Sunday, December 21
Winston-Salem, N.C.
1 p.m.
Wake Forest University
9-4,0-0ACC
67
vs
98
Vanderbilt
12-0,0-0SEC
1
2
F
Vanderbilt
54
44
98
Wake Forest
37
30
67
Wake Forest Falls to No. 13 Vanderbilt, Turns Attention to ACC Play
12/21/2025 4:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Deacs will return to action on Dec. 31, traveling to NC State in the ACC opener.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest men's basketball (9-4, 0-0 ACC) fell in its non-conference finale on Sunday afternoon, dropping a 98-67 result to No. 13 Vanderbilt (12-0, 0-0 SEC) at LJVM Coliseum.
Junior guard Myles Colvin recorded his first career double-double, finishing the game with a team-best 20 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, including four rebounds on the offensive glass. The Indianapolis native also added three steals and an assist while shooting 6-of-11 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
Sophomore guard Juke Harris totaled 19 points and six rebounds. Meanwhile, freshman guard Jaylen Cross recorded a career-high seven points, two rebounds and an assist across 13 minutes off the bench.
Completing the non-conference slate with nine victories including wins over Memphis in the Bahamas and West Virginia, Wake Forest now turns its attention to ACC play beginning with the opener on Dec. 31 at NC State.
Over the last four seasons, Wake Forest has collected 47 ACC victories – fourth-most in the conference during that span.
How It Happened
Stat of the Game
Coach's Comments
"Coming into the game, Vanderbilt was the No. 1 team in the country in scoring off your misses and they were elite at that today. They were also 18th in the country in scoring off your turnovers. We just had nine atomic bombs. I think that led to at least 18 points and they scored on every one of them. That really hurt us. They're also really good if you allow them to get in the lane and get in the paint. They're a very efficient team, as far as not just finishing at the rim, but also kicking out for three. Tyler Nickel got them off to a great start. Once he started seeing the ball go in, he played outstanding today. They got a lot of confidence as the ball kept going in the hole. We just couldn't get anything going. We got down nine and called timeout at one point. I thought we kind of had it. We got it back right in the first half. I think we got it to 10 points. We were driving the ball and we were in the double bonus, but then we came down and shot a quick three. They then made back-to-back threes, and it was pretty much their ballgame. We probably had one of the worst starts of the second half I've ever seen in 37 years, and that's unacceptable. The issue for me with this team is the lack of competitiveness when you're down, and it's weird because it's at home. I've not seen this on the road. We've been down to Texas Tech, we've been down at Michigan, and we've been down to Memphis and West Virginia, and we played really tough minded against Oklahoma. Against these guys today, we got down and I just felt like our lack of competitiveness was very stark. That's on me. That's not on them. That's something that I definitely have to come to terms with and figure out." - head coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
Wake Forest will begin ACC play on Wednesday, Dec. 31, facing NC State in Raleigh. The conference opener will tip at 12 noon and be televised nationally on ESPN2.
Junior guard Myles Colvin recorded his first career double-double, finishing the game with a team-best 20 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, including four rebounds on the offensive glass. The Indianapolis native also added three steals and an assist while shooting 6-of-11 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
Sophomore guard Juke Harris totaled 19 points and six rebounds. Meanwhile, freshman guard Jaylen Cross recorded a career-high seven points, two rebounds and an assist across 13 minutes off the bench.
Completing the non-conference slate with nine victories including wins over Memphis in the Bahamas and West Virginia, Wake Forest now turns its attention to ACC play beginning with the opener on Dec. 31 at NC State.
Over the last four seasons, Wake Forest has collected 47 ACC victories – fourth-most in the conference during that span.
How It Happened
- After Vanderbilt opened the game on an 8-0 run, junior guard Myles Colvin hit a three-pointer from the corner to get the Demon Deacons on the board.
- Senior guard Nate Calmese blew past his defender for an easy layup on the next possession.
- Calmese added another layup to make it 14-8 at the 15:24 mark.
- Following another run by the Commodores, senior guard Mekhi Mason recorded the first bench points of the afternoon with a nifty layup.
