Notre Dame vs Wake Forest Odds, Spread, Props & Picks (March 13)

• Wake Forest faces Notre Dame in the second round of the 2024 ACC Tournament on Wednesday afternoon
• Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech (84-80) to advance, while Wake Forest had a bye as the #6 seed
• Below, find the Notre Dame vs Wake Forest odds, plus player props and predictions for Wednesday’s matinee

Though they still possess an ugly win/loss record, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (13-19, 7-13 ACC, 2-1 neutral, 18-14 ATS) have plenty of reason to feel confident heading into their second-round ACC Tournament game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (19-12, 11-9 ACC, 1-2 neutral, 16-14-1 ATS) on Wednesday afternoon at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC (2:30 pm ET).

The Irish have six wins in their last nine games, including a win over Wake Forest in South Bend. But oddsmakers aren’t buying into Notre Dame’s (relative) surge, positioning Wake Forest as an 8.5-point neutral-court favorite on Wednesday.

Notre Dame vs Wake Forest Odds

Coming off an 84-80 win over Georgia Tech in round one, Notre Dame is a +300 longshot on the moneyline to advance to the quarterfinals on Thursday. Wake Forest is a short -380 favorite to win straight-up.

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Odds as of March 13 at ESPN Bet. Download the ESPN Bet app in NC to wager on the ACC Tournament.

As of last week’s projection, Wake Forest was comfortably in the March Madness bracket as a #6 seed. Notre Dame can only realistically qualify for the 2024 NCAA Tournament by winning the ACC championship.

Irish Survive Late Scare Against Georgia Tech

Notre Dame opened Tuesday’s first-round game against the Yellow Jackets on a 13-1 run and held a double-digit lead for much of the game, including a 70-59 advantage with ten minutes to play. But that’s when Georgia Tech made things interesting, going on a 21-9 run that actually gave Tech an 80-79 lead with just over two minutes to play. But a Markus Burton layup with 1:29 on the clock put Notre Dame back on top for good and they would seal their 84-80 win from the free-throw line.

Freshman Burton (17.3 PPG, 4.3 APG), who’s been the catalyst of the Irish offense all season, finished with 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting.  Fellow freshman Braeden Shrewsberry, the team’s second-leading scorer at just 9.9 PPG, had a game-high 23 on 8-of-12 from the field.

The big game from Shrewsberry – son of first-year head coach Micah Shrewsberry – was crucial on a day when Notre Dame’s usually stout defense was well below its best. The Irish, who were 27th in the country in defensive efficiency, dropped six spots to 33rd after giving up 80 to the Yellow Jackets.

Their defense was on full display when they met Wake Forest in the regular season, however. Notre Dame won a 70-65 decision at home, becoming just the third team to hold the Demon Deacons to 65 points or fewer this season. (The other two were Virginia and UNC.)

Wake Forest Stumbles Down the Stretch

In late February, the Deacs were 10-6 in ACC play and had the inside track on a top-four seed in the ACC Tournament (which comes with a double-bye). But Wake lost three of its final four games to fall to sixth in the ACC standings, and they were largely concerning setbacks.

After falling to Notre Dame on Feb. 27, Wake Forest lost 87-76 at Virginia Tech (53rd at KenPom) and 70-69 to Georgia Tech (128th at KenPom) at home before getting back in the win column with an 81-76 home victory over Clemson in their final regular-season test.

Wake plays a more up-tempo style than the Irish and have the shooters to make it effective. As a team, the Deacs average 37.6% from beyond the arc and rank 27th in offensive efficiency as a result. Junior guard Hunter Sallis – who projects as an early second-rounder in Jonathan Wasserman’s latest NBA mock draft – averages a team-high 18.3 PPG, but he’s just one of four Wake players averaging at least 13 points per game.

Notre Dame vs Wake Forest Player Props

College basketball player props as of March 12 at DraftKings. 

Coming off another 20-point performance, Notre Dame’s Burton is listed with a game-high point total of 18.5 in the Notre Dame vs Wake player props. Sallis is close behind at 16.5.

Notre Dame vs Wake Forest Prediction

Notre Dame is not the same team that started the season 7-16 (and 2-10 in ACC play). Their talented but ultra-young roster needed time to adjust to the college level, but adjust it has, and Shrewsberry has implemented an excellent defensive game scheme.

Wake Forest is more experienced and a little more talented, but this is a big spread against a team that defends as well as Notre Dame, which will be fighting for its season each time it takes the court from here on out.

Notre Dame vs Wake Forest pick: Notre Dame +8.5 (-110)

Sascha Paruk’s 2023-24 NCAAM betting record:

• ATS: 19-19 (-1.73 units)
• Moneyline: 3-9 (-8.68 units)
• Over/Under: 0-1 (-1.00 units)
• Player props: 7-2 (+4.93 units)