Wake Forest (21-10) vs North Carolina (22-12)
Game Info: Thursday, March 13, 2025 at 2:30 pm (Spectrum Center)
The Line: Betting Odds: Wake Forest +6.5 — Over/Under:
The North Carolina Tar Heels and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons meet Thursday in ACC Tournament college basketball action from Spectrum Center. Here’s a North Carolina vs Wake Forest prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best North Carolina vs Wake Forest pick. We will examine:
The North Carolina Tar Heels’ recent form and player performance
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons’ recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the North Carolina Tar Heels
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Recent betting trends in games played between North Carolina and Wake Forest
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the North Carolina vs Wake Forest game
North Carolina Tar Heels Betting Preview
The Tar Heels have had a couple of shaky runs so far this year, but overall they’re not doing too badly. North Carolina opened on a spotty 8-6 run, then took wins over Notre Dame, SMU, NC State, and California in the next four. After losses to Stanford and Wake Forest, the Tar Heels went 2-3 with losses to Pitt, Duke, and Clemson among wins over Boston College and Pittsburgh. UNC beat Syracuse, NC State, Virginia, Florida State, Miami, and Virginia Tech before a loss to Duke that finished off the regular season. That would leave the Tar Heels with a 21-12 run through 32 games.
In their tournament matchup with Notre Dame on Wednesday, the Tar Heels jumped out to a comfortable lead 43-29 by halftime. North Carolina hit a 33-27 run the rest of the way during a win 76-56. Jae’Lyn Withers led the scoring with his 21 points and nine rebounds.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons Betting Preview
Over on the Wake Forest side, they were looking pretty good heading into February record-wise, but it’s been a pretty bumpy stretch since then. The Deacons went 9-4 over their first 13 games this year, then beat Syracuse, NC State, Miami, Stanford, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina in the next six. Since then it’s been a 6-6 run for Wake Forest. Those wins have come versus Pittsburgh, Stanford, Cal, SMU, Notre Dame and Georgia Tech. The losses otherwise were versus Duke, Louisville, Florida State, NC State, Virginia, and Duke. That gives the Deacons a 21-10 overall run in 31 games so far this year.
Last weekend in their matchup versus Georgia Tech, the Deacons came into the second half with a dominant 34-15 edge. Wake Forest kept it up from there on a 35-28 advantage and cruised to the blowout win 69-43. Cameron Hildreth led the team on 14 points with six steals, while Efton Reid doubled up on 12 points, 13 rebounds, and two steals. Hunter Sallis was also in double-figures with 13 points, five boards, and four assists.
Why the Wake Forest Demon Deacons will win
- Wake Forest has won 17 of its last 20 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
Why the North Carolina Tar Heels will win
- North Carolina has won 18 of its last 19 day games against Conference opponents.
- Wake Forest has lost eight of its last 10 games against Conference opponents at neutral venues.
- Wake Forest has lost the first half in each of its last four games played at neutral venues.
Total Points Facts
- Nine of North Carolina’s last 10 day games at a neutral venue have produced a total of 150+ points.
- Fourteen of Wake Forest’s last 17 day games have produced a total of 143 or fewer points.
Matchup/League Facts
- Wake Forest ranks 26th among Division 1 teams for opponent field goal percentage this season (40.4%).
- Wake Forest ranks 28th among Division 1 teams for opponent three-point percentage this season (30.5%).
- North Carolina ranks 34th among Division 1 teams for field goal percentage this season (48.0%).
- North Carolina ranks 44th among Division 1 teams for pace this season (70.4).
North Carolina vs Wake Forest Prediction
I’ll probably lean toward Wake Forest, but you could certainly call this one for UNC. The Deacons demolished a middling Georgia Tech team in their latest home win, despite hitting just 38.1 percent from the field. Wake Forest held the Jackets to just 29.6 percent on the other side and scored 23 points off 16 Georgia Tech turnovers. Wake Forest has hit 69 or more points in nine of their last 10 games, so there’s a good chance they’ll put up a nice total on Thursday—if all goes well, that is.
These teams met once before this season in a 67-66 home win for the Deacons. Neither team shot well in that one (both 40 percent) and Wake went just 2-of-15 (13.3 percent) from long range alongside 14 turnovers for 18 Tar Heels points. The Deacons did well on the boards though, with a 41-33 advantage. That said, Wake really needs to clean up their act across the board if they’re going to control this game.