UNC Greensboro Spartans AT Wake Forest Demon Deacons
December 15th, 2010 at 7:00 PM EST, Joel Coliseum
Opening Line: Wake Forest -16.5
Current Line: Wake Forest -16.5
Opening Total: 154
Current Total: 157
Opening Moneyline: Wake Forest -2200 / UNC Greesboro +1200
Current Moneyline: Wake Forest -1703 / UNC Greensboro +1247
Tonight’s game between the Spartans and Deacons will not be a close one according to college basketball Vegas picks. It’s easy to see why. UNC Greensboro enters the game 0-8 and has lost their 8 games by an average of 22.4 points per game. They are giving up an atrocious 90.6 points (2nd worst in the entire country) while managing to score but 68.3 themselves. They allow opponents a second worst in the country field goal percentage of 52.2%, as well. Wake has had some close games and resultingly their point differential is +1.1; they score 75.0 and give up 73.9. UNC Greensboro lost last game by an astounding 40 points to Maryland, who was favored by 29 for the game. They haven’t been within 10 points of a single opponent this year. Wake last played againt UNC Wilmington and was upset in a 81-69 loss, bringing them to 5-4 on the year.
Wake Forest has won 17 of their last 24 home games. Wake Forest is 2-4 ATS at home this year and UNC Greensboro is 0-1 ATS on the road.
As you might expect, no one on UNC Greensboro poses much of a threat offensively. They have three players averaging double figures (Kyle Randall, Aloysius Henry, and Brandon Evans), but none of them average more than 12 a game (Randall, 12.3 ppg). The 5’11” sophomore Randall has been something of a brightspot for a team with little good to speak of, as he is shooting above 40% from behind the arc and he had a 23 point game against NC A&T, in what was UNC Greensboro’s closest game so far, a 12 point loss.
Wake Forest has a very balanced attack with five players averaging double figures (Travis McKie, Ari Stewart, J.T. Terrell, Gary Clark, and C.J. Harris). McKie, a 6’7″ freshman promises to have a bright future, as he is the leading scorer at 13.3 points per game. He is also grabbing a lot of boards and leads the Demon Deacons in rebounding with 7.6 rebounds a game. Their other young gun Ari Stewart a 6’7″ sophomore forward is second on the team in scoring, slightly behind McKie with 13.2 points per contest, and he is second on the team in rebounding, too, at 7.3 per game. He has scored in double figures in all but one of the Demon Deacon’s eight games, and grabbed 10 boards in each of the last two. Wake Forest as a team is shooting an outstanding 44.7% from behind the arc, with four players hitting greater than 40%. Gary Clark, in particular is a ridiculous 19 for 27 (70.4%).
There’s really no reason to expect this game to be close at all, and given Wake Forest’s potent offense which averages 75.0 points per game, as mentioned, there is a good chance that they cover the spread in this blowout.
