Demon Deacons Fall in Overtime at Pitt

Tuesday, January 27

Pittsburgh, Pa.

6 p.m.

Wake Forest University

11-10,2-6ACC

Pitt

9-12,2-6ACC

OT 1

Wake Forest

Pittsburgh

1/27/2026 9:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Wake Forest will be back at home on Saturday as they take on NC State for Rodney Rogers Day.

By: Stephen Czarda, Keion Robinson and KJ Smith

PITTSBURGH – The Wake Forest men's basketball team (11-10, 2-6 ACC) dropped an overtime contest on the road against Pitt (9-12, 2-6 ACC) on Tuesday night at the Petersen Events Center by a final of 80-76.

Four players finished the game in double figures as junior guard Myles Colvin led the Demon Deacons with 18 points. The Indianapolis native did most of his damage from the free throw line as he went 9-of-10 from the line. Colvin also recorded four rebounds, an assist and a steal against the Panthers.

Sophomore guard Juke Harris totaled 17 points while shooting 6-of-13 (46.2 percent) from the field. The Salisbury, N.C., native added five rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Senior guard Nate Calmese started the game hot as he tallied 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting in just 10 minutes of play. Meanwhile, sophomore guard Sebastian Akins notched 10 points, three assists, two steals and a rebound while playing 26 minutes off the bench.

Junior forward Cooper Schwieger led the Deacs with a season-high 11 rebounds to go along with seven points, an assist, a block and a steal, while senior forward Tre'Von Spillers ended the evening with eight points, three rebounds, two blocks and an assist.

Freshman guard Isaac Carr recorded a career-high nine rebounds, as well as two points and two assists, in 29 minutes off the bench.

How It Happened

After winning the opening tip, the Demon Deacons got on the board first as senior guard Nate Calmese hit a floater as the shot clock expired.
- Senior forward Tre'Von Spillers added to the Deacs' early total a couple possessions later as he finished at the rim with a layup.
- Calmese drained a three-pointer as Wake Forest went up 7-0.
- Spillers made it a six-point game the next trip down the court with another layup.
Calmese ended a 7-0 run by the Panther with a layup to restore the Demon Deacons' lead at the 15:17 mark.
- Sophomore guard Juke Harris added his first points of the contest on a jumper on the next possession.
- Junior guard Myles Colvin extended the advantage to five points after hitting a pair from the free throw line.
The Demon Deacons went on an 8-0 run to take a 23-11 lead.
- Harris added two more from the charity stripe to make it 17-11 following a media timeout.
- The Salisbury, N.C., native blew past his defender before finishing at the rim to make it an eight-point game.
- Sophomore guard Sebastian Akins knocked down a turnaround jumper on the next trip down the court to extend the lead to double digits.
- Harris drilled a turnaround jumper to force a timeout by Pitt.
Calmese made it an 11-point game with a three-pointer at the 8:46 mark in the first half.
Spillers knocked down a jumper following a short run by the Panthers to make it 28-20.
Harris ended an extended scoring drought by knocking down a three from the corner with 2:26 left in the half.
- Akins added a jumper on the next possession to give Wake Forest an eight-point advantage.
- Freshman Jaylen Cross recorded his first points of the game with a three to make it 36-27.
The Demon Deacons entered halftime leading the Panthers by a score of 36-30.
- Harris led the Deacs with 11 points during the opening half.
After Pitt cut the lead down to one to start the second half, Harris responded by knocking down a jumper in the lane to make it 38-35.
- Spillers slammed home a dunk off of a nice pocket pass by Akins to put the Demon Deacons back up by five.
- Colvin added a layup moments later to restore the Deacs' five-point advantage with 15:58 left.
Harris drilled a three off an inbound pass by freshman guard Isaac Carr following a media timeout, pushing the Demon Deacons back up by five.
Colvin made it 48-44 with a ferocious dunk at the 12:25 mark in the second half.
After the Panthers took the lead, Colvin sank two from the line to give Wake Forest the lead back.
Colvin connected on a pair of free throws to end a 6-0 run by Pitt to move the Deacs back within three.
- Akins added two free throws of his own moments later to make it 55-54.
Junior forward Cooper Schwieger added his first points of the game at the 8:44 mark to keep the Demon Deacons within one.
- The Overland Park, Kan., native tied the game at 58-58 after converting a tough layup.
Coming out of a media timeout, junior forward Omaha Biliew gave the Deacs the lead back as he hit one of his two free throw attempts.
- Colvin made it a three-point game on a driving layup at the 6:43 mark.
After Pitt took the lead from the line, the Demon Deacons retook a 63-62 lead as Carr came up with a second chance layup for his first points of the game.
Akins extended the lead to four points as he got downhill for a layup with 2:49 remaining in the contest.
The Deacs and the Panthers ended regulation tied at 66-66.
After winning the tip, Wake Forest opened overtime with a layup by Akins.
- Schwieger tied the game at 71-71 moments later on a three-pointer off an assist by Colvin.
- The Deacs retook a two-point lead as Colvin hit both of his attempts from the line with 2:53 left in the overtime period.
  - The Indianapolis native drained a three to make it 76-74.
Wake Forest fell in overtime, 80-76.

Stats of the Game

Freshman Isaac Carr made a huge step up for the Demon Deacons as he played a career-high 29 minutes while pulling down nine rebounds – his highest total of the season.
- Coming into the game, the Portland, Ore., native had played a combined six minutes in ACC play prior to Tuesday's game.

Coach's Comments
"Congrats to Jeff [Capel] and his team for a hard fought win. I thought they played a lot more aggressive in the second half. They had a better pace on offense. They got on us on the glass. They turned us over. Those were big plays for them. I knew coming into the game, offensive rebounding was going to be an issue because it's been an issue for us all year long. It's disappointing to go on the road and have almost half their points come from second chances and on turnovers. We held them to shooting 38 percent in their building and 30 percent from three. You would think that you'd have a pretty good shot to win, but we just didn't make enough plays, and that's on me as a coach. We have to execute better in those situations and I have to do a better job coaching my team. A perfect example of that would be the side out. I think we're up four in regulation. We had run the same play earlier and I thought we had a really good look out of it. We didn't throw it, so I went back to it. We just couldn't get it inbounded, they turned us over and they got an easy basket. Then, the last play where we got the ball, it's a play we run a lot to get downhill. Sebastian [Akins] has gotten downhill on it many times, but we didn't and we didn't get a good shot. That's on the coaches and me for not getting them in a good position. Our job is to put them in position to be successful. I thought they scrapped hard for the game, but at the end of the day, we gave up 20 points on second chances and 17 off turnovers. It's going be hard to win on the road like that."- head coach Steve Forbes

Up Next
Wake Forest will close out the month of January on Saturday afternoon, hosting NC State for Rodney Rogers Day at LJVM Coliseum.

Tip-off is slated for 3:45 p.m. and the contest will air nationally on The CW.