Wake Forest Falls To Virginia Tech in Blacksburg

Saturday, February 21

Blacksburg, Va.

12 p.m.

Wake Forest University

14-13,5-9ACC

Virginia Tech

18-10,7-8ACC

Wake Forest

Virginia Tech

2/21/2026 2:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

The Demon Deacons will remain on the road for a midweek showdown with Boston College next.

By: Stephen Czarda & Keion Robinson

BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Wake Forest men's basketball team (14-13, 5-9 ACC) fell to Virginia Tech (18-10, 7-8 ACC) by a final of 82-63 on Saturday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum. This was the second matchup between the Demon Deacons and Hokies this season, as Wake Forest took the first matchup between the two teams last month at LJVM Coliseum.

Three Deacs reached double figures in scoring on the afternoon, led by sophomore guard Juke Harris' 16 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists. The starting forward tandem of senior Tre'Von Spillers and junior Cooper Schwieger combined for 22 points.

Spillers also hauled in a team-best seven boards and blocked two shots. Sophomore guard Sebastian Akins chipped in four assists.

How It Happened

Virginia Tech won the opening tip and scored the game's first points of the afternoon before sophomore guard Juke Harris responded with a three on the Deacs' first offensive set.
After a series of misses by both teams, junior guard Myles Colvin hit a corner three to make it 6-2 early.
- Senior forward Tre'Von Spillers nailed a three from the same corner to make it 9-4.
Out of the first media timeout, junior forward Cooper Schwieger connected on Wake's fourth three of the first half.
After Virginia Tech connected on back-to-back threes, Harris converted on a tough drive to the basket to make it 16-16.
Virginia Tech led 19-18 at the second media timeout.
A series of Wake Forest offensive rebounds led to a putback by senior guard Mekhi Mason to make it 22-20.
- The Hokies would go on a 6-0 run to force the Deacs to call a timeout.
- Virginia Tech's lead would grow to 11 before Harris delivered at the rim to make it a 31-22 scoreline.
Spillers drove inside for his fourth basket of the first half to cut the Hokies' lead down to 10.
Harris yet again fought through physicality to get to the hop to cut Virginia Tech's lead down to 12 with less than two minutes left in the first half.
- Schwieger drove the baseline for a thunderous slam while getting fouled. The junior made his free throw to cut the deficit to nine.
Virginia Tech led 43-33 at half.
After the Hokies scored the second half's first points, Harris reached double digits in scoring for the 27th consecutive game.
- After Schwieger delivered with a bucket, the sophomore guard swished a three to once again make it a 10-point game.
- Spillers would then create space at the rim to pull Wake back within single digits.
The Deacs pushed Virginia Tech into a scoring drought lasting nearly four minutes before Wake responded to a Hokies jumper with an and-one from junior forward Omaha Bilew.
Virginia Tech would push its lead to 18 before Mason delivered in the paint.
Colvin was fouled on a three-point attempt, as the Indianapolis native converted on 2-of-3 to make it 71-54.
Virginia Tech would ultimately prevail by a final of 82-63.

Stats of the Game

Sophomore guard Juke Harris led Wake Forest with a team-high 16 points, as he has now recorded double figures in scoring all 27 games this season, tied for the longest stretch in the Steve Forbes era.

Coach's Comments
"I just really thought Virginia Tech came ready to play today. They played at a really high level on both offense and defense. They did a really great job of sharing the ball and cutting hard on offense, indicative of 19 assists and five turnovers. I think we turned them over 19 times in the game before, so they flipped the script there. I thought they were really physical on defense – forced us into shots that they were willing to give up. Now, we got some open shots that we have to make on the road, but I thought, for the most part, their defense forced us to shoot on their terms.

"The biggest key for them, and the worst thing for us, was we didn't guard them off the dribble all day long. They were inside our defense all game, causing us to help recover, rotate and then really being behind the play. So credit to them for breaking us down. Then, I thought we were doing a good job rebounding the ball on the glass. I think they got four offensive rebounds in the last three possessions of the first half. They kind of smelled blood in the water, and then they got 15 of them for 13 offensive rebounds. They had great balance and six guys in double figures in scoring. I thought they came up with the majority of the 50-50 balls.

"They earned easy baskets. You know, we just struggled with that pretty much all year long. But, you know, we survived. At halftime, we were down 10. We cut it to seven. We've been in these kinds of games we've been playing well, before the other team gains momentum – you know, they banked two three-pointers in. We've got to move on, but we just never could get back the momentum after that play, so credit to Virginia Tech."- head coach Steve Forbes

Up Next
Wake Forest will be back on the road on Tuesday night as the Demon Deacons take on Boston College.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will air nationally on ESPNU.