Wake Forest Picks Up Big ACC Home Win Over the Clemson Tigers
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Wake Forest continues their winning ways in what was a wire-to-wire victory over a Clemson team in the top part of the ACC. The Deacs came out with a lot of confidence, and it just continued throughout the entire game. Let's go through the highlights.
1st Half Highlights
Wake Forest came out running on offense, scoring on all five of their opening possessions before the first media timeout.
The Deacs then continued to grow an early lead. They grew a double-digit 22-10 lead at the second media timeout. Myles Colvin hit some nice early shots, and Tre'Von Spillers was active inside, scoring six points early.
The paint was where Wake did most of its damage. At the 8-minute mark of the first half, the Deacs had already accumulated 16 points in the paint, holding Clemson to just six in that stretch. Juke Harris also came alive in the middle of the first half, allowing Wake to continue to grow their lead.
Clemson did go on a little scoring run that cut the lead to nine and forced Wake Forest to call a timeout at the 6:22 mark of the first half. However, thanks to some more hot shooting, the Deacs were able to get the lead back up.
Myles Colvin was outstanding the entire first half, finishing with 14 in the frame. Tre'Von Spillers was also very active with nine first-half points. Near the end of the half, the Deacs were able to grow their lead to 20, but some questionable foul calls and sloppy defense brought it back down to 13 to end the half.
The Demon Deacons went into the locker room up 45-32 over Clemson at the break.
Flicking up with the crew 🤘@WakeMBB | @DemonDeacons | #GoDeacs pic.twitter.com/A8KIvXAVJw
— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) February 19, 2026
2nd Half Highlights
The second half started by swinging immediately in the Tigers' favor. They started the half on a 9-1 scoring run, which forced Coach Forbes to burn a timeout before the first media timeout.
The Deacs were able to steady the ship with big three-pointers splashed in by Mekhi Mason and Omaha Biliew. The second half continued to go back and forth between Clemson cutting into the deficit and Wake growing the lead back up.
Juke Harris played a huge role in keeping the advantage. He finished with exactly 20 points for yet another 20+ point game. Wake Forest made ten three-pointers while shooting 45% from distance and 55% from the field overall.
The defense also tightened up a lot tonight for the Deacs. They held the Tigers to 31% from three-point range and 46% from the floor. They also forced nine turnovers. The rebounding battle was a big one coming in, and the Deacs tied the Tigers in total rebounds at 27. They also only lost 32-30 in points in the paint.
Sebastian Akins had a very big bounce-back game in this one. He had 16 points, including an impressive 7-8 from the free throw line and only one turnover. Mekhi Mason also continued with his good play as of late, finishing with 13 on 2-3 from three. Colvin finished with 14 for a solid game as well.
Overall, it was a great team win. Wake had five players scoring in double figures, along with 21 bench points. The Deacs are now riding a three-game winning streak. They will play in Blacksburg against Virginia Tech this weekend in a Quad 1 opportunity. Go Deacs!
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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.