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Wake Forest vs. Syracuse prediction and odds for ACC Tournament second round

By Reed Wallach

Feb 28, 2023; Syracuse, New York, USA; Syracuse Orange guard Joseph Girard III (11) handles the ball against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the second half at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 28, 2023; Syracuse, New York, USA; Syracuse Orange guard Joseph Girard III (11) handles the ball against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the second half at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports /
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Wake Forest once looked like a bubble team in the middle of January, but now are tracking for an NIT berth as they get set to start their ACC tournament against Syracuse.

The Orange 2-3 zone has gone stale in the ACC as the team struggled to stay in front of anyone this season. However, when these two teams met for the first time this season last Saturday, the Orange won by nine as one-point home underdogs.

Can Jim Boeheim put together another surprising conference tournament run?

Let’s check out the odds for this second round matchup:

Wake Forest vs. Syracuse odds, spread and total

Wake Forest vs. Syracuse prediction and pick

This matchup has an interesting set up given that these two teams just played less than a week ago, so we can assess the point spread and total that way.

While the Orange got the better of the Demon Decans on Saturday, I agree with Wake Forest as favorites in this one as the team should be able to put points up against a Syracuse defense that is last in ACC defensive rebounding percentage and bottom four in effective field goal percentage.

Wake Forest has been a high powered offense all season long, and the team should be to score at will against Syracuse’s defense that has the fourth highest two-point field goal percentage allowed in the entire country since February 1st.

However, I can’t look past the recent form of Wake Forest, who has lost eight of 12 games and has beaten one KenPom top 100 team since the beginning of February. The Demon Decans have fallen out of the NCAA Tournament picture, but they are still playing at a top 40 pace in the entire country.

Overall, the team’s combined for 53 three-point shots in the meeting on Saturday, but only combined to hit 12, a ghastly 22%. I think we see some natural regression to the mean from the perimeter and this game soars over the total.

PICK: OVER 155

Track all of Reed’s bets at Betstamp HERE!

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.