Wake Forest (19-9) vs Notre Dame (12-16)
March 1, 2025 at 05:15 PM EST
The Line: Betting Odds: Wake Forest -7.5 — Over/Under: 140.5
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons meet Saturday in college basketball action from LJVM Coliseum. Here’s a Notre Dame vs Wake Forest prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Notre Dame vs Wake Forest pick. We will examine:
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish recent form and player performance
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Recent betting trends in games played between Notre Dame and Wake Forest
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Notre Dame vs Wake Forest game
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Betting Preview
The Irish started out the year on a decent run, but they’ve struggled amid some tough matchups sine late December. Notre Dame was 7-5 through their first dozen outings, then lost to Georgia Tech, North Carolina, NC State and Duke in the next four. The Fighting Irish would then dispatch Boston College, Virginia and Georgia Tech amid a lone loss to Syracuse, but since then it’s been a 2-6 stretch over the last eight. Those wins came versus Boston College and Pitt; otherwise it was losses to Miami, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Louisville, SMU and Clemson, giving Notre Dame a 12-16 overall record through 28 games so far this year.
In the Clemson matchup on Wednesday, the Irish came out of the break with a 41-31 deficit. Notre Dame didn’t get any closer than that on a 42-37 second-half run and lost 83-68 in the end. Leading the team during the defeat was Markus Burton with 30 points, five assists and four rebounds in 36 minutes. Tae Davis added 15 points with five rebounds as the only other player on the team to reach the double-figures mark.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons Betting Preview
Over on the Wake Forest side, they opened on a nice stretch over their first 19 games but have been pretty choppy since then. The Deacons kicked things off at 9-4 with losses to Xavier, Florida, Texas A&M and Clemson. Wins over Syracuse, NC State, Miami, Stanford, Virginia Tech and North Carolina came in the next six, then losses to Duke and Louisville. Since then Wake Forest has been on a spotty 4-3 run. Those losses came versus Florida State, NC State and Virginia. Otherwise it was victories over Pitt, Stanford, California and SMU during that time. That would give the Demon Deacons a 19-9 overall record across 28 games so far this year.
Matched up against Virginia on Wednesday in their latest appearance, the Deacons hit a 44-33 deficit in the first half. Wake Forest got better from there on a 42-39 second but still lost 83-75 at home in the end. Topping the team was Hunter Sallis with 25 points, four rebounds and three assists in 38 minutes. Cameron Hildreth added 22 points with three boards, while Efton Reid doubled up on 12 points, 10 boards and three assists in 36 minutes of action.
Why the Wake Forest Demon Deacons will win
- Wake Forest has won 38 of its last 42 night games at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum against non-AP-ranked opponents.
- Notre Dame has lost 13 of its last 14 Saturday road games against Conference opponents.
- Notre Dame has lost the first half in each of its last five night games against Conference opponents.
Why the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will win
- The road team has won five of Wake Forest’s last six games.
- Wake Forest has lost three of its last four home games.
Notre Dame vs Wake Forest Prediction
I’ll lean toward Wake Forest. The Deacons need a good bounce-back effort here following a sketchy loss to a middling Virginia team at home, though. Wake Forest shot well from the field (55.6 percent) in that one, but pretty horrendously (2-of-14 for 14.3 percent) from 3-point range. The Deacons also gave up 10 turnovers for 12 Cavs points and surrendered 55.8 percent shooting on the other side. That makes consecutive losses for Wake Forest, but the good news is that they’re scoring well lately with 70 or more points in seven straight.
As for Notre Dame, they’ve lost six of their last eight but have scored pretty well over the last trio with 68 or more points in each. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a close game here, but Wake should still have the advantage.