At 4:00 p.m. ET, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons host the Stanford Cardinal in an ACC matchup. This season, Stanford is 16-9, while Wake Forest is 12-12 through its first 24 games. Currently, Stanford is 12th in the ACC, while Wake Forest is 14th. Last season, Wake Forest and Stanford played their first two games, with the Demon Deacons winning both.
Wake Forest is -3.5 on the spread, with the over/under sitting at 149.5 points on DraftKings Sportsbook. Check out my best bet for today’s Stanford-Wake Forest contest below.
Stanford vs. Wake Forest (4:00 p.m. ET)
Wake Forest is coming off an 83-67 victory over Georgia Tech, which was their first win since January 17. The Demon Deacons are 3-9 in their previous 12 contests. Juke Harris is their leading scorer, averaging 21.2 points per game, and has scored 23, 25, and 31 points in his last three. Myles Colvin (12.2 PPG), Tre’Von Spillers (11.1 PPG), and Nate Calmese (10.4 PPG) round out Wake Forest’s double-digit scorers.
From January 10 to February 4, Stanford went 1-6 but has recently gotten back on track, winning two consecutive games against Georgia Tech and Boston College. Stanford also has a 20-point scorer in Ebuka Okorie, who averages 22.4 points per contest. They only have two other players averaging 10-plus points, with Chisom Okpara (13.9 PPG) and Benny Gealer (10.4 PPG). Wake Forest is better offensively, averaging more than four more points per game and posting a higher offensive rating. But on defense, Stanford has the edge, as they allow nearly five fewer points than Wake Forest.
Wake Forest has struggled mightily, with its last two wins coming against Georgia Tech (11-14) and Florida State (11-13). The last time Wake Forest beat a team above .500 was on January 3 against Virginia Tech. Getting Stanford at +3.5 is an excellent play, given that Wake Forest hasn’t won back-to-back games since December 17. Stanford has a deep guard rotation with Okorie, Gealer, and Dent-Smith, who will be tasked with limiting Harris’ production. If Stanford can keep this a lower-scoring game, it should favor them.
