Wake Forest Basketball Gets Outclassed at Home, Falls in Blowout Defeat

The Deacs lost by 31 to the Vanderbilt Commodores on Sunday at the Joel

Dec 17, 2025; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons head coach Steve Forbes watches his team against the Longwood Lancers during the second half at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

There is no opening needed for this one. Wake Forest got absolutely beaten in every way by a better basketball team. Let's get into the highlights.

1st Half Highlights

The Deacs essentially played their way out of this one after the first 20 minutes. Vandy went into the locker room with a 17-point lead, and Wake Forest was looking for answers. The game started with Tyler Nickel splashing in a three-pointer for the Commodores, and that essentially summed up the rest of the half.

Nickel made six threes and shot a blazing 6-8 from three-point range. He ended the half with 20 points. He also had three blocks defensively. Vandy as a team made 10 threes in the opening frame and shot 50% from behind the arc, along with 55.9% from the field. They forced five Wake Forest turnovers and had 9 points off those turnovers. They also led in the rebounding margin by six.

On the other hand, the Deacs looked a step slow from the jump. They have showcased their improved bench, but only had five bench points in the opening frame. They shot just 34% from the field and 33% from beyond the arc. Perhaps the most concerning was that, as a team, Wake only had four assists on made baskets.

Myles Colvin and Juke Harris both notched double-figures in the first half, but no one else got above four points. Overall, Wake came out a step slow, and Vanderbilt made them pay with great execution offensively and defensively.

2nd Half Highlights

If you thought Vanderbilt could not shoot as well as they did in the first half, then you would be wrong. The Commodores came out blazing again. Nickel made two more threes right out of the gates. Vandy extended its lead to over 30 before the 12-minute mark of the second half. The Deacs were not even competitive as the Commodores got several easy baskets under the hoop and had their way defensively.

The Commodores actually improved their shooting percentage. They finished the game shooting a very impressive 59.3% from the floor. They also caused tons of problems for Wake's guards in the second half, generating 14 steals. Tyler Nickel finished the game with an unbelievable eight threes and 26 total points. They also had four more players in double figures.

For the Deacs, it looked like they packed it in pretty quickly. Freshmen Isaac Carr and Jalen Cross both got a lot of time. Wake finished the game with 17 turnovers and only eight total assists. They only had 20 points in the paint and finished 8-19 on layups. Overall, they shot 35.2% from the field and a miserable 19% from three.

The only two scorers who finished in double figures were Myles Colvin with 20 and Juke Harris with 19. Both had some good moments, but the team overall was nowhere near good enough to match Vanderbilt's excellent play. This is a really bad loss, and there is no way around it, but now the Deacs have a week and a half to regroup and celebrate the holidays before heading into conference play. This loss needs to light a fire in them, as they still have many opportunities in front of them.