting 72 or more points in five straight victories. They’ll be tough to keep pace with.

As for North Carolina, they didn’t play terribly versus Stanford in their last outing with 42.6 percent shooting and 31 rebounds. The Tar Heels have given up 70 or more points in six of the last nine games though (a 6-3 run). If Wake Forest can get their offense going early here, I like Wake to keep the Tar Heels at bay for the cover/win.

Andrew's Free Pick: Wake Forest Demon Deacons -1.5

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Andrew

Andrew has been writing about college, professional and fantasy sports betting since 2013. Andrew's goal is to break down the complicated numbers and trends into a language that's easily accessible to novice sports bettors and seasoned professionals alike.

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