Wake Forest Basketball vs. Quinnipiac preview, live stream, odds

Wake Forest Basketball is floundering to begin the season. Can they finally get their first win of the season in the relocated Paradise Jam?

If you had asked before the beginning of the season what would be more surprising, Wake Forest basketball starting 0-3 or the Paradise Jam being played in Lynchburg, Virginia, I am not sure what would get you a more incredulous look.

Wake Forest has lost three games they have absolutely no excuse for losing. One loss for Danny Manning‘s squad would be a disappointment, let alone all three. The Demon Deacons are the most experienced team in the ACC, so there should not be this much let down to begin a season. They did lose sophomore phenom, John Collins, to the Atlanta Hawks with the 19th pick of the first round. However, they should be able to beat Georgia Southern and Liberty on their home floor and Drake at a neutral site with relative ease. They were favored by 10 points in two of those games and the third had no line it was so lopsided in the oddsmakers’ eyes. Liberty won that game by 13.

They play the Quinnipiac Bobcats (1-2) of the MAAC on Saturday afternoon in their second game of the Paradise Jam. As the name suggests the Demon Deacons were expecting to play this game in the U.S. Virgin Islands. In case you were living under a rock, St. Thomas was battered by hurricanes this summer, and therefore could not host the tournament. Liberty University agreed to host the tournament instead. It will drop below freezing in Lynchburg this weekend. The nearest beach is nearly 200 miles away.

The Bobcats are a live dog. They lost by just a point, 70-69, to Colorado in the first round of the tournament. They led 68-64 with just 25 seconds left. Quinnipiac opened their season with a 78-77 win over Dartmouth. Their other loss was 79-72 to Brown.

Here’s how you can watch Saturday’s Quinnipiac Bobcats vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons game:

Date: Saturday, Nov. 18
Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
Location: Lynchburg, Va.
Venue: Vines Center
Live Stream: FloHoops

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Wake Forest is favored by 16 over Quinnipiac. The spread and -2000 moneyline would suggest this is close to a sure thing for Wake to win straight up. However, you could have said that about each of Wake Forest’s three games. Wake has to figure this out eventually. They can’t really lose to four teams that don’t belong on the court with them in a row, can they? The Demon Deacons might be in for more of a regression than we thought, but they get off the schneid here, but it will be close enough for things to still be uncomfortable for Manning and his fans.

Prediction: Wake Forest 75, Quinnipiac 70