Notre Dame returned to winning ways Tuesday with a nail-biting two-point victory over the Clemson Tigers. The Fighting Irish will look to make it back-to-back wins when they square off with the upset-hungry Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
Who will emerge victorious in this pivotal ACC encounter? 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 Tennessee here.
[sc:MarchMadness ]Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish Betting Preview
Where: Purcell Pavilion, Notre Dame
When: Tuesday, February 17, 7:00 PM ET
Line: Wake Forest Demon Deacons (+11.5) at Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-11.5) – view all NCAA Basketball lines
Betting on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons
So near, yet so far.
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]Wake Forest almost caused a monumental upset Saturday as their stirring second-half comeback came up just short against the second-seeded Virginia Cavaliers. The highly-favored Cavaliers held off a spirited fight back by the Demon Deacons to pull off a nerve-wracking 61-60 victory in what was surely one of the best games in the ACC thus far this season.
Danny Manning’s men never gave up against the Cavs, even when facing a daunting 13-point deficit in the second half. Instead of throwing in the towel, the Demon Deacons buckled down to work and unleashed a 22-10 run in the final 10:42 to turn a lopsided ballgame into a nip-and-tuck affair.
In fact, the Demon Deacons had a chance to push the game into overtime but Codi Miller-McIntyre missed the game-tying free throw with 16 seconds remaining. Although he was able to grab his own miss, Miller-McIntyre turned the ball over in the ensuing possession to hand Wake Forest its ninth loss in 13 games of conference play.
Free throws and turnovers proved to be the cause of Wake Forest’s downfall in this game. The Demon Deacons shot just 12 of 22 from the free throw area. Aside from that, Wake Forest committed a total of 11 turnovers, none bigger than the one Miller-McIntyre committed in the dying seconds of the game.
It’s vital for Wake Forest to take advantage of these offensive opportunities as they will next face one of the best-scoring teams in the nation in Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are 14th in the nation in scoring, averaging 79.2 points per game.
For Wake Forest to keep pace with Notre Dame’s high-scoring ways, it is paramount that Devin Thomas rediscovers his shooting form. Hounded by foul trouble early on, Thomas found it difficult to get in his scoring groove as he finished with just three points, way below his conference average of 14.8 points.
Wake Forest is 6-4 ATS in its last 10 games on the road.
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Betting on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame bounced back from a humiliating 90-60 loss to the Duke Blue Devils with a thrilling 60-58 come-from-behind victory over the Clemson Tigers last Tuesday. It was the 22nd win overall for the Fighting Irish this season as they improved their record in conference play to an impressive 10-3 slate.
To no one’s surprise, it was Jerian Grant once again who delivered the clutch baskets for the Fighting Irish. Grant led the scoring for the Fighting Irish with 22 points, including a key jumper with 47 seconds remaining on the clock to put the outcome of the game beyond doubt.
It was a stellar all-around performance for Grant who also had a team-high five assists and three steals. It has been that way all season for Grant, who leads the Fighting Irish not only in points (17.0 PPG) but also in assists (6.2 APG) and steals (1.8 SPG) as well.
More than Grant’s heroics on the offensive end, what proved to be the key for the Fighting Irish in this game was their renewed commitment on the defensive end. After allowing a whopping 90 points against Duke in the previous outing, Notre Dame held Clemson to just 58 points on 42.9 percent shooting from the field.
One of the reasons behind their lopsided loss to Duke was Notre Dame’s atrocious perimeter defense. The Blue Devils connected on 9-of-15 three-pointers against Notre Dame for a mind-boggling 60 percent clip. The Fighting Irish addressed those concerns in their next game against Clemson limiting the Tigers to just 29.4 percent shooting (5-of-17) from beyond the arc.
They will need to apply that same kind of defensive pressure against Wake Forest whose outside shooters are now starting to wax hot. The key defensive assignment for the Fighting Irish will be Dinos Mitoglou who’s coming off a phenomenal couple of games for the Demon Deacons from deep.
After going 6-of-7 from beyond the arc in their game against Miami, Mitoglou was on fire once again against the Cavaliers, lighting up Virginia with six three-pointers on 50 percent shooting from beyond the three-point line.
That’s a cause for concern for the Fighting Irish who are only 220th in the entire NCAA in three-point field goal defense with their opponents posting a 34.8 percent clip against them from beyond the arc.
Notre Dame is 9-1 SU in its last 10 home games.
Writer’s Prediction
Notre Dame (-11.5) wins, 72-57.
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