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Facing ETSU in a charity exhibition, the Wake Forest men’s basketball team defeated the Buccaneers 89-70 on Wednesday night at Freedom Hall.
Onto Monday night at the Joel 🎩 pic.twitter.com/dhsy8cvUfK
— Wake Forest Men's Basketball (@WakeMBB) October 30, 2025
Offensively, Wake Forest was led in scoring by senior guard Mekhi Mason, who posted a game-high 24 points on a remarkable 8-for-12 shooting clip, including 5-for-9 from three-point distance. The newcomer also chipped in four assists in 32 minutes of action.
No … NO 🚫 pic.twitter.com/4F0b5GOP3a
— Wake Forest Men's Basketball (@WakeMBB) October 30, 2025
Three other Deacs rounded out a quartet of double-digit scorers – grad forward Tre’Von Spillers (17 points), sophomore guard Juke Harris (15 points) and junior guard Myles Colvin (15 points). Spillers pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to secure a double-double, while also shining on the defensive end with four blocks. Colvin added six rebounds and made five of seven field goal attempts in 26 minutes as a reserve. Senior lead guard Nate Calmese paced the tempo with 12 assists, leading all individuals, and also collected three steals. Junior forward Omaha Biliew contributed nine points and five rebounds in 22 minutes.
Run the floor 🏃 pic.twitter.com/I6vlHQ9sZ3
— Wake Forest Men's Basketball (@WakeMBB) October 30, 2025
Wake Forest was efficient in its collective shooting, making 33 of 67 overall attempts from the floor (49.3 percent) and pouring in 15 three-pointers on 33 tries (45.5 percent). At the free-throw line, the Deacs went 8-for-10 (80 percent). The team shared the ball very well for 23 assists on its 33 made baskets. In addition, Wake Forest earned 29 points from their bench in comparison to ETSU’s 15.
Poetry in motion 🎨 pic.twitter.com/6nYalEnRwW
— Wake Forest Men's Basketball (@WakeMBB) October 30, 2025
Defensively, the Demon Deacons as a team held the Buccaneers to a 35.6 field goal percentage and just 25 percent from beyond the arc. Wake Forest also forced 11 turnovers and won the rebounding battle, 44-34. On Tuesday evening, Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes was honored for his contributions to the Bucs’ program by being inducted into the ETSU Athletics Hall of Fame.
Active to start the second 🎩 pic.twitter.com/c3NLOG8zLs
— Wake Forest Men's Basketball (@WakeMBB) October 30, 2025
Coach Words:
“Brooks [Savage’s] team was very physical, especially early on. Their physicality bothered our guards and bigs. We had a hard time getting clean drives to the basket and we couldn’t play through the contact. Our bigs did a poor job finishing around the basket in the first half. A lot of that is a credit to how hard Brooks’ team plays. They’re a different team to guard – much like Virginia, when they ran mover blocker when Tony Bennett was there. I don’t know too many teams in the country that run that – it’s a lot of screens. The theme of our defense was that you have to grind out the possession and not come down and take quick shots. So, you have to have discipline defensively to beat them. I thought at times we were and then sometimes we were not. There were a couple times earlier we could have broken the game open but we relaxed defensively after a timeout. We took maybe a couple bad shots or fouled. So, those are things we can clean up.
“I thought our shot profile was elite … elite. What do I mean by that? 21 of our 33 attempts were uncontested threes off the catch. Those are great shots. Eventually we were able to break the game open on getting some easy baskets in transition. Our pace was really good.
“Defensively, we did a good job. They had a hard time getting in the paint. 32 of their 59 shots were threes, and that’s the type of shot profile we want it to look like for us to play defense. We rebounded really well, and then we shared it. We had 23 assists on 33 baskets. That goes back to me telling you that we’re shooting uncontested threes off the catch and off the pass. We made 16 threes against East Carolina and we made 15 tonight. …It was an emotional trip for me, but for them, it was a business trip. I thought they handled it really well. They went to class all day yesterday before they practiced. Then, they drove over here to start a routine that began last night up until tipoff tonight. I’m proud of them for their focus – they did a really good job.” – head coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
The Demon Deacons will host American in the 2025-26 season opener on Monday night at LJVM Coliseum as part of a doubleheader with the women’s team. Tip-off against the Eagles is scheduled for 8 p.m.
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