The fortunes of a team can change in a single moment in the season, with a championship favorite suddenly seeing their season fall into serious doubt. In most cases, it is an injury to a star player that can derail things, much like happened to the LA Lakers this year after losing LeBron James for an extended period of time. If an injury such as that is going to hit, the hope is that the player in question is able to return in enough time to make a positive impact on the rest of the season.

That is where the Duke Blue Devils are right now after losing Zion Williamson to a freak knee injury after his shoe basically exploded on the court. Word is that Williamson will be back in time for March Madness, and perhaps even before, but he will almost certainly not be making an appearance on Tuesday night against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Duke really shouldn’t need him, as they are a 26-point favorite for this one, with the point total set at 152.

Wake Forest vs Duke NCAAB Odds & Game Info

#DukeMBBTop5 is back and wow 🚀🐰🔨🔨✈️💪🔥👀 pic.twitter.com/i6BcuYoFgI

— Duke Basketball (@DukeMBB) 3 de marzo de 2019

• When: Tuesday, March 5 at 7 PM EST
• Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham
• TV: ESPN
• Live Stream: WatchESPN
• NCAAB Odds: Duke Blue Devils -26 (Total 152)

Why bet on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons?

Make no mistake about it, the ACC is not a conference where weaker teams are going to find a way to thrive and win on a consistent basis. The harsh reality for the Demon Deacons is that they are simply not good enough to compete with the best that the conference has to offer, so it is perhaps no real surprise to find them sitting near the bottom with a 4-12 record in the ACC, a run that takes them to 11-17 overall on the season.

This team has just 1 win in 8 attempts against ranked opposition this season and have just 1 win in their last 10 versus Duke. The Demon Deacons are just 3-9 SU on the road this season and are 3-7 ATS as a road underdog. They have covered the spread just 3 times in their last 10 games.

Team Stats

• Total Score: 68.61
• Field Goal Percentage: 39.62
• Three-Point Percentage: 30.82
• Free Throw Percentage: 72.92
• Total Rebounds: 37.75

Defense

• Total Score: 76.04
• Field Goal Percentage: 46.58
• Three-Point Percentage: 34.14
• Free Throw Percentage: 70.43
• Total Rebounds: 34.11

Why bet on the Duke Blue Devils?

The Duke Blue Devils have wobbled a little with Zion Williamson sitting on the sidelines with an injury, but with the big man due back sooner rather than later, this still needs to be a team viewed as one of the favorites to win it all.

Duke ended up losing to UNC in the game where Zion went down and have since dropped another to Virginia Tech, but this is all about biding time until their star player gets healthy again, with many believing he could be back after this one, although Duke may decide to hold him out until the start of the ACC tournament. Duke come into the final week of the season at 25-4, which includes an 87-65 road win over Wake Forest earlier this season. Duke is 9-7 ATS as a home favorite.

Team Stats

• Total Score: 85.07
• Field Goal Percentage: 48.23
• Three-Point Percentage: 30.83
• Free Throw Percentage: 69.20
• Total Rebounds: 41.83

Defense

• Total Score: 66.90
• Field Goal Percentage: 39.50
• Three-Point Percentage: 28.68
• Free Throw Percentage: 69.30
• Total Rebounds: 35.14

Wake Forest vs Duke NCAAB Betting Trends

• Wake Forest is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
• Wake Forest is 1-9 SU in its last 10 games on the road
• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Wake Forest’s last 6 games on the road
• Duke is 14-4 ATS in its last 18 games when playing at home against Wake Forest
• Duke is 19-2 SU in its last 21 games at home
• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Duke’s last 6 games at home

Expert Pick & Final Score Prediction for Wake Forest vs Duke

Duke should have absolutely no problems getting past a Wake Forest team that is simply playing out the string at this point. I think we are in for a bit of a blowout here, and while I tend to steer clear of big spreads, let’s take Duke to cover.

Score: Wake Forest Demon Deacons 62 – Duke Blue Devils 90