Wake Forest vs La Salle: Preview and Prediction

The Demon Deacons play their first game away from home of the new college basketball season

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the La Salle Explorers face off Friday afternoon in the first round of the Jersey Mike's Jamaica Classic. 

Gameday Info:

Tipoff: 2:00 p.m. ET

TV: CBSSN

Spread: Wake Forest -6.5

Over/under: 142.5

Wake Forest Overview:

Record: 3-0

KenPom Ranking: 76th (74th Offensive, 85th Defensive)

The Demon Deacons were able to escape with a win in overtime against the upset-minded Utah Valley Wolverines on Tuesday night, needing a buzzer beater courtesy of Florida transfer Tyree Appleby to do so. Head coach Steve Forbes has led his new look group to a perfect record over the three game homestand to start the season.

The dynamic veteran backcourt of Appleby (17.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 5.0 apg) and Daivien Williamson (16.0 ppg, 38.9 3PT%) has been the engine of this team so far. Delaware transfer Andrew Carr (12.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg) has been by far the most significant contributor in the frontcourt, and sophomore Cameron Hildreth has provided a nice spark off the bench (10.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg). 

Click the links below for our thoughts on the first three games of the season for the Deacs:

Takeaways from Wake Forest's 68-65 win over Utah Valley

Takeaways from Wake Forest's 81-71 win over Georgia

Takeaways from Wake Forest's 71-59 win over Fairfield

La Salle Overview:

Record: 2-1

KenPom Ranking: 181st (192nd Off, 175th Def)

Conference: Atlantic 10

La Salle reached the Sweet 16 as a No. 13 seed back in 2013, but they haven't finished with a winning record in the Atlantic 10 since. 74-year old Fran Dunphy is now in charge for the Explorers after a two-year coaching hiatus. Dunphy's squad isn't expected to do much in their league, settling in at No. 14 in the conference preseason media poll.

La Salle lost their season opener at the Pavilion to Villanova 81-68. They then secured a 77-69 win over Wagner (who beat Temple, who beat Villanova), and a 72-60 win over Queens.

The Explorers' leading scorer is sophomore guard Khalil Brantley (17.0 ppg, 4.7 apg), who struggles to shoot the ball (12.5 3PT%, 63.6 FT%), but is still a dynamic playmaker who can get to the basket. Senior guard Josh Nickelberry (16.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 38.1 3PT%) is a former top 100 recruit who began his career at Louisville. He didn't start a game in two seasons playing for the Cardinals, but has grown into his own as a primary player for La Salle.

The Drame twins, Hassan (12.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and Fousseyni (13.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg), are versatile 6-7 senior forwards who hail from the Western African country of Mali. If those names sound familiar, it's because they were key pieces of Saint Peter's magical Cinderella run in March. The Drame brothers are great defenders who can finish inside as well as step out and shoot from deep.

Why Wake Forest will cover:

Utah Valley jumped out to a 9-0 lead on Tuesday, and overall the Deacs looked like a much weaker team than they did in the win vs Georgia. In a tournament setting, Forbes should have his guys ready to go against one of the weaker teams left on the schedule. La Salle will likely be playing without freshman big man Rokas Jocius, who is their main interior presence. Against a team whose strength also lies on the perimeter, Wake Forest will have the better guards which should be enough to get the win. 

Against Utah Valley, the Deacs didn't get much of anything offensively outside of Appleby, Carr, Williamson and Hildreth. And even those guys struggled for the most part to find good looks. With Jao Ituka still out, the crew of Bobi Klintman, Damari Monsanto, Davion Bradford and Zach Keller are going to have to step up and add some scoring pop to make this team a more balanced threat. I like this spot for those guys to get going today. I'm expecting the better team to win this one by multiple possessions and cover the number.

Why La Salle will cover:

The Deacs were lucky to survive against a low major in Utah Valley, and they wouldn't have even had a chance to win that game if the Wolverines weren't so horrendous shooting the three ball (4-31). Wake Forest has looked the best this season when they have been forcing turnovers and getting out in transition, but the Explorers take care of the ball pretty well. In two of their three games this year, they've turned the ball over nine or less times. The 6-7 Drame twins will absorb most of the minutes at the five for La Salle, which gives the Explorers plenty of defensive versatility. 

Against Utah Valley, Carr was able to pop out and be wide open at the top of the key all the time because the Wolverines had to drop their big man back in ball screen coverage. The Drame's won't struggle to match up with stretch bigs like Carr and Klintman, and La Salle has a pretty dynamic backcourt themselves in Brantley and Nickelberry. The Explorers could definitely keep this one close against a team that looked far from impressive last time out.

Score Prediction: Wake Forest 73 - La Salle 64

The Pick: Wake Forest -6.5

If Wake Forest doesn't cover the spread today, it'll definitely force me to reconsider my season expectations for this team. La Salle has a legendary coach and some good players, but this is still a team that Wake should not struggle with. I'm expecting the offense to find a groove again and for the Deacs to bounce back strong from Tuesday's scare. Utah Valley's seven footer Aziz Bandaogo caused a lot of problems for Wake last time out (9 points, 17 rebounds, 3 blocks), but La Salle doesn't have a rim protecting force like that. I love the Drame twins and think they could cause some issues for the Deacs on both ends of the floor, but I think Wake will find a way to build a lead in the second half. I'm taking the Deacs to win and cover in their first game in Jamaica.

Prediction record

1-2 ATS

3-0 Straight up

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