Saturday, January 17
Tallahassee, Fla.
6 p.m.
Wake Forest University
11-7,2-3ACC
69
at
68
Florida State
7-11,0-5ACC
1
2
F
Wake Forest
31
38
69
Florida St.
34
34
68
Calmese’s Late-Game Heroics Leads Wake Forest to First ACC Road Victory
1/17/2026 9:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Gilbert, Ariz., native hit the game-winning shot with six seconds left to play as Wake Forest defeated Florida State, 69-68.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Senior guard Nate Calmese sank a game-winning jumper with six seconds remaining to help guide the Wake Forest men's basketball team to their first ACC road win of the season as the Demon Deacons (11-7, 2-3 ACC) defeated Florida State (7-11, 0-5 ACC), 69-68, on Saturday night at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center.
The Gilbert, Ariz., native finished the game with a team-high 18 points on 8-of-19 (42.1 percent) shooting. Calmese also added a team-best four steals and three assists against the Seminoles.
Sophomore guard Juke Harris recorded his 18th-consecutive double-digit scoring game as he tallied 15 points and a team-best nine rebounds, as well as a steal. Junior guard Myles Colvin also recorded 15 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.
Meanwhile, junior forward Cooper Schwieger totaled eight points while shooting at a 60 percent clip in just his second start of the season. The Overland Park, Kan., native also logged three rebounds, two steals and a block, as well as a team-best +11 plus-minus.
In addition, senior forward Tre'Von Spillers ended the game with six points off the bench while also adding seven rebounds, a steal and a game-sealing block at the end of regulation.
Defensively, the Deacs forced 16 turnovers and recorded 10 steals, which led to 18 points off turnovers and 16 fast break points.
How It Happened
Stats of the Game
Most Turnovers By An Opponent (Single Game)
Key Moment
Coach's Comments
"Really proud of my team – it was a resilient win and they played their guts out. It's a hard way to lose when you lead most of the game, but you have to finish, especially in this league right now. We've played in a ton of close games. Everybody's playing close games, so you have to execute down the stretch. I thought about the last four minutes of the game, we buckled down and executed on offense. I think we scored eight straight possessions, and then I don't think they had a field goal after the last 4:27 or so.
"We did a much better job of rebounding the ball. It's been basically a hard time getting our hands on rebounds, and it's discouraging, because we do such a good job defensively. You got to get the ball, and we got it. We just have to continue to clean that up. Florida State managed to go small because of their guards and the way they shoot the three. We switched more tonight than we probably have all year long. But I thought it really helped us.
"I thought we did a good job in the second half of getting into the lane. I think we only had 28 paint possessions. Only four possessions were non-paint, and so I just thought we did a really good job of not selling for three in the second half. Nate Calmese made a big play, and then Juke Harris made a great play, defensively.
"I'm very proud of Robert McCray. He believed in me when, during COVID, he signed with me and never met me. He never met me until he came to school, because during that time, when I got the job in April during COVID, we couldn't go off campus for a year and a month while recruiting. So I appreciate him, and he's become a really good basketball player, and he's a great human being. Luke [Loucks] is going to do a great job here – he's a good person and good coach, and they've been close."- head coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
Wake Forest will return to Winston-Salem for a key conference clash with SMU on Tuesday evening for a 9 p.m. tip. The matchup between the Demon Deacons and Mustangs will be Wake's Wear Black game.
The Gilbert, Ariz., native finished the game with a team-high 18 points on 8-of-19 (42.1 percent) shooting. Calmese also added a team-best four steals and three assists against the Seminoles.
Sophomore guard Juke Harris recorded his 18th-consecutive double-digit scoring game as he tallied 15 points and a team-best nine rebounds, as well as a steal. Junior guard Myles Colvin also recorded 15 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.
Meanwhile, junior forward Cooper Schwieger totaled eight points while shooting at a 60 percent clip in just his second start of the season. The Overland Park, Kan., native also logged three rebounds, two steals and a block, as well as a team-best +11 plus-minus.
In addition, senior forward Tre'Von Spillers ended the game with six points off the bench while also adding seven rebounds, a steal and a game-sealing block at the end of regulation.
Defensively, the Deacs forced 16 turnovers and recorded 10 steals, which led to 18 points off turnovers and 16 fast break points.
How It Happened
- Wake Forest won the opening tip.
- After Florida State scored the first five points, junior Cooper Schwieger got the Demon Deacons on the board with a layup.
- Sophomore guard Juke Harris knocked down a three-pointer in transition a few possessions later to cut the Florida State lead down to three.
- Schwieger added a tip-in layup to make it a one-point game.
- Senior forward Tre'Von Spillers made it 13-9 with a tip-in for his first points of the game.
- Junior guard Myles Colvin knocked down a three from the corner to move the Deacs back within four.
- The Demon Deacons turned defense into offense on the next possession as senior guard Nate Calmese took his own steal for a transition dunk to make it a two-point game with 11:53 left in the first half.
- After a short run by the Seminoles, the Deacs cut the lead down to five on senior guard Mekhi Mason's first field goal of the game.
- Calmese went on an 8-0 individual run to tie the game at 24-24.
- The Gilbert, Ariz., native kicked off the run with a step back three-pointer to cut the deficit down to five points.
- Calmese added another steal and fastbreak dunk before hitting another three on the next possession, forcing Florida State to take a timeout.
- Wake Forest tied the game once again on a jumper by Harris at the 5:16 mark.
- The Deacs grabbed their first lead of the game as Mason drained a three off the assist by Colvin.
- Colvin gave the Demon Deacons the lead back moments later with a fast break layup following another Seminole turnover.