- Coming out of a media timeout, sophomore guard Sebastian Akins converted an and-one to cut the Vanderbilt lead down to nine.
- Colvin added a three from the corner to make it 27-16 with 9:15 remaining in the first half.
- The Indianapolis native added a putback slam moments later to make it a 13-point game.
- Sophomore guard Juke Harris recorded his first points of the game from the line following the under-eight media timeout.
- Colvin moved into double figures moments later after making two free throws himself.
- Harris notched his first bucket of the afternoon as he drilled a three-pointer from the corner to make it an 11-point game.
- Colvin made two more from the charity stripe to make it 37-27 with 4:27 left in the half.
- Junior forward Omaha Biliew moved the Demon Deacons within 14 points after sinking two more from the free throw line.
- Harris added two more free throws on the next trip down the court.
- Senior forward Tre'Von Spillers tallied his first points of the contest as he converted an and-one to make it 48-34 with 1:32 remaining.
- Harris drained a three-pointer as the Deacs cut the deficit down to 15 points.
- Wake Forest entered halftime trailing the Commodores, 54-37.
- Colvin led the Demon Deacons with 12 points in the first half.
- Harris grabbed the Deacs first points of the second half with a floater in the lane.
- Spillers sank two from the free throw line to make it 64-41 with 16:40 remaining in the game.
- Harris hit a pull up jumper on the next possession to keep the deficit at 23 points.
- Colvin added a pair from the line moments later.
- Biliew drilled a step-back jumper at the 12:26 mark.
- Freshman guard Jaylen Cross logged his first point of the afternoon as he hit one of his two free throw attempts following a media timeout.
- The Greensboro native added two more from the line moments later.
- Harris added two more from the charity stripe at the 8:25 mark.
- Freshman guard Isaac Carr hit a long two off the find from Cross to register his first points of the game.
- Cross added a two-handed slam off the feed from junior forward Cooper Schwieger to record his season-high fifth point.
- Colvin recorded a layup on the following possession to make it 91-61.
- Following the final media timeout, Colvin notched a fast break layup.
- Colvin eclipsed the 20-point mark with a putback layup.
- Cross finished a second chance opportunity on the next possession with a layup with just over a minute remaining.
- Wake Forest fell, 98-67.
Stat of the Game
- Junior guard Myles Colvin recorded his first career double-double, finishing the game with a team-best 20 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
- The Indianapolis native also added three steals and an assist while shooting 6-of-11 from the floor and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
Coach's Comments
"Coming into the game, Vanderbilt was the No. 1 team in the country in scoring off your misses and they were elite at that today. They were also 18th in the country in scoring off your turnovers. We just had nine atomic bombs. I think that led to at least 18 points and they scored on every one of them. That really hurt us. They're also really good if you allow them to get in the lane and get in the paint. They're a very efficient team, as far as not just finishing at the rim, but also kicking out for three. Tyler Nickel got them off to a great start. Once he started seeing the ball go in, he played outstanding today. They got a lot of confidence as the ball kept going in the hole. We just couldn't get anything going. We got down nine and called timeout at one point. I thought we kind of had it. We got it back right in the first half. I think we got it to 10 points. We were driving the ball and we were in the double bonus, but then we came down and shot a quick three. They then made back-to-back threes, and it was pretty much their ballgame. We probably had one of the worst starts of the second half I've ever seen in 37 years, and that's unacceptable. The issue for me with this team is the lack of competitiveness when you're down, and it's weird because it's at home. I've not seen this on the road. We've been down to Texas Tech, we've been down at Michigan, and we've been down to Memphis and West Virginia, and we played really tough minded against Oklahoma. Against these guys today, we got down and I just felt like our lack of competitiveness was very stark. That's on me. That's not on them. That's something that I definitely have to come to terms with and figure out." - head coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
Wake Forest will begin ACC play on Wednesday, Dec. 31, facing NC State in Raleigh. The conference opener will tip at 12 noon and be televised nationally on ESPN2.
Team Stats
VU
WF
FG%
.593
.352
3FG%
.500
.190
FT%
.750
.781
RB
29
34
TO
12
17
STL
14
7
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
19
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
9
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
5
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
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