Cleveland State vs Wake Forest: March Madness Odds & Picks
Written March 18, 2009 by Jay Horne
The no. 4 seeded Wake Forest Demon Deacons will take on the no. 13 seed Cleveland State Vikings this Friday night in an unfamiliar match-up between the ACC and the Horizon conferences. Cleveland State captured an upset type defeat in the Conference Tournament over well-known Butler earning their first trip to the big dance in 23 years. This game will be two of the most different styles of play colliding on the floor. Cleveland State only averages 66 points per game in one of the lowest scoring conferences in America. However, Wake Forest has had one of the highest scoring offenses in America all season one of the highest scoring conferences in the ACC. While the Demon Deacons have plenty of offensive weapons, will the Vikings different style of play be able to throw Wake Forest off rhythm? Wake Forest is an 8 point favorite over Cleveland State in the first round of the tournament.
Wake Forest got off to a perfect 16-0 start this season reaching the top ranking in the country for a few weeks. As the season progressed it seemed like the Demon Deacons just ran out of gas in conference play struggling a bit down the stretch. However, Jeff Teague and company will be leading the charge to make a surge out of the Midwest bracket in March. Wake Forest ranks in the top 5 in almost all major offensive categories. The Demon Deacons have averaged 82 points per game this season while shooting a stout 49% as a team from the field. Jeff Teague has led the scoring attack as he has emerged into one of the best young guards in the country. Teague averaged over 20 points all season before dropping to the 19 point mark as the year winded down. Along with Teague, big men James Johnson and Al-Faroug Aminu have played a big role in Demon Deacons success. Their ability to control the boards could give Wake Forest a huge advantage. Both young forwards are averaging over 12 points a game and pulling down nearly 9 boards per contest. The Vikings will have a very tough time trying to slow down all of these threats on the court as this young talented Wake Forest teams attempts to get back to dominate form as they were earlier this season.
Cleveland State will definitely have to come up very big on the defensive side of the court if they have any plans for an upset. Luckily for the Vikings their scoring defense ranks right outside the top 10 best defenses in the country. Cleveland State ranks 11th in the NCAA holding opponents to a staggering low 59 points per game. However, they will be squaring off with the best offense they have seen all season when they meet Wake Forest on Friday. Cleveland State is led by veteran senior forward J’Nathan Bullock. Bullock has posted 15.3 points per game this season for the Vikings while grabbing 7 rebounds per game as well. Bullock will need a big supporting cast to step up and put more points on the board than normal this Friday if the Vikings plan to keep tempo with the Wake Forest offense. Likely candidates could be sophomore forward Norris Cole or senior guard Cedric Jackson. Both players are averaging double figures and will need to step up big for the 13 seeded Vikings this Friday. On average 1 out of every 4 number 13 seeds pull off the first round upset over the no. 4 seed every year and the Vikings look to be that team in 2009.
Pick - Wake Forest comes out looking good. Take Wake Forest -8
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