On Wednesday at 3:30 PM PT on ESPNews, Stanford men’s basketball will take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on the road. Stanford comes in at 11-5 overall and 3-2 in the ACC while Wake Forest comes in at 12-4 overall and 4-1 in the ACC.

Last time out: On Saturday, Stanford defeated Virginia 88-65. Stanford center Maxime Raynaud led the Cardinal with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

RECAP: Stanford MBB vanquishes Virginia on The Farm

On Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons are 0-3 against ranked opponents this season, one of which was against Clemson, an ACC opponent. Clemson is not presently ranked but was at the time that they played. The four wins the Demon Deacons have in ACC play are against Boston College, Syracuse, NC State, and Miami. The best team of that bunch is NC State, who is in the mix for an NIT spot, so Wake Forest doesn’t really have any quality wins. They’ve pretty much won the games they are supposed to win but haven’t really punched above their weight.

The Demons Deacons are led by senior guard Hunter Sallis, who is averaging 18.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game on 46.0% shooting from the field, 28.9% shooting from 3-point range, and 87.7% shooting from the foul line. Senior guard Cameron Hildreth (13.6 points & 4.3 rebounds) and senior forward Tre’Von Spillers (10.2 points & 8.8 rebounds) are also scoring in double figures on average. After that, it’s a bit of a drop off, so those three guys have to really carry the load.

As a team, the Demon Deacons average 70.3 points per game on 44.4% shooting from the field, 28.6% shooting from 3-point range, and 74.2% shooting from the foul line. They average 34.1 rebounds, 12.1 assists, 7.9 steals, 4.6 blocks, and 12.1 turnovers per game. They also average a -1.6 rebound margin and a +2.4 turnover margin per game. Their opponents average 65.8 points per game on 38.6% shooting from the field, 30.9% shooting from 3-point range, and 77.7% shooting from the foul line.

Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is contain Sallis. He’s the engine that makes this Demon Deacons team go. If they make things tough on him and don’t allow him to have a big night, it’s going to be tough for Wake Forest to pull this one out.

The second thing Stanford needs to do is crash the glass well. Wake Forest gets outrebounded on average. If guys like Maxime Raynaud and Ryan Agarwal rebound well for Stanford, the Cardinal should be in a good spot to win this one.

Finally, Stanford needs to maintain a good offensive flow the entire game. If they go through a significant dry spell of no points or field goals for 4+ minutes, that could spell doom. Stanford has to make sure they are making shots consistently and not allowing Wake Forest to take advantage of any lulls they have on offense.

Prediction: Given they are at home, I’m going to pick Wake Forest to win, but this is a very winnable game for Stanford. Stanford should feel like they have a real opportunity here. I’ll say Wake Forest wins by a final score of 73-70.

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