The Louisville Cardinals take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Saturday, Feb. 7. Tip-off is set for 12 p.m. ET on ACC Network.
Louisville is favored by 7.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -350. Wake Forest, meanwhile, enters as a +7.5 underdog and is +275 on the moneyline to pull off the upset. The over/under sits at 158.5 total points.
Here’s my Louisville vs. Wake Forest prediction and college basketball picks for Saturday, February 7.
Louisville vs Wake Forest Prediction
My Pick: Louisville -7.5 (Play to -9.5)
My Louisville vs Wake Forest best bet is on the Cardinals to cover the spread. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Louisville vs Wake Forest Odds
| Louisville Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-7.5 -110 | 158.5 -110o / -110u | -350 |
| Wake Forest Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+7.5 -110 | 158.5 -110o / -110u | +275 |
- Louisville vs Wake Forest Spread: Louisville -7.5, Wake Forest +7.5
- Louisville vs Wake Forest Over/Under: 158.5 Points
- Louisville vs Wake Forest Moneyline: Louisville -350, Wake Forest +275
Louisville vs Wake Forest College Basketball Betting Preview
Louisville Basketball
Are the Louisville Cardinals flying a bit under the radar right now? Pat Kelsey’s squad is 16-6 on the season and 6-4 in the ACC.
However, only two of those losses have come with Mikel Brown Jr. in the lineup, and those games were road contests against Duke and Arkansas.
Brown has struggled with inefficiency and turnovers this season, but he’s still a ridiculously talented playmaker and shotmaker. He’s averaging five assists since returning from injury four games ago and has gone for 20 in two of those contests.
Ryan Conwell went ice cold from deep in Louisville’s back-to-back home wins last week, shooting a combined 2-of-20 from deep. The ACC’s leader in 3-point makes on the season will look to get back on track here.
The shooting regression does matter a lot for this Louisville team, because 54% of its field goal attempts come from behind the arc. That’s the highest 3-point attempt rate of any team in college basketball.
The elite spacing opens up easy looks at the rim, which is why the Cardinals are 12th in the country in 2-point percentage offense.
Kelsey’s group is also 28th nationally in defensive efficiency on KenPom, with the eighth-best 2-point percentage defense.
Wake Forest Basketball
The streak of four straight seasons spending February squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble — and never getting that elusive at-large bid — is finally ending for Wake Forest.
One-point November losses to Michigan and Texas Tech teased the ceiling of this team, but the wheels have fallen off lately, as Steve Forbes’ squad has dropped eight of its last 10 games and now sits at 11-11 on the season.
Making matters worse lately, point guard Nate Calmese suffered an ankle sprain last week, and he’ll be out once again for this one.
The lone consistent bright spot for this team this season has been the sophomore breakout by Juke Harris. The big, athletic guard went for a season-high 31 in the loss a week ago at NC State and is up to 20.9 points per game on the season.
Offensively, a lot rides on Harris' shoulders, which has been accentuated lately with the loss of Calmese, who was the team’s primary ball handler and pick-and-roll operator.
Defensively, this team has been a wreck. It’s the worst defense in the ACC during conference play, even though this group is top-25 nationally in forcing turnovers.
Starting Valparaiso transfer Cooper Schwieger at the five spot — who frankly just isn’t an ACC-caliber player at this point in time — has been a big reason why this defense has struggled.
The Deacs are bottom-50 nationally in defensive rebounding rate and opponent 2-point field goal percentage.
From an emotional side, this group has gone through a lot this season.
From heartbreaking, extremely winnable losses against two of the best teams in the sport, to a huge losing streak and losing your second-best offensive player, things are rough in Winston-Salem.
Louisville vs Wake Forest Betting Analysis
These are two teams trending in exact opposite directions.
Louisville is finding its stride with its best player returning to the lineup, while Wake Forest is sliding in a lost season without its main offensive initiator.
Wake has been really good at home during Forbes’ tenure, but that hasn’t been sustained this season. This isn't that tough of a road environment to execute in.
Wake Forest doesn’t protect the rim and struggles to guard the ball outside of Harris and Myles Colvin.
Also, our very own Evan Abrams has a strong return on investment Sports Insights Bet Labs featured system called "Good Team, Conference, Small Favorite, Both Teams Bad ATS" that spotlights this selection.
I expect Louisville to score 85-plus points and cover this number easily.
My Pick: Louisville -7.5 (Play to -9.5)
