Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs. Presbyterian Blue Hose Pick & Prediction DECEMBER 21st 2023

There are certain parts to Wake Forest’s five-game winning streak that have been particularly encouraging.

Coach Steve Forbes said he likes the way the Demon Deacons have avoided tight finishes by maintaining their focus, and they’ll aim for another similar outing when Presbyterian visits Thursday afternoon in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Wake Forest is 7-3 after its third consecutive game with five players scoring in double figures. Those performances have helped with some comfortable conclusions.

“We’ve all coached teams and watched teams in these kinds of games that let the other team hang around and then with five minutes left at the end of the game, you have a problem,” Forbes said, referencing an 88-59 victory earlier this week against Delaware State. “We didn’t do that, we just kept pounding and grinding.”

Three of Wake Forest’s victories have come by 20 or more points. The Demon Deacons also have had three games when they’ve connected on 10 or more 3-point shots.

This clash with Wake Forest marks the last nonconference road game for Presbyterian (7-6), which lost 76-61 on Tuesday night at Furman. It’s a quick turnaround.

“We got to learn and grow from it,” Presbyterian coach Quinton Ferrell said. “The biggest thing is just try to get better.”

The Furman game marked the second-lowest scoring game of the season for the Blue Hose. But perhaps of bigger concern for Ferrell was seeing Furman break free for too many layups.

“We just got to get back to the drawing board and work on fundamentals and then we’ll bounce back,” he said.

Against Division I opponents, the Blue Hose have lost three in a row.

Some of Wake Forest’s good numbers have come from its defense. The 18 turnovers by Delaware State marked the most for a Wake Forest foe in more than a calendar year.

This will be the Blue Hose’s second game against a power conference team. They won the other by defeating Vanderbilt 68-62 in the season opener.

Presbyterian’s Marquis Barnett (13.8 points per game) has scored in double figures in 10 games.

–Field Level Media