Navy Midshipmen vs Wake Forest Demon Deacons Prediction, 3/18/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Navy Midshipmen vs Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Date: Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Location: LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem, NC

TV: ESPNU

Odds/Point Spread: Navy (+12)

The Navy Midshipmen (26-7) are hitting the road to LJVM Coliseum on Wednesday where they will go up against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (17-16) in the 1st round of the NIT. Navy opens this matchup as 12-point underdogs. The total has been set at 148.

The Navy Midshipmen faced off with Boston and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 73-72 in their last contest. When talking about personal fouls, the Midshipmen left the arena with 11 and Boston finished the game with 17 personal fouls. They also knocked down 11 of their 24 shots from distance. Boston finished the game shooting 83.3% from the charity stripe by burying 10 of 12 shots. Additionally, Boston collected 25 rebounds (4 offensive, 21 defensive), but didn't have a block. Boston doled out 13 assists and had 1 steal in this contest. In relation to the defense, Navy allowed their opponent to shoot 55.3% from the field on 26 of 47 shooting. They also dished out 14 assists in this contest while forcing the opposition into 13 turnovers and having 10 steals. With respect to grabbing rebounds, they collected a total of 31 with 14 of them being of the offensive sort. At the free throw line, the Midshipmen knocked down 16 of 23 tries for a rate of 69.6%. Navy ended the game having earned a 42.9% FG percentage (27 of 63) and made 2 out of their 13 three-point shots.

Aidan Kehoe is a guy who was a major factor for the game. He finished shooting 73.3% from the field and also earned 2 assists. He was on the hardwood for 37 minutes and also totaled 12 rebounds. He finished with 26 points on 11 of 15 shooting.

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Navy enters this one with a mark of 26-7 on the campaign. They average 74.7 points per outing (211th in Division 1) while going 47.6% from the floor. The Midshipmen are connecting on 36.0% on shots beyond the perimeter (217 of 603) and 73.5% from the free throw line. As a team, Navy is grabbing 36.6 rebounds per contest and has tallied 537 assists this year, which has them ranked 51st in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. They cough up possession 11.3 times per game and as a unit they are committing 14.3 personal fouls per contest.

Defensively, the Midshipmen are able to force 12.4 turnovers per game while drawing 19.2 fouls. They currently rank 78th in D-1 in giving up assists to the opposition with 393 surrendered this season. The Midshipmen defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 40.5% (750 of 1,852) and they relinquish 30.6 rebounds per game as a squad. They give up 29.8% on shots from beyond the arc and they are ranked 5th in college in PPG allowed (63.8).

When they last stepped on the court, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons took a loss by a score of 71-62 against Clemson. The Demon Deacons collected 24 defensive boards and 6 offensive boards totaling 30 for the game. They turned it over 12 times, while earning 2 steals in this game. Clemson committed 10 fouls in this matchup which took the Demon Deacons to the charity stripe for a total of 13 shots. They were able to knock down 8 of the free throws for a rate of 61.5%. In reference to shooting from distance, Wake Forest made 10 of their 22 tries (45.5%). Overall, the Demon Deacons finished shooting 22 for 50 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 44.0%. The Demon Deacons allowed Clemson to make 26 out of 64 tries from the floor which had them shooting 40.6% in the game. They finished 32.3% from distance by going 10 out of 31 and ended up shooting 9 of 15 at the free throw line (60.0%). In the matter of rebounds, Wake Forest allowed Clemson to get 38 in all (15 offensive).

Juke Harris was important for the Demon Deacons for this contest. He racked up 22 points in his 40 minutes on the court and had 4 dimes for the game. He converted 7 out of 12 for the matchup for a field goal percentage of 58.3%, and had 2 rebounds.

Wake Forest has a mark of 17-16 for the year. In terms of offensive execution, the Demon Deacons are connecting on 45.0% from the field, which has them ranked 195th in the country. Wake Forest has scored 2,602 points for the campaign (78.8 per game) and they average 33.2 rebounds per game. They are earning an assist 14.3 times per contest (148th in college) and they are turning it over 10.8 times per contest. The Demon Deacons have committed 18.8 fouls per game and they go 77.4% from the charity stripe.

The Wake Forest defense gives up 33.0% on shots from beyond the perimeter (301 of 911) and their opponents are converting on 73.8% of their shots from the charity stripe. They concede 15.0 assists and 35.2 rebounds every game, which is ranked 293rd and 232nd in those categories. The Demon Deacons on the defensive end are ranked 263rd in college hoops in PPG given up with 77.1. They are able to force 12.5 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 44.3% from the field (187th in D-1).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Navy (+12)

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