The Good and Bad from Wake Forest Basketball Exhibition Against ETSU
In this story:
The Demon Deacons took a little trip to play the ETSU basketball team in a charity exhibition game Wednesday night. This game ended in victory for the Deacs, with an 89-70 final score. It was so nice to finally see this team on the court against an opponent. Let's get in to both the positives and negatives we can take from this game:
New Wing Trio is ELITE
Going into the season, people were wondering how the Deacs would replace the scoring output of Hunter Sallis and Cam Hildreth. I think we have found our answer. The wing trio of Juke Harris, Mekhi Mason, and Myles Colvin rotated into two spots in the rotation. The scoring output from this trio of players was very promising.
Mekhi Mason led the way with 24 points and 5-9 from three-point range. He looked solid and was very efficient shooting the ball. Lone returner of this trio, Juke Harris, dropped 15 points on 3-5 from three-point range. He started to heat up more in the second half and even left a few baskets out there under the hoop. Purdue transfer, Myles Colvin, also had 15 points and went 3-5 from beyond the arc.
Wake will surely lean on these three guys for a large percentage of their scoring throughout the season. The great thing was not only the point totals but also how efficiently they got there. There will obviously be bad shooting nights, but it is nice to have three scorers to count on, so if one is off, the other two can pick up the slack. I am very excited to see these three share the court more as the season goes on.
Spillers is Rock Solid, but Frontcourt Depth Concerning
Tre'Von Spillers put up a double-double Wednesday night with 17 points and 11 rebounds. This is exactly what this team expects and needs from Spillers, so good to see him get out there and be productive. Omaha Biliew also showed some nice flashes, scoring nine points to go along with five rebounds. He went 2-3 from three-point range.
All the bigs started a little sloppy, missing some shots at the rim. Coach Forbes said after the game, they were a little thrown off by ETSU's physically at the start. Being a unit that is already undersized, hopefully, they are able to adjust to the physicality as the season goes along.
Probably the most concerning part of the night was that Marqus Marion went down with a leg injury in the first half and was unable to return in the second. Already being without Schwieger for the time being, this group cannot afford to lose another big body. Marqus needs time at the beginning of the season to get some confidence, having not played in a game for a long time.
Calmese is Facilitator the Deacs Need
I do not want to overreact to an exhibition game, but what we saw out of Nate Calmese on Wednesday night was promising. Despite struggling to find his shot, only coming away with four points, Calmese had 12 assists on the night. This ball distribution is exactly what Wake needed and did not have last year at the point guard position. Calmese showed his ability to find open players, allowing for big individual scoring performances.
Calmese set the tone for the Deacs as they had 23 assists on 33 made shots. This is certainly music to Deacon fans' ears coming from a very iso-heavy offense a season ago. I really hope this good ball movement can continue as we get further into the season.
Despite a good amount of positives, the Deacs were not perfect tonight. Obviously, giving up 70 points to ETSU and only being up six at halftime is not ideal. However, the Deacs have not played an official game yet, and I was enthused by the way they came out in the second half and put ETSU away. Injuries could always be a concern for this team, but overall, I am very excited to see what this team can do!
What's Next?
The Deacs open up the season this Monday, November 3, at the Joel. They will take on American, and tip-off is scheduled to be at 8 pm.
Recommended Articles
Justin is a student at Wake Forest University. He is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and aspiring finance major interested everything sports. In his freshman year, Justin completed an internship with the Wake Forest Ticketing Department where he gained some valuable insight into the sales and operations aspects of collegiate athletics. Before working with Wake Forest On SI, Justin was a contributing writer for Wake Forest’s student publication The Old Gold and Black. Currently, Justin serves as a student manager on the Wake Forest Men’s Tennis team. In his free time Justin enjoys spending time with his family and friends on the golf course and traveling.