Wake Forest Basketball Beats Morehead State Behind Juke Harris' Big Night
In this story:
The Deacs were able to overcome the Morehead State Eagles on Friday night at the Joel. Juke Harris had his career-high at 29 points for the game. Most of these points came in the paint for Juke as he was a force underneath all night long. He finished 10-15 from the floor and was also an efficient 3-5 from three.
2-0 week at the Joel 🎩 pic.twitter.com/ZhdTKGQBUD
— Wake Forest Men's Basketball (@WakeMBB) November 8, 2025
As a team, the Deacs started slow. Morehead State played very aggressively right out of the gates, which led to turnovers for Wake. The Eagles jumped out to a 12-5 lead before the Deacs slowly started to chip away.
Then the Deacs went on a 12-0 run that propelled them into the driver's seat. This advantage was never given up for the rest of the game. At times, the Deacs extended their lead to 20, but Morehead State was able to chip away to get the deficit down to 16 at the end of the ballgame.
A huge plus for the Deacs was that transfer big man Cooper Schwieger made his Demon Deacon debut Friday night. It was nice to have him on the court. He had two points to go along with a steal and a block on the defensive end. He should get more comfortable in the system as he goes along.
Sebastian Akins gave the Deacs some phenomenal minutes at point guard while Nate Calmese faced foul trouble for most of the evening. Akins had the best plus/minus on the team at +24, and he finished with 15 points. This should be a huge confidence booster for him and shows the Deacs have a solid backup point guard going forward.
Right on it to end the half 🎯 pic.twitter.com/xjoDfOVJRl
— Wake Forest Men's Basketball (@WakeMBB) November 8, 2025
Along with Akins, two big guys stepped up in a big way as well. Tre'Von Spillers finished with a double-double while scoring 16 points. His impact on the offensive glass was relentless, and he will certainly be a force for this team going forward. Marqus Marion also had a great game for the Deacs on both the offensive and defensive ends. He scored six points to go along with two steals and a block. His length and athleticism are great advantages for this team, and his confidence should be building with performances like this.
There are definitely some things the Deacs have to clean up before their date with the Wolverines next week. Wake was sloppy in transition, throwing passes away and missing key opportunities to blow the game open. This is something Forbes addressed after the game and said needs to improve. There was also a turnover issue tonight for the Deacs as they accumulated 19 turnovers on the night. This obviously has to be cleaned up as Wake continues to build on the season.
Overall, the Deacs were not able to break this game open, but they did show a lot of potential. Time will tell if they can fit these pieces together. The Deacs will be back in action next week against the seventh-ranked Michigan Wolverines.
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.