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It will be a battle between Atlantic Coast opponents when the No. 15 Miami (FL) Hurricanes (14-3) welcome the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (10-8) to BankUnited Center. The game gets underway at 12:00 pm ET on Saturday, Jan. 23 and will air on EFC and ES3.
The Hurricanes beat Boston College 67-53 on Wednesday. Sheldon McClellan was the team’s high scorer with 19 points on 7-for-14 shooting. The Demon Deacons, meanwhile, are coming off an 83-68 loss to North Carolina on Wednesday. Devin Thomas recorded 17 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks.
The high-octane offense of Miami (FL) (18th in the nation with an offensive efficiency of 116.8) will square off against the porous defense of Wake Forest (308th in the nation with a defensive efficiency of 109.9), a matchup that should favor the Hurricanes.
Miami (FL) is a heavy 15-point favorite at home and the Over/Under (O/U) for this matchup is 153 points. The Hurricanes enter the game with records of 14-3 Straight Up (SU) and 10-6 Against The Spread (ATS). The Hurricanes are an incredibly accurate shooting team with a .486 field-goal percentage, one of the highest marks in Division I. Turning to the defensive side, the Miami (FL) defense has been very good, only giving up 64.8 points per game. The Hurricanes have limited opponents’ efforts from beyond the arc, allowing 5.0 three-pointers made per game. An area where the Hurricanes are particularly strong is defensive rebounding where they average 28.0 per game, 44th in Division I.
On the other side, the Demon Deacons head into the game with records of 6-9-1 ATS and 10-8 SU.
These conference rivals will be facing off in their first head-to-head contest of the season. When they last met the Demon Deacons were winners, but Miami (FL) still leads the head-to-head record, 6-4 SU, over their most recent matchups. However, Wake Forest leads the matchup ATS with a record of 6-4. When it comes to field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers, Miami (FL) and Wake Forest each held the edge in all three of these categories once in the last five meetings.
Predictions: SU Winner – Mia-Fl, ATS Winner – Mia-Fl, O/U – Over
Notes
Miami is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Miami’s last 6 games.
Miami is 14-3 SU in its last 17 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Miami’s last 6 games at home.
Miami is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Miami’s last 6 games when playing Wake Forest.
Miami is 4-8 ATS in its last 12 games when playing Wake Forest.
Miami is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Wake Forest.
Miami (FL) averages 79.3 points per game (ranked 56th). Wake Forest, on the other hand, allows 79.2 points per game (ranked 317th).
Wake Forest averages 76.8 points per away game (ranked 45th). Miami (FL) allows 64.1 points per home game (ranked 90th).
The Miami (FL) Hurricanes have a defensive rating of 95.0 (ranked 31st), while the Wake Forest Demon Deacons have an offensive rating of 105.8 (ranked 175th).
The Miami (FL) Hurricanes have one of the best field goal percentages this season, ranking 25th in the nation with a FG% of 48.6%. When their opponents record a similar or higher FG%, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons have a losing 1-4 record.
The Miami (FL) Hurricanes average 19.0 three point attempts per game, and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons attempt 19.0 per game. When going for at least 20 three pointers in a game this season, both teams have winning records; Miami (FL) is 8-1 and Wake Forest is 7-3.
Wake Forest, the 58th-ranked team in rebounding, registers an average of 39.5 rebounds per game. Miami (FL) does worse, ranked 114th with 37.9.
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons make an average of 5.6 steals per game. When the Miami (FL) Hurricanes give up 5 or more steals, they are an exceptional 10-2.
