Virginia survived its first test without injured guard Justin Anderson with a nerve-wracking four-point win over the NC State Wolfpack. The Cavs will look to build on that solid win and extend their winning streak to four games when they face the surging Wake Forest Demon Deacons who are fresh off a nail-biting victory over the Miami Hurricanes.
Who will grab the advantage in this pivotal ACC clash? Read on below for a preview of this critical showdown and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the game between No. 1 Kentucky and South Carolina here.
[sc:MarchMadness ]Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs. Virginia Cavaliers Betting Preview
Where: John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville
When: Saturday, February 14, 2:30 PM ET
Line: Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Virginia Cavaliers – view all NCAA Basketball lines
Betting on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Wake Forest returned to winning ways Wednesday night with a thrilling 72-70 victory over the Miami Hurricanes. The Demon Deacons unleashed a crippling 8-2 run in the final 3 ½ minutes of the game to seal the comeback victory, their third win in their last four assignments.
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]Leading the way for Wake Forest was Dinos Mitoglou who scored a game-high 21 points, 16 of which came in the first half. He was lights out from beyond the arc, knocking down six of seven three-pointers including a clutch long ball in the dying minutes of the game that helped complete the Demon Deacons’ stunning fight back.
The whole Wake Forest team was sizzling from the perimeter as they made a season-high 12 three-pointers on 52.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Their success in hitting the long ball has been the main reason behind their sudden resurgence. In their last three victories, the Demon Deacons have nailed a total of 29 triples.
They will need their outside sniping to be right on target once again if they are to unlock Virginia’s vaunted pack-line defense. The Cavaliers’ lone defeat this season happened because of their failure to stop the opponent’s outside bombs. That transpired against Duke on January 31 where they allowed Mike Krzyzewski’s men to go 5 of 6 from the three-point area down the stretch which helped turn the game suddenly in the Blue Devils’ favor.
The onus then is on Mitchell Wilbekin, Cornelius Hudson and Mitoglou to bury their outside jumpers against Virginia. They lead the Demon Deacons in three-pointers made this season, putting up 37, 35, and 31 long bombs respectively for Wake Forest this campaign.
Wake Forest is 5-5 ATS in its last 10 games on the road.
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Betting on the Virginia Cavaliers
Who needs Justin Anderson if your defense is as good as this?
The Virginia Cavaliers bucked the absence of their star guard, playing superb defense down the stretch to hold off a spirited North Carolina State side, 51-47, in a grueling contest Wednesday night. The Cavaliers remain in first place in the hotly-contested ACC with an impressive 10-1 slate as they improved to 9-0 in true road games this season.
The Cavaliers were relentless with their pack-line defense as they didn’t allow any room for the NC State offense to maneuver. As a result, the Wolfpack struggled with their field goal shooting, nailing just 33 percent of their shot attempts. The Cavaliers made it a mission to deny NC State’s perimeter shooters as they limited the Wolfpack to just 3 of 17 shooting from beyond the arc.
In fact, the Cavaliers have been excellent with their perimeter defense the entire season. They are 32nd in the nation in three-point field goal defense with Virginia’s opponents hitting just 30.2 percent of their three-point attempts thus far this season.
That has helped the Cavaliers in establishing themselves as one of the best defensive teams in the nation today. They are no. 1 in the nation in the scoring defense, allowing just 50.6 points per game this season. It is crucial for the Cavaliers to sustain that kind of defensive performance for the next couple of weeks, especially with Justin Anderson now out because of a fractured finger.
Anderson’s absence can’t be overstated enough, considering he is the team’s second leading scorer, averaging 13.4 points per game. What the Cavaliers will miss the most about Anderson is his deadly touch from the three-point area. He leads the conference in three-point shooting percentage at 48 percent.
Without Anderson, the Cavaliers struggled with their perimeter game against NC State. They shot just 2 of 11 from beyond the arc for a measly 18 percent clip. What’s more alarming for head coach Tony Bennett was that they scored only .911 points per possession against the Wolfpack, way below their season average of 1.122 points per possession.
It’s crucial for Virginia to generate new sources of offense to replace the point production of Anderson. Bennett will more than likely rely on his backcourt duo of Malcolm Brogdon and London Perrantes to hold the fort while Anderson is out. The two combined for 22 points and 10 rebounds in the game against NC State with Brogdon and Perrantes logging in 38 and 34 minutes, respectively.
The Cavaliers are 9-1 SU in their last 10 home games.
Writer’s Prediction
Virginia edges past Wake Forest, 55-49.
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