Posted on
1/29/2008 4:38:13 PM
NCAA Basketball Betting – Miami at Wake Forest
By Charles Jay
The Miami Hurricanes (15-4 SU, 9-2-1 ATS), coming off its home win over Clemson, looks to continue that momentum on Tuesday night when they visit Joel Coliseum to play the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (12-6 SU, 8-4-1 ATS) in ACC play that starts at 7 PM ET.
In the BetUS NCAA basketball betting odds, Wake Forest is a 1.5-point home favorite, with the total posted at 140.5 points.
Here are some of the NCAAB betting trends relative to this matchup:
* MIA has played five of its last six games OVER the total
* MIA is 7-1-1 ATS in its last nine road games
* MIA has won four of its last six road games SU
* MIA has played four of its last six road games UNDER the total
* WF has covered four of its last five games
* WF has won seven of its last ten games SU
* WF has won its last 14 home games SU
* WF has won four of the last five meetings SU
* MIA has covered three of the last five meetings
* WF has had the shooting edge in four of the last five meetings
* WF has had the rebounding edge in three of the last four meetings
Miami has big people who can compete on the inside, and you have to respect the way the 'Canes rebounded a disappointing loss at NC State and a near-blowout against North Carolina to take control in the final minutes over a capable Clemson team.
But you also have to be aware that the Deacons are a tough nut to crack on their home floor, where they've won fourteen straight games. And Wake Forest, which is not at its best when shooting the three-pointer, has the mid-range guy who can do the most damage in this game. That's James Johnson, the big-time freshman who came out of nowhere (well, actually Wyoming) to supply Wake Forest with scoring (15.1 ppg) and rebounding (8.3 rpg), not to mention shooting 50% from the floor. At a time when the Deacons are very young to begin with (no seniors starting), Johnson has been a player who has come in and shown remarkable poise. Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton, whose team just played against him, says he's more advanced at this stage than Al Thornton, his former player who is now doing well in his rookie season with the Clippers.
In their last game, Wake Forest also played Clemson, although they were not as successful (80-75 loser but cover). Now they've essentially had a week to prepare for this one in friendlier surroundings, where this team has beaten the likes of Virginia Tech and BYU thus far.
We'll lay the short number with Wake Forest, the 1.5-point favorite in the BetUS NCAAB betting odds.
BetUS NCAA basketball betting odds: WAKE FOREST -1.5, Total 140.5
JAY'S PLAY: WAKE FOREST
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(Charles Jay of TotalActionExtra.com gives it the old college try as a regular contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)