Charleston Southern Buccaneers vs Wake Forest Demon Deacons Prediction, Odds, Best Bets - Week 2

Wake Forest is 1-1 and has scored just 67 points a game, yet it lays a huge number against a Charleston Southern team that scored 83.4 a game last season and has a hot guard in Anthony Ruffolo. The Demon Deacons should win at home, and the Buccaneers can score enough to matter.

The Matchup

Charleston Southern visits Wake Forest on Tuesday evening at LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem, on ACCNX, with Wake Forest an 18.5-point favorite, a total of 154.5, and the Demon Deacons priced at -3,600 on the moneyline against Charleston Southern at +1,500. The spread says ACC rout; the scoring numbers of the two teams say something more interesting.

Wake Forest is 1-1, scoring 67.0 points a game and allowing 68.0, a slow start for a home favorite laying this many points. Kevair Kennedy leads the Demon Deacons at 17.0 points and 4.0 assists a game, and Gavin Placide leads them at 7.5 rebounds a game, so Wake Forest has a lead guard and a rebounder and is still waiting for the rest of its offense to arrive. Charleston Southern is 1-1, scoring 78.5 points a game and allowing 73.5. Anthony Ruffolo leads the Buccaneers at 19.0 points and 5.5 assists a game, and Lase Olalere leads them at 11.0 rebounds a game, a guard-and-big pairing that has produced more offense than Wake Forest's has so far.

Last season makes the same point with a full schedule behind it. Charleston Southern went 15-17, scored 83.4 points a game, and allowed 80.1, one of the highest-scoring mid-major teams in the country. Wake Forest went 18-17, scored 78.8, and allowed 76.9, the better and deeper team, but not one that wins by strangling opponents. Two teams that both play in the high seventies and allow points freely produce shootouts, and shootouts are hard places for a favorite to build the kind of margin this spread demands.

Key Factors

Ruffolo against Kennedy is the duel that shapes the night. Ruffolo is scoring more and creating more through two games, and if he wins his matchup, Charleston Southern's offense travels at full strength and Wake Forest spends the night trading baskets instead of building a cushion. Olalere's 11.0 rebounds a game also give the Buccaneers second chances that shorten the favorite's runs.

Wake Forest's case is depth and home court, and it is a real one. The Demon Deacons can rotate ACC athletes against a Big South bench, Placide controls his own glass, and a team that went 18-17 last season in the ACC has more ways to score than its quiet first two games suggest. If Wake Forest defends Ruffolo with length and forces Charleston Southern's other guards to create, the visitors' offense drops fast.

The honest counterpoint is that Charleston Southern gives points back as fast as it scores them. Allowing 80.1 a game last season and 73.5 this season, the Buccaneers can lose contact in one hot Wake Forest stretch, and LJVM Coliseum is a hard place for a visiting mid-major to settle down once the crowd gets loud. If Kennedy gets help and the Deacons finally shoot to their talent, the talent gap tells late and the points stop mattering.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.