Wake Forest Gets Blitzed at Home, Falls to SMU
In this story:
Wake Forest drops a home ACC battle against the SMU Mustangs. This one got out of hand in the second half. Let's go through the highlights.
1st Half Highlights
Both teams started very fast offensively out of the gate. At the first media timeout, SMU held a 13-12 advantage over the Deacs. SMU started a perfect 4-4 from three-point range, but the Deacs were able to create some turnovers and efficient offense to keep it neck-and-neck.
SMU tried to go into a zone defense midway through the first half, which Wake Forest was able to counter and get some great looks at the rim, including a Tre'Von Spillers dunk. SMU was able to hold the lead, but it sat around only four to five for most of the half.
In the final six minutes of the half, SMU was able to extend its advantage from just a point up to nine. Nate Calmese went down around the four-minute mark with an apparent ankle injury. Over this stretch, Wake just seemed to unravel a bit offensively.
The three-point disparity in the first half played a large role. The Mustangs made eight threes and shot 57% from behind the arc. On the other hand, Wake Forest only made 3 three-pointers and shot 19% from beyond the arc. SMU was also leading in the rebounding margin, 20-14. Wake shot just 41% from the field overall.
Juke Harris led the Deacs in the first half with 11 points. BJ Edwards led the Mustangs with an impressive 17 points. Former Deac Boopie Miller had eight points despite a serenade of boos coming down from the local crowd.
2nd Half Highlights
The Deacs came out strong to start the second half. They created some SMU turnovers, and Juke Harris and Tre'Von Spillers hit back-to-back threes to cut the SMU lead to just four. The Mustangs quickly countered the run thanks to tough shots from Boopie Miller.
Around the 13:30 mark, SMU was able to make some big three-point plays to get their advantage up to 14 points, which forced Wake Forest to call a timeout. Things continued to go downhill as Wake Forest went down 19 at the nine-minute mark and was forced to burn another timeout.
The Deacs were unable to respond, and this one was out of reach after that. BJ Edwards led the way with 24 points for the Mustangs. SMU shot a blazing 50% from three while making 14 of them. Wake Forest, on the other hand, made 10 threes, but shot 33% from long distance. SMU outrebounded Wake 40-28.
Juke Harris led the way for the Deacs with an impressive 27 points. Spillers had 19, and Myles Colvin chipped in with 17. Despite some good individual performances, poor shooting at the end of the first half hurt Wake Forest. They need to try to flush this one away and prepare for a challenge against Duke on Saturday.
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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.