Demon Deacons Battle Back From Nine-Point Halftime Deficit to Defeat Stanford

Saturday, February 14

Winston-Salem, N.C.

4 p.m.

Wake Forest University

13-12,4-8ACC

Stanford

16-10,5-8ACC

Stanford

Wake Forest

Demon Deacons Battle Back From Nine-Point Halftime Deficit to Defeat Stanford

2/14/2026 7:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

The Deacs recorded a new season-high 28 made free throws during their comeback victory at LJVM Coliseum.

By: Stephen Czarda, KJ Smith and Keion Robinson

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest men's basketball team (13-12, 4-8 ACC) battled back from a nine-point halftime deficit to earn a 68-63 win over Stanford (16-10, 5-8 ACC) inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore guard Juke Harris led the Demon Deacons against the Cardinal as he finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and an assist. The Salisbury, N.C., native did most of his damage from the free throw line as he went 12-of-13 from the line while playing all 40 minutes. Now averaging 22.8 points per game in ACC play, Harris ranks No. 1 in scoring in conference action through Saturday's action.

Senior guard Mekhi Mason continued to be a major contributor off the bench as he recorded 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting. The Gilbert, Ariz., native also logged two rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Senior forward Tre'Von Spillers added nine points, six rebounds and a steal, while freshman guard Isaac Carr totaled six points, four rebounds and three assists over 31 minutes off the bench.

The Demon Deacons did most of their damage from the free throw line, going 28-of-32 (87.5 percent) from the line.

Defensively, the Deacs held Stanford to a 34.5 percent clip from beyond the arc, including 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) from three-point range in the second half.

How It Happened

The Demon Deacons won the opening tip.
Junior guard Myles Colvin scored Wake Forest's first points of the game as he converted an and-one.
- Sophomore Sebastian Akins buried a turnaround jumper in the lane to give the Deacs a 4-3 lead.
Senior forward Tre'Von Spillers connected on a pair from the free throw line to restore the Demon Deacons' one-point advantage at the 16:36 mark.
Coming out of a media timeout, the Deacs widened their lead to 9-6 as junior forward Cooper Schwieger added two from the line.
After an 11-0 run by Stanford, freshman Isaac Carr knocked down a three from the corner to make it a five-point game.
- The Portland, Ore., native added a turnaround jumper on the next possession to cut the deficit down to three with 12:02 left in the half.
Senior guard Mekhi Mason grabbed his first points of the game to make it 19-16.
Sophomore guard Juke Harris finished at the rim with a tough layup to cut the Cardinal lead down to one at the 8:35 mark.
- Mason tied the game at 21-21 on the next possession on a corner three.
The Demon Deacons tied the game once again following a deep three by Harris.
Mason made it a one-point game at the 5:20 mark as he added a driving layup.
Following the final media timeout of the first half, Colvin sank a pair from the line to make it 29-28.
- Harris added a turnaround jumper moments later to cut the lead down to two points with 2:38 left in the half.
Wake Forest headed into halftime trailing Stanford, 39-30.
- Harris and Mason led the Deacs with seven points each.
Spillers banked in a hook shot in the paint for Wake Forest's first points of the second half.
Colvin converted a pair from the charity stripe to make it 39-34.
- Harris added two more from the line to make it a six-point game.
Spillers hit a left-handed hook shot to keep the deficit at six points with 16:00 left to play.
Harris converted an and-one on the Deacs' first possession coming out of a media timeout to make it 47-41.
- The Salisbury, N.C., native sank a pair from the free throw line to cut the deficit down to five with 13:23 remaining.
The Demon Deacons cut Stanford's lead down to two coming out of the under-12 media timeout as Schwieger recorded a layup as the shot clock was winding down.
- The Overland Park, Kan., native found junior forward Omaha Biliew on a back door cut to make it 50-48.
Wake Forest made it a two-point game once again as Spillers hit two from the line with 9:11 left to play.
Mason buried a three from the corner to make 58-54.
Harris knocked down a pair of free throws after a timeout to cut the Stanford lead down to three.
- Biliew added two more from the line to make it 60-59 with 2:30 left.
The Demon Deacons tied the game at 61-61 after Harris finished at the rim with a tough layup.
- Harris gave the Deacs the lead on the next possession with another tough finish at the rim.
Harris hit two from the line to make it 66-61.
The Demon Deacons reclaimed their five-point lead as Harris drained two more from the free throw line with nine seconds remaining.
Wake Forest completed the second-half comeback to defeat Stanford, 68-63.

Stats of the Game

The Demon Deacons were highly effective from the free throw line on Saturday afternoon as they finished the game going 28-of-32 (87.5 percent) from the line.
- Wake Forest started the game making their first 14 attempts from the charity stripe.
- The 28 made free throws marked a new season high and is tied for the fourth-most makes in the Steve Forbes era.

Key Moment

Trailing by five points with 3:34 left to play, the Demon Deacons went on a 13-3 run to end the game to secure the 68-63 win.
- Harris scored 11 of his 25 points during the 3:34 stretch.
- As a team, the Deacs went 9-for-10 from the line to end the game.

Coach's Comments
"At halftime, it wasn't about schemes or plays. It was about challenging their manhood. The physicality of the game, especially what Stanford was doing to us defensively, was really bothering us. I thought they were quicker to the ball. When we did force a miss, we couldn't get it. They made some tough threes, but once you start making them, they're going in. The adjustment was to play physically defensively, continue to play through the physicality of their defense and get downhill and get fouled and then just get to their feet. We talk about defensive fundamentals every day. We've been really talking about getting your hands above your waist when you guard a shooter to close out with your hands. In the second half, I thought we did a lot better. We finished the game getting nine out of 11 stops. They had one free throw and one two-point basket from the 6:23 mark to the end. You can win the game by playing good defense. The game was won because we took away the three in the second half.

"Offensively, I thought we generated a lot of high quality shots. They didn't always go in, but we didn't get discouraged. I thought we played with a lot of confidence. I thought playing them, mixing up man and zone, didn't really phase us. …We flowed right into some of our things. I thought they did a good job with that. We got into the bonus and just kept going into the paint. We went 28-for-32 from the line.

"I thought Juke [Harris] played well. He just found a way. He got a little frustrated. It's hard, man. He's a sophomore. It's the first time in his life at the college level that he's at the top of the scouting report. Everybody's coming at him. They're being physical. I don't know if there's freedom of movement anymore, but he found a way to get inside their defense and score. I'm really proud of him. I'm really proud of Isaac Carr. He played 30 minutes, had three assists, no turnovers, and he's just so physically tough defensively. He's maybe our best on ball defender. I thought Mekhi [Mason] really helped us off the bench, both on offense and defense. I thought Tre'Von [Spillers] played well too.

"At the end of the day, enough was enough. That was my whole message going out before the game, enough is enough. I'm tired of us losing at home. The fans deserve better. I thought we had a really good crowd. I thought they helped us down the stretch."- head coach Steve Forbes

Up Next
Wake Forest will remain at home for a Wednesday evening tilt with No. 20 Clemson at LJVM Coliseum.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the matchup will air nationally on the ACC Network.