Wake Forest Drops ACC Opener to Wolfpack

RALEIGH, N.C. – The Wake Forest men's basketball team (9-5, 0-1 ACC) dropped its ACC opener on the road to NC State (10-4, 1-0 ACC) on Wednesday afternoon, 70-57.

Junior forward Omaha Biliew led the way for the Demon Deacons, as he recorded his first career double-double, registering career-highs in both points (18) and rebounds (10) against the Wolfpack. The Waukee, Iowa, native went 6-for-10 from the field, including 3-for-6 from three-point range, while also tallying a block.

Sophomore guard Juke Harris added 17 points and six rebounds, as well as three assists and a pair of steals.

Meanwhile, junior guard Myles Colvin finished the contest with 13 points and two rebounds. The Indianapolis native also matched a career and season high with a team-best four steals.

How It Happened

After winning the opening tip, the Demon Deacons grabbed the first points of the game with a three-pointer by junior forward Omaha Biliew.
Junior guard Myles Colvin recovered a bad pass in the NC State backcourt before slamming it home with a transition dunk while earning the foul, hitting the ensuing free throw to complete the and-one.
- The Indianapolis native drained a stepback three a few possessions later to give the Deacs a five-point lead.
After a quick run by NC State, Biliew recorded a putback layup at the 13:34 mark to give the Deacs the lead back.
Sophomore Juke Harris tallied his first points of the game from the free throw line to make it 13-12.
- The Salisbury, N.C., native added a three on the next possession as the Demon Deacons reclaimed a two-point lead.
Senior forward Tre'Von Spillers drove the lane before finishing with a layup for his first points of the afternoon.
Colvin added a slam dunk off the find from Spillers to move Wake Forest back within one point with 5:52 left in the first half.
Coming out of a timeout, Harris drained a deep three to make it 26-23.
Biliew recorded a ferocious putback dunk to put the Deacs within eight points.
- The Waukee, Iowa, native added another emphatic slam in transition on the following possession following a steal by Colvin.
- Biliew also made two from the charity stripe to make it a four-point game and cap off an individual 6-0 run.
Harris sank two more from the line to make it 36-32 heading into halftime.
- Harris and Biliew led Wake Forest in scoring with 11 points each.
After a 7-0 run by the Wolfpack to open the second half, Harris tallied Wake Forest's first points of the period with a fadeaway jumper.
Junior forward Cooper Schwieger recorded the first points for the Demon Deacon bench with a wide open dunk off an assist by senior guard Mekhi Mason.
Spillers notched his first points of the second half with a layup at the 12:04 mark.
- Mason added a three-pointer for his first points of the game on the next possession to cut the deficit down to 11.
Harris cut the NC State lead down 56-43 with a layup at the 6:49 mark in the half.
- Harris added a jumper in the lane on the next possession to make it an 11-point game.
Colvin hit a deep three-pointer to move into double digits.
- Colvin added a fast-break dunk to make it a 14-point game with 2:08 left to play.
- Biliew drained a three-pointer on the next possession, before adding one from the line to make it 67-54.
- Biliew hit his third triple of the game late, as he set a new career-high in points (18).
The Demon Deacons fell, 70-57.

Stat of the Game

Junior forward Omaha Biliew led the Demon Deacons, as he recorded his first career double-double performance.
- The Waukee, Iowa, native finished the game with career-highs in both points and rebounds, totaling 18 points and 10 rebounds against the Wolfpack.
- In total, Biliew shot the ball at a 60 percent clip as he matched a career high with six field goals, including going 3-for-6 from beyond the arc.

Coach's Comments
"On a positive note, I thought we came in here and did a really good job defensively and guarding their stuff, especially in the half court. Our ball screen defense was pretty good. We could test it. We guarded their personnel, but we just couldn't get anything going offensively, especially with all of the turnovers. They probably scored 11 points on atomic bomb turnovers. They were 12-for-26 at the rim and we were 5-for-27 from three during most of the game until we made three there late. We also went 9-for-13 from the line. That's just impossible to come back from. That's what is frustrating.

"I thought that Will [Wade's] team did a really good job of switching us one through five. We don't have enough guys that are willing or trying to get in the paint off of dribbles. We were just station to station, around the horn, instead of getting in there, either off the drive or off some mismatches. Their physical defensive team turned us over, and a lot of those turned into points. I thought the start of the second half just killed us. I felt pretty good at halftime. We had that nice comeback at the end of the first, and then we came out and couldn't score. That just put us in a hole. Coming in here, we thought that if we could hold them to 70 points, because they score a lot of points in this building, we'd have a really good chance to win. But, our offense just didn't get it done. I say that crediting NC State and Will and his team. They're tough, they're physical defensively and they turned defense into offense the way we kind of like to do it. They just did it better than us." - head coach Steve Forbes

Up Next
Wake Forest will host its ACC home opener on Saturday, Jan. 7 facing Virginia Tech for the first of two meetings with the Hokies this season.

Tip-off for the contest is 12 noon and will air nationwide on the ACC Network.

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Team Stats

Omaha Biliew

Juke Harris

Myles Colvin

Tre'Von Spillers

Players Mentioned

Omaha Biliew

Myles Colvin

Juke Harris

Mekhi Mason

Cooper Schwieger

Tre'Von Spillers

Wake Forest Athletics