The Deacs certainly started slow in this one, as the first ten minutes featured a 3-for-12 start from the field and plenty of careless mistakes. Morehead State took advantage, as guard Josiah Legree was giving the defense some issues. The Eagles were also playing a very physical game, as the Deacs were in the double bonus before even ten minutes had passed. They failed to capitalize at the charity stripe, shooting just 11-for-20 (~58%) from the line. Thankfully, Juke Harris came to play. The fan favorite put up 15 points and seven rebounds in the first half to lead both teams in both respects.
The Deacs finally took the lead at about the ten minute mark, and they would quickly extend it to double digits with a 12-0 run. After some starters got in a bit of foul trouble, Coach Forbes was able to get some very quality minutes from Marquis Marion and Sebastian Akins off the bench. Akins was notably comfortable running the point in the closing minutes of the half with Nate Calmese off the floor. To put the cherry on top, the sophomore guard drilled a deep three-pointer at the first half buzzer to give Wake a 44-31 advantage at the break.
The second half began with a frustrating development for the Deacs: Calmese quickly got his third and fourth fouls. The Eagles got the deficit back to single digits soon after, but a quick 9-0 Wake run orchestrated by Harris and Tre’Von Spillers made things more comfortable. The Deacons’ lead stayed in the mid-double digits for the majority of the rest of the game, outside of an Eagles run mainly on the back of Senior guard George Marshall, who almost single-handedly kept things from getting out of hand. Marshall finished with a career high 26 points, 20 of them coming in the second half. The large stages of the game saw the collegiate debuts of Deacon freshmen Jaylen Cross and Isaac Carr, and Head Coach Steve Forbes was impressed, and optimistic about their futures, “They earned it. They deserve it. They play hard, and they’re going to be really good.”
The final minutes ticked off the clock and the Deacs took their second win of the season by a score of 81-65. Juke Harris, with another very strong half, finished just shy of a double-double with a career-high 29 points and nine rebounds. Playing almost the entire second half in Calmese’s absence, Akins ended up with 15 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Forbes praised his play on both ends of the court: “Sebastian was really good off the bench … and I thought he got going defensively.” Tre’Von Spillers also had another very strong performance with a double-double on 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Overall, it was not a clean game from the Deacs. They turned the ball over 19 times and shot just 40% from the field. Those things are going to have to improve for Stave Forbes’ squad to finally get over the hump and reach the NCAA Tournament this season. However, there is clear potential for this team. With some adjustments and positive regression, they could find themselves in a very good position. The next few weeks face some daunting tests, with neutral site games against AP Top 15 opponents Michigan and Texas Tech, as well as one of Memphis and 2nd-ranked Purdue.