- Wake Forest headed into halftime trailing Florida State, 34-31.
- Calmese led the Deacs with 10 points in the first half.
- Calmese picked up right where he left off in the first half as he hit a jumper to open the scoring for the Deacs in the second half.
- The Demon Deacons rattled off seven-straight points to grab a 40-39 lead.
- Spillers hit a jumper of his own to make it a four-point game.
- Harris buried a triple on the next possession to make it 39-38.
- Wake Forest took a one-point lead moments later on a layup by Spillers.
- After Florida State retook the lead, the Deacs grabbed the lead right back as Harris drained a three to move into double digits with 15:48 left to play.
- The Deacs extended their lead to three points on a transition slam by Colvin.
- The Indianapolis native would make it a four-point game on the next trip down the court as he knocked down his first three-pointer of the half.
- The Deacs extended their lead to three points on a transition slam by Colvin.
- Colvin quelled a 6-0 run by the Seminoles as he converted an and-one to give the Deacs a 51-50 lead.
- Sophomore guard Sebastian Akins logged his first field goal of the game to move the Demon Deacons back within one.
- Colvin ended a 4:45 scoreless run as he sank a pair of free throws to cut the Florida State lead down to six.
- Calmese added a jumper in the paint on the next possession to make it 64-57.
- Schwieger made two from the charity stripe coming out of a media timeout to make it a five-point game.
- Calmese stole the ball before finishing at the other end with a transition layup to make it 64-61.
- Harris added a pair of free throws to move the Deacs back within three points.
- The Salisbury, N.C., hit two more from the line to make it a one-point game with 1:19 left to play.
- Schweiger made it 68-67 with 24.1 seconds remaining with a put back layup.
- Calmese gave the Demon Deacons a one-point lead with six seconds left on a tough floater in the lane.
- Spillers blocked the Seminoles' final shot as the Demon Deacons held onto win, 69-68.
Stats of the Game
- The Deacs are averaging 9.5 steals per game, the most in the conference. Wake Forest recorded 10 steals against the Seminoles – its ninth game with double-digits this season.
| Rank | ACC School | Steals Per Game |
| 1. | Wake Forest | 9.5 |
| 2. | Florida State | 9.1 |
| 3. | Miami | 8.8 |
| 4. | NC State | 8.6 |
| 5. | Duke | 8.3 |
- Additionally, the Demon Deacons have forced opponents into 15.6 turnovers per game, most in the ACC.
- Wake Forest forced Florida State into 16 turnovers on Saturday.
- Individually, the Deacs forced Florida State's Robert McCray V into 11 turnovers – most by a single player in a major conference so far this season.
| Rank | ACC School | Total Turnovers Forced |
| 1. | Florida State | 279 |
| 2. | Wake Forest | 276 |
| 3. | Stanford | 251 |
| 4. | Miami | 246 |
| 4. | NC State | 242 |
Most Turnovers By An Opponent (Single Game)
| Opponent | Turnovers | Date |
| Robert McCray V, Florida State | 11 | Jan. 17, 2026 |
| Ashton Sauls, NC Central | 11 | Nov. 19, 2007 |
| Steve Gray, Duke | 11 | Jan. 19, 1977 |
| Carlo Wilkins, Winthrop | 10 | Jan. 31, 1991 |
| Othell Wilson, Virginia | 10 | March 9, 1984 |
| Jim Counce, Arkansas | 10 | March 12, 1977 |
| Aaron Covington, Canisius | 10 | Dec. 23, 1972 |
| Jerry Fisher, William & Mary | 10 | Dec. 8, 1971 |
Key Moment
- After trailing by as many as nine points in the second half, the Demon Deacons stormed their way back to take a 69-68 lead after senior guard Nate Calmese buried a tough jumper in the paint with six seconds left to play.
- The Wake Forest defense stood tall on the final possession as senior forward Tre'Von Spillers blocked the final shot of the game to give the Deacs the one-point win.
Coach's Comments
"Really proud of my team – it was a resilient win and they played their guts out. It's a hard way to lose when you lead most of the game, but you have to finish, especially in this league right now. We've played in a ton of close games. Everybody's playing close games, so you have to execute down the stretch. I thought about the last four minutes of the game, we buckled down and executed on offense. I think we scored eight straight possessions, and then I don't think they had a field goal after the last 4:27 or so.
"We did a much better job of rebounding the ball. It's been basically a hard time getting our hands on rebounds, and it's discouraging, because we do such a good job defensively. You got to get the ball, and we got it. We just have to continue to clean that up. Florida State managed to go small because of their guards and the way they shoot the three. We switched more tonight than we probably have all year long. But I thought it really helped us.
"I thought we did a good job in the second half of getting into the lane. I think we only had 28 paint possessions. Only four possessions were non-paint, and so I just thought we did a really good job of not selling for three in the second half. Nate Calmese made a big play, and then Juke Harris made a great play, defensively.
"I'm very proud of Robert McCray. He believed in me when, during COVID, he signed with me and never met me. He never met me until he came to school, because during that time, when I got the job in April during COVID, we couldn't go off campus for a year and a month while recruiting. So I appreciate him, and he's become a really good basketball player, and he's a great human being. Luke [Loucks] is going to do a great job here – he's a good person and good coach, and they've been close."- head coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
Wake Forest will return to Winston-Salem for a key conference clash with SMU on Tuesday evening for a 9 p.m. tip. The matchup between the Demon Deacons and Mustangs will be Wake's Wear Black game.
Team Stats
WF
FSU
FG%
.413
.379
3FG%
.235
.226
FT%
.750
.895
RB
28
44
TO
5
16
STL
10
2
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
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