Wake Forest vs Georgia Tech: Preview and Prediction

Game pick and preview for Saturday's battle between the Demon Deacons and the Yellow Jackets

Gameday Info

Location: Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum - Winston-Salem, NC

Tipoff: 5 p.m. ET

TV: ACCN

Spread: Wake Forest -14

Total: 147.5

Georgia Tech Team Overview:

Record: 9-15, (2-12)

KenPom: 209th (262nd Offensive, 156th Defensive)

Recent Games: W 70-68 vs Notre Dame, L 72-64 at NC State, L 68-58 at Louisville

Leading Scorers:

So. G Miles Kelly (12.9 ppg, 3.3 reb, 1.2 ast)
So. G Dalan Coleman (9.4 ppg, 3.0 reb,1.0 ast)
Sr. G Lance Terry (8.9 ppg, 2.6 reb, 1.1 ast)

Georgia Tech’s nine game losing streak came to an end on Wednesday night, as the Yellow Jackets took down Notre Dame at home. Tied up 68-68 in the final seconds, Lance Terry crashed the offensive glass and supplied a game winning tip-in at the buzzer.

It’s been a rough season for Josh Pastner’s group, although considering the roster’s lack of ACC experience this was to be expected. The Yellow Jackets have been better over their last two games however, as prior to the Notre Dame win, they held a late lead over NC State in Raleigh. Prior to the loss to the Wolfpack last Saturday, Georgia Tech had lost six straight ACC games by double digits.

Pastner's team features a balanced scoring attack, where sophomore Miles Kelly is the only player whose scoring average is over 10. Six players average between 7.3-9.4 points per game.

One of those players is South Alabama transfer Javon Franklin, who enters Saturday coming off of two of his best performances on the season. In his last two games, Franklin posted a combined 32 points, 17 rebounds, eight assists, and six blocks.

The aforementioned Terry not only provided the winning bucket on Wednesday, but turned in his second best scoring output of the season. The Gardner-Webb transfer put up 19 points and drilled three deep balls in the victory.

While Kelly is the team’s leading scorer, he’s been in quite a slump lately. After scoring in double figures in 11 straight games earlier this season, he’s been held under 10 points in five of his last eight.

Another important name to note with this group is point guard Deivon Smith, who ranks fifth in the ACC in assist rate according to KenPom. Smith does a bit of everything for this group, posting a near triple double on Wednesday with eight points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.

The numbers back up how weak this Georgia Tech team is. They rank in the bottom three in the ACC on KenPom in both offensive and defensive efficiency.

Wake Forest Team Overview:

Record: 16-9 (8-6)

KenPom: 66th (27th Offensive, 141st Defensive)

Recent Games: W 92-85 vs North Carolina, W 81-64 at Notre Dame, L 75-73 vs Duke

Leading scorers:

Gr. G Tyree Appleby (18.7 ppg, 6.2 ast, 1.6 stl)
Jr. G Damari Monsanto (13.8 ppg, 3.6 reb, 41.1 3PT%)
So. G Cameron Hildreth (12.6 ppg, 6.1 reb, 2.7 ast)

Wake Forest has experienced both hot and cold stretches this season. Right now, momentum is on their side after back to back wins over Notre Dame and North Carolina. Preceding these two victories, the Demon Deacons had lost four games in a row (all against likely NCAA Tournament teams), three of which by a margin of exactly two points.

Ever since a slow start in South Bend, where the Deacs trailed 16-4 ten minutes into the game, Steve Forbes’ group has been clicking on all cylinders offensively. Wake Forest made 14-30 (46.7%) of their three-pointers in the win over the Irish.

Against North Carolina, Wake dominated the first half, leading by 24 at halftime. The final score is quite misleading, as the Tar Heels didn’t cut the deficit to less than 10 until the final minute. 39 points were scored in the final two minutes of the game.

Appleby put up a monster 35 point, 11 assist, seven rebound performance in the win on Tuesday night. As UNC kept trying to extend the game late, Appleby got to pad his stats, finishing 23-28 from the free throw line. The point guard has been sensational over his past three games, averaging 26.0 points, 7.3 assists, and 7.0 rebounds.

Damari Monsanto has also been quite excellent lately, following up his career high 28 points and eight made threes against Notre Dame with 16 against Carolina. The ACC’s leading three-point shooter grabbed seven rebounds in each win as well.

After scoring 15+ in six straight games in January, Cameron Hildreth hasn’t scored in double figures in any of his last three. Andrew Carr has been great defensively as of late, averaging almost two blocks per game over his last four. However, he only scored 12 combined points in Wake’s two most recent wins.

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Prediction:

Yes, Georgia Tech has looked better in their last two games, but this is still a very uninspiring basketball team. The Yellow Jackets are 0-6 on the road in ACC play, and four of those losses (including one vs Louisville) came by double digits.

Wake Forest has been fantastic at home this season, and I expect their significantly more potent offensive attack lead them to victory. While this could appear to be a lookahead spot with two massive quad one opportunities on the schedule next week, I’m confident that Forbes will have his group dialed in to take care of business on Saturday afternoon.

Two touchdowns is a lot of points to lay in any ACC game, but I’m more confident in backing the Deacs to cruise here than thinking Georgia Tech keeps it close. 

The Pick: Wake Forest -14

Score Prediction: Wake Forest 83 Georgia Tech 66

Season prediction record

14-11 ATS

19-6 Straight up

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