The No. 6-ranked Xavier Musketeers (11-0) look to remain unbeaten when they match up with the No. 6-ranked Xavier Musketeers (11-0) at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Action gets underway at 7:00 pm ET on Tuesday, Dec. 22 and will air on EFC and ES3.
The Demon Deacons defeated Coastal Carolina 83-77 on Friday. Bryant Crawford led all scorers on the team with 19 points on 6-for-10 shooting. The Musketeers, meanwhile, are coming off an 85-61 win over Auburn on Saturday. James Farr claimed his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The productive offense of the Musketeers (24th in the nation with an offensive efficiency of 117.6) will try to exploit the bottom-tier defense of the Demon Deacons (298th in the nation with a defensive efficiency of 109.0), a matchup that should be advantageous to Xavier.
Wake Forest is a seven-point underdog in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is sitting at 154 points. The Demon Deacons come into this game 8-2 Straight Up (SU) and 3-5 Against The Spread (ATS). Opponents have consistently had their shots rejected by the Demon Deacons, ranking 32nd in the country in blocks per game with 5.6.
On the other side, the Musketeers have records of 8-3 ATS and 11-0 SU. The Musketeers rank 46th in the country in scoring, averaging 81.7 points per game. The Musketeers are getting to the foul line at a high rate. Their 227 free throws made ranks 12th in Division I. Xavier is one of the better offensive rebounding teams in Division I. The Musketeers average 14.1 offensive rebounds per game, making them the 33rd-best team in the country for that category. The Musketeers are the better of the two teams when it comes to assist-to-turnover ratio, ranking 47th in Division I at 1.36.
Wake Forest and Xavier will be squaring off for the first time this season. In their most recent meeting a season ago, Xavier came out on top, taking the head-to-head record to an even 2-2 SU. The Demon Deacons hold the advantage ATS with a record of 3-1.
Predictions: SU Winner – Xavier, ATS Winner – Xavier, O/U – Over
Notes
Wake Forest is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games.
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons average 79.7 points per game, ranking 71st in the nation. The Xavier Musketeers rank 30th in points allowed with 62.9.
Wake Forest scores just 79.3 points per home game (ranked 164th). Xavier ranks 68th in points allowed on the road, giving up 69.3 points.
In its last game, Xavier won by a margin of 24 points. Wake Forest is 0-1 in games decided by a margin of 18 points or more. Xavier has a 5-0 record in blowouts.
Ranked 24th, the Xavier Musketeers have an offensive rating of 117.6. The Wake Forest Demon Deacons rank 298th with a defensive rating of just 109.0.
Wake Forest has an average field goal percentage of 45.8%. Xavier is undefeated (1-0) when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons rank higher based on their field goal percentage (97th) than their effective field goal percentage (134th), while the Xavier Musketeers rank the same for both metrics (121st).
Xavier ranks 57th in assists, recording 16.4 per game. Wake Forest performs worse at 193rd with 13.3 assists per game.
Wake Forest, the 32nd-ranked team in blocked shots, records an average of 5.6 per game. Xavier does worse, ranked 166th with 3.5.
Wake Forest ranks 49th in offensive rebounding. When it comes to defensive rebounds, Xavier ranks 39th.
Wake Forest makes 4.6 steals per game. In games where it gives up 4 or more steals, Xavier is undefeated at 10-0.
