Game Time: 6:00 PM ET, Monday, January 24th, 2022

Venue: LJVM Coliseum, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Where to Watch:  ACCN

 

DraftKings Sportsbook:  NL

Caesars:  Spread: NL

VegasInsider:  Spread: Wake -11; O/U 141.5

WynnBet: Spread: Wake -11; O/U 142

Wake Forest: 6-3 conf, 16-4 overall (ACC)

Boston College: 3-4 conf, 8-9 overall (ACC)

 

The LJVM Coliseum is the worst named coliseum in sports.  It stands for Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.  I realize it is named after Winston Salem’s only veteran to have ever received the Medal of Honor… but LJVM doesn’t express that.  A better name would have been the Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum so we don’t bury the man’s name… or the “Veteran Memorial” part of it… Or even better would have been the LJ Veterans Memorial Coliseum… complete with a statue and a plaque.  We want to honor both Lawrence Joel and Veterans… but we end up abbreviating both into initials that have no impact.  The arena has hosted some amazing basketball over the years… It is the college house of Tim Duncan and Chris Paul… along with other notables like Josh Howard, John Collins, and Jeff Teague.  The NBA makes sure to send scouts to the LJVM every season… impact NBA players can be found there.  When scouting North Carolina or Duke players for an NBA GM it is often advisable to see them in LJVM playing against Wake Forest to see if the talent of the kid can absorb the light in front of 14,000 Wake Forest fans.  It’s a venue that has seen some great basketball and basketball players… Can Boston College contribute anything to that legend?

Boston College is outmatched almost every basketball season in the ACC… too many of their southern conference partners are way too good. This season they are not just bad in the ACC they are bad overall.  They have won only 4 of their last 10 games.  Taking beating from the Louisville Cardinals, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the Pittsburgh Panthers, the UNC Tar Heels… and it hasn’t all been blue blood… They also lost to Albany and St Louis.  Sure, they beat the Clemson Tigers and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish… but it’s all washed away by inconsistency.  How about the betting opportunities?... Nope.  They are only 5-5 ATS… going 4 of 10 and logging a 5-5 means the winning teams have complete control over you and the final score.  The Eagles are not a good bet against anybody.

Wake Forest is on a three-game win streak and have won 7 of their last ten games.  The Demon Deacons are a high scoring ACC team that leans heavily on their star, the Oklahoma transfer guard Alondes Williams… scouts are watching Mr Williams as he leads the Deacons in points, assists, and rebounds. The 6’5 guard is not alone… he leads a productive team that features 7’0 senior Center Dallas Walton and 6’1 senior point guard Daivien Williamson.  Experience that will be valuable come tournament time.  They lost 6’6 guard East Texas State transfer Damari Monsanto after just 2 games played this season… but you can’t miss what you never really had.

 

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Boston College is 8-9 on the season, and 8-9 ATS.  They have logged 9 Overs and 8 Unders… They are 1-4 in road games.

Wake Forest is 16-4 on the season, but 12-8 ATS.  They have notched 11 Overs and 9 Unders.  Wake is 11-1 in home games.  The Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum rarely witnesses a loss. 

Boston College is 287th in scoring with 67.1 ppg, 183rd in rebounds with 32.6 per game, and 168th in AST/TO ratio with a simple 1.0.  Shooting woes abound for BC as they are 262nd in FG% with 42.6% and 215th in 3PT% with 33.1%.  They hang their hat on defense as they are ranked 98th in the country while only allowing 65.7 ppg from opponents.

Wake Forest is head and shoulders above BC in the stat game.  Wake is 30th in the nation in scoring with 79.3 ppg, 79th in rebounds with 34.9, and 129th in AST/TO ratio with 1.1. The Deacons are loaded with fine shooters as they rank 22nd in FG% with 48.3%... they don’t have as many shooters from behind the arc as they drop to 240th with 32.6%.  Defense is a part of Wake’s game, just not the biggest part.  Wake is ranked 174th while allowing 68.5… of course when you average 11 more points scored than you average giving up… defense does tend to fall to the wayside a bit.

Our prediction for Monday, January 24th is…  Wake 82 - BC 63

Wake will run BC out of the gym.  They play in the same conference but in completely different classes.  Easy win for Wake Forest.  Also bet the over.  BC’s nice defensive numbers don’t hold up if you drop the scrubs from the list.  Wake and the Over if you parlay.

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Wake Forest is 2-1 ATS versus Boston College the last three seasons.

Wake is 1-0 ATS versus Boston College at Wake the last three seasons.

BC is 0-3 ATS when playing with only 1 day of rest, this season.

Wake is 7-2 ATS after scoring 80 points or more this season.

Eagles: G Brevin Galloway (knee) Quest

Wake: G Damari Monsanto (undisclosed) Out for season.

Eagles: G Jaeden Zachery, G DeMarr Langford Jr, G Makai Ashton-Langford, F James Karnik, F T.J. Bickerstaff

Demon Deacons: F Jake LaRavia, F Isaiah Mucius, C Dallas Walton, G Daivien Williamson, G Alondes Williams

Eagles

Points: Makai Ashton-Langford 13.2

Assists: Makai Ashton-Langford 3.4

Rebounds: T.J. Bickerstaff 7.6

Steals: Makai Ashton-Langford 1.4

Blocks: Quinten Post 0.9

Demon Deacons

Points: Alondes Williams 20.4

Assists: Alondes Williams 5.1

Rebounds: Alondes Williams: 6.8

Steals: Jake LaRavia 1.7

Blocks: Dallas Walton 1.6

Boston College: Earl Grant

Wake Forest: Steve Forbes