Wake Forest Men’s Basketball lost yet again in embarrassing fashion on Saturday by 18 points to in-state rivals NC State. This was a game that many considered a “must-win” if the Demon Deacons wanted to make the postseason.
With a final score of 78-96, it looks like the Deacs won’t be dancing this March.
Their fourth straight loss puts Wake Forest firmly in 15th place in the ACC. Anything could happen in the final nine games of conference play, but the way this team has been playing leaves many to wonder if they’ll even qualify for the ACC tournament.
Their fourth straight loss came at the hands of Paul McNeil Jr., who effortlessly scored 28 points on an efficient 8-of-12 shooting. The two veteran seniors, Darrion Williams and Quadir Copeland, added 20 points and 10 assists, respectively. Wake Forest’s 3-point defense was nowhere to be found.
The Wolfpack jumped out to an early 11-2 lead and never looked back. The rim looked as big as the ocean as NC State drilled nine 3-pointers in the first half alone. Wake Forest could hardly keep up with their high powered offense.
The Demon Deacons struggled to find fluidity on offense without their starting point guard, Nate Calmese, who is out indefinitely with a Grade 3 ankle sprain. The majority of possessions felt stale as Salisbury, N.C., native Juke Harris was the only competent ball handler for the Deacs.
Harris played a competitive first half as he led all players in scoring with 15 points, but the rest of the team was as cold as the snowstorm in Winston-Salem this weekend. The Demon Deacons were down by an insurmountable 18 points at the break.
However, going into the second half, Wake Forest looked more inspired and began clawing back into the game. Little by little, NC State’s lead fell until the eight-minute mark when the Demon Deacons only trailed by six.
That’s when Wake Forest forgot how to play basketball again.
Harris frustratingly swung the ball around the perimeter on nearly every possession, only to receive it 30 feet from the basket with seven seconds left on the shot clock. Harris’s good-looking night quickly turned inefficient as late possession chucks bricked off the rim.
It’s impossible to blame Harris’s late-game shot selection when the Demon Deacons looked lost altogether. Afterall, Harris finished with a new career high of 31 points. Wake Forest even saw solid production from Freshman guard Isaac Carr and Junior Forward Omaha Biliew.
“I talked to the team before the game about how we can’t be a 25 to 30-minute team this time of year,” said Head Coach Steve Forbes after the game. “You have to be a 40-minute team, and we just really struggle to do that.”
Clearly, Wake Forest was not the 40-minute team Forbes was looking for because NC State quickly regained composure and brought their lead right back up to double digits in just a few minutes.
Students and fans have been calling for a new head coach as 11-11 Wake Forest falls close to sinking below .500 for the first time since 2020. Forbes’s failure to reach the tournament despite having All-ACC players such as Alondes Williams, Tyree Appleby, Hunter Sallis and now Juke Harris has put his job in serious jeopardy this season.
But would firing Forbes help this team? Would the three 4-star recruits decommit if he weren’t at the helm? Regardless, Athletic Director John Currie has a lot to think about this offseason.
Forbes has a chance to turn the season around this week. The Demon Deacons have a full week off before they play No. 20 Louisville at the Joel. If they lose again, this season might be over.
