Wake Forest Basketball continued its strong non-conference play in a 13-point victory over Northeastern on Friday. While most students were home for Thanksgiving, Steve Forbes’s team earned their third win in a row at home at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Demon Deacons entered this game as 17.5-point favorites, but the Huskies were able to keep the game close throughout the first half.
Northeastern’s freshman guard Newton Miles torched the nets in the first half. Miles completely dismantled the defense, scoring 19 points in the opening frame.
“I was not very pleased with our defensive effort in the first half,” Forbes said. “I thought a lot of that credit should go to Coach Coen and his team by the way they ran their offense with tempo and physicality.”
On the other hand, standout sophomore Juke Harris struggled to get anything going. Harris only shot 3-11 in this game, including 1-8 from three-point range. His aggression paid off, though, making 10-11 of his foul shots. Harris is tied for the 45th leading scorer in the NCAA, posting 19.6 points per game.
Strong bench play from Sebastian Atkins and Myles Colvin helped the Demon Deacons maintain a one-point lead at halftime. Wake Forest’s bench outscored Northeastern’s bench 35-21, an encouraging sign from a team that relied heavily on its starters in years past.
The rest of the team picked up the slack for Harris’s poor shooting, as they went 32-58 overall as a squad. Tre’von Spillers had an especially efficient day, posting a 17-point 10-rebound double-double while shooting 8-11 from the field.
Wake Forest’s defense finally woke up after the halftime break. They forced 13 Northeastern turnovers in the second half, allowing them to score fastbreak buckets to increase the lead. Spillers, Atkins and Colvin filled the stat sheet with three steals each.
“I thought in the second half our blitzes were a lot more effective, the court stayed a lot more compact, and we had more chances to turn defense into offense,” said Forbes.
Wake Forest plays Oklahoma in the third annual ACC/SEC Challenge on Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 7:00 p.m. at the Joel. This is the first-ever meeting between the Sooners and the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest has had varying levels of success with the new event, beating Florida in 2023 but falling to Texas A&M in 2024.
