The Virginia Cavaliers maintained their strong grip of the top place in the ACC standings with a tough 10-point win Sunday over the Florida State Seminoles. They will look to stretch their advantage even further when they take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons who are fresh off a deflating defeat to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Who will emerge victorious in this pivotal ACC clash? Read on below for a preview of this important showdown and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the game between No. 1 Kentucky and Mississippi State here.
[sc:MarchMadness ]Virginia Cavaliers vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons Betting Preview
Where: Lawrence Joel Coliseum, Winston-Salem
When: Wednesday, February 25, 7:00 PM ET
Line: Virginia Cavaliers at Wake Forest Demon Deacons – view all NCAA Basketball lines
Betting on the Virginia Cavaliers
Virginia extended its winning streak to six games with a gritty 51-41 win over the Florida State Seminoles on Sunday night. The victory helped the Cavaliers build a two-game lead at the top of the ACC standings with an impressive 13-1 slate.
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]To no one’s surprise, it was the Cavaliers’ defense that proved to be the difference in the game once again. Virginia held Florida State without a field goal in the final 10:32 as the Cavaliers buckled down on the defensive end down the stretch.
Amazingly, Virginia has now held opponents scoreless for a period of five minutes or more 24 times this season. No wonder the Cavaliers are the no. 1 team in the nation in terms of scoring defense, allowing just 50.5 points per game this season.
Virginia needed every bit of its defensive brilliance on Sunday as the injury bug struck the Cavaliers once again. London Perrantes and Malcolm Brogdon collided in a defensive sequence that left Perrantes with a broken nose.
He didn’t return against Florida State and his status for Wednesday’s clash with Wake Forest is still up in the air.If Perrantes will miss some action, that would be a crippling blow for the Cavs, who are already missing the services of second-leading scorer Justin Anderson. Anderson(13.4 PPG) remains sidelined because of a fractured finger.
Perrantes has been a vital cog in the Virginia offense averaging 5.9 points and a team-high 4.4 assists per game this season. With the possibility that their main playmaker will be out for some time, the Cavaliers will have to rely on their veterans to help them through this troubling period.
The Cavs’ lone senior Darion Atkins showed his worth in their last game against the Seminoles. He stepped up big time when his team needed him the most, putting up 11 points, two rebounds and four steals for the Cavaliers. Expect him to log major minutes against the Demon Deacons.
The Cavaliers are 10-0 in their last 10 games on the road.
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Betting on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Things just keep getting worse for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons as they stumbled to yet another defeat, an 88-75 loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. It was the second consecutive defeat to a ranked team for Wake Forest and its third loss in the last four games. The Demon Deacons are now 0-5 against ranked teams this season.
They will have a chance to snap that winless streak when they take on the Virginia Cavaliers next. The Demon Deacons will fancy their chances against the Cavaliers as they took Virginia to the brink in their last meeting more than a week ago.
Wake Forest’s comeback bid fell short as they lost by just one point, 61-60. Head coach Danny Manning listed points in the paint, points off turnovers and free shooting as the main reasons why they lost the heart-breaking game.
Virginia had a field day inside the shaded area, scoring 34 points inside the paint. The Cavaliers also took advantage of the Demon Deacons’ miscues, scoring 20 points off turnovers. What hurt Wake Forest the most though was their horrible free throw shooting. They shot just 12 of 22 from the stripe.
The Demon Deacons improved on their inside offense against the Fighting Irish, outscoring Notre Dame 44-26. Turnovers though, hurt their cause once again. Notre Dame made the most of Wake Forest’s errors, scoring 21 points off the Demon Deacons’ 14 turnovers.
Wake Forest is 261st in the nation in turnovers, committing an average of 13.7 miscues per game this season. The Demon Deacons need to take much better care of the basketball if they are to upset the Cavaliers.
What gave Virginia fits in its last meeting was Wake Forest’s phenomenal outside shooting. The Demon Deacons shot 10 of 24 from beyond the arc. Konstantinos Mitoglou was scorching hot from deep, going 6 of 12 from the three-point area. He leads the team in three-point shooting this season with a 39 percent clip and he will be relied upon once again by Wake Forest to unlock Virginia’s vaunted pack-line defense.
The Demon Deacons are 7-3 in their last 10 games at home.
Writer’s Prediction
Virginia edges past Wake Forest, 58-50.
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