Wake Forest Basketball Passes Their First Test of the Season on Opening Night

The Deacs came away victorrious 88-74 over the American Eagles

Mekhi Mason shoots a three-pointer for Wake Forest during the game against American | Wake Forest Athletics

The Deacs certainly showcased their new look style Monday night at the Joel. Wake took down American 88-74 in a game they pretty much led wire-to-wire after the first media timeout. We knew that the Deacs would push the tempo and be more aggressive offensively, but their defense was also extremely aggressive.

Mekhi Mason and Tre'Von Spillers led the way for the Deacs, each with 20 points. Juke Harris finished with 18, and Myles Colvin and Nate Calmese both chipped in with 10 each. Calmese had nine assists and five steals as well. Let's look at some more of the highlights:

First Half Highlights

There was no shortage of firepower in the first half for the Deacs. Transition runouts resulted in multiple dunks and alley-oops. The Deacs started the game on a 7-0 run before allowing American to jump in front at 8-7.

The Deacs did not make a three until after the 3:30 mark in the first half, but the offense was still very efficient. Good ball movement resulted in some easy baskets and driving lanes. Myles Colvin got off to a fast start as a Deac, scoring seven early points and throwing down a half-court alley-oop.

Despite not scoring, Nate Calmese was the engine behind the Demon Deacon attack. In the first half, he helped push the tempo with five assists and also had three steals to set the tone defensively. Wake's offense relied on transition points, getting runouts, and dunks.

The surprising thing was that the Deacs did not hit a three-pointer until after the 3:30 mark in the first half. Mekhi Mason was able to hit two threes going into the locker room. He led the Deacs with 13 total points in the first half.

Second Half Highlights

Wake came out ready in the second half, and they were able to hit on some big shots. At the same time, some defensive lapses led to some opportunities around the rim for American.

The Deacs were only 7-25 for the game in three-point field goals. Looking at their early exhibition games, this is a little bit uncharacteristic. They were still able to make over 41% of their total field goals and made 19 free throws. The Deacs did have 20 assists on 31 baskets, which shows the improved offensive movement and flow, which Forbes says can still improve.

Tre Spillers was a huge reason for this offensive efficiency. He had nine points in the second half, most being dunks and shots at the rim. He also had four steals and a block, showing his ability to play both ways and lock down the paint for Wake's defense.

Defensively, Wake did give up some easy looks to American, especially in the second half. The Eagles scored 1.014 points per possession, which is not an ideal number to give up for Wake. They also had 15 points off of Wake turnovers, showing that cutting down on some sloppiness on offense will help the defense.

Overall, there were both good and bad takeaways from opening night, but I definitely think Deacon fans have a lot to look forward to this season!