Wake Forest Overcomes a Rough Shooting Night, Wins in First Round of NIT
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The Wake Forest Demon Deacons led this one pretty much the whole way and were finally able to pull away at the end. Let's go through some of the key moments that allowed Wake Forest to win this one and advance.
1st Half Highlights
The Deacs were able to take the lead early in this one and pretty much maintained it for the entire half. Tre'Von Spillers got the scoring going early with a layup.
The Deacs did most of their damage on the inside in the opening frame. They had 18 points in the paint to go along with 14 second-chance points off of 10 offensive rebounds. Coming off a game where the Deacs got dominated on the boards, this was certainly promising to see.
The inside scoring was critical to the offense as the outside shot was off the entire first half. Wake went just 2-16 from three. This meant the offense could not get into a consistent flow. The Deacs grew a lead out to nine, but saw it cut back to even by the Midshipmen at the 6:30 mark. Wake responded quickly, but only went into the break up four.
The other big advantage for Wake Forest was at the free-throw line. While Navy only got five free throws and made three, the Deacs went a perfect 14-14 from the line. Juke Harris played a huge role in attacking the paint and getting to the line. He had a team-high 12 points in the opening frame.
The rims are rocking in Winston-Salem
— NIT (@NITMBB) March 18, 2026
📺 ESPNU@WakeMBB x #NIT2026 pic.twitter.com/fQxRiROyvc
2nd Half Highlights
A Calmese three-pointer to start the second half scoring was a promising sign. By the under-16 media timeout, the Deacs were up 49-42.
Similar to the first half, Wake was able to get the lead up to nine, but then Navy would cut into the deficit. The Deacs always maintained the lead but could never pull ahead in a big way. Finally, at the 7:30 mark, Wake was able to stretch the lead out to double-digits.
By the final media timeout, Wake had a 13-point advantage to help lead them to victory over the Midshipmen.
The Demon Deacons had five players score in double figures. Juke Harris led the way with 26 points on an efficient 7-13 from the floor. Omaha Biliew scored 15 points on 5-8 shooting and had some big dunks underneath. Tre'Von Spillers chipped in with 14 and nine rebounds, Nate Calmese had 12, and Myles Colvin finished with 11.
Let's keep it going 🎩 pic.twitter.com/fgctgeRniK
— Wake Forest Men's Basketball (@WakeMBB) March 19, 2026
What's Next?
The Demon Deacons will be back in action at the Joel on Sunday in Round 2 of the NIT. They will announce the time later this week. Despite the rough shooting night, Wake still managed to score 82 points. They will definitely need better shooting to continue advancing.
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.