Juke Harris Moves to No. 2 in Single Season Scoring, Demon Deacons Conclude 2025-26 Season

Sunday, March 22

4:30 p.m.

Wake Forest University

Illinois State

Photo by: Seth Seebaugh / Wake Forest Athletics

Juke Harris Moves to No. 2 in Single Season Scoring, Demon Deacons Conclude 2025-26 Season

3/22/2026 7:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Salisbury, N.C., native finished the season with 750 points following a 20-point performance on Sunday.

By: Stephen Czarda, Keion Robinson & KJ Smith

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Despite a pair of 20-point performances by senior forward Tre'Von Spillers and sophomore guard Juke Harris, the Wake Forest men's basketball team (18-17) fell to Illinois State (22-12) in the second round of the NIT by a total of 78-75 on Sunday afternoon at LJVM Coliseum, concluding the 2025-26 season.

Spillers matched his career-high with 24 points on a perfect 11-for-11 shooting night, while also adding eight rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal. The Charleston, S.C., native's 11 field goals is the most made in a 100-percent shooting performance in program history, surpassing Kyle Visser's 10-for-10 performance against James Madison on Nov. 11, 2006.

Harris recorded his 20th 20-point game of the season against the Redbirds, totaling 20 points on 7-of-19 shooting. With his performance, the Salisbury, N.C., native ended the season with 750 points, the second-most in a single season in Wake Forest history. Harris also logged eight rebounds, four assists and a steal.

Junior forward Omaha Biliew finished with 11 points, six rebounds and a steal while going a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor. The Waukee, Iowa, native was also a force on the defensive end as he blocked a career-high three shots.

Meanwhile, junior Myles Colvin provided 10 points, two rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes off the bench.

How It Happened

The Redbirds won the opening tip.
Junior forward Omaha Biliew grabbed the Deacs' first points of the game as he drilled a corner three.
- Senior forward Tre'Von Spillers gave Wake Forest the lead on the next possession after connecting on a jumper in the lane.
Sophomore guard Juke Harris logged his first points of the game on a driving layup to put the Demon Deacons up 7-3.
- The Salisbury, N.C., native swished a straightaway three-pointer the next trip down the court to push the lead to seven.
Senior guard Mekhi Mason found Spillers under the basket for an easy layup to restore the seven-point lead at the 15:03 mark.
Spillers made it 14-9 with a layup with 11:28 left in the half.
- The Charleston, S.C., native cleaned up the offensive glass with a putback layup to extend the lead to seven points.
Junior guard Myles Colvin pushed the advantage to nine points as he opened his account on a pair of free throws.
Harris added a putback slam at the 9:15 mark to make it 20-11.
After Illinois State tied the game, Spillers drove the lane before finishing at the rim to give the Deacs the lead back.
The Demon Deacons reclaimed the lead at the 4:27 mark on a deep three by Harris.
Biliew finished a tough layup to put the Deacs within one.
Mason drained a three from the corner to tie the game at 30-30.
- Junior forward Cooper Schwieger leveled the score once again on the next possession with a powerful dunk.
The Demon Deacons and the Redbirds went into halftime tied at 32-32.
- Harris and Spillers scored 10 points each to lead Wake Forest in the first half.
Wake Forest took the lead coming out of the half as Harris converted a tough layup.
Following an Illinois State three, the Deacs retook the lead on a hook shot by Spillers.
- Spillers added a thunderous alley-oop jam on the next possession, making it a three-point game.
Senior guard Nate Calmese logged his first points of the game on a floater in the lane to make it 40-37.
Spillers sank two from the line to push the lead to five points coming out of a media timeout.
- Biliew finished off a nice pass by Harris with an easy slam under the basket on the next possession.
Harris added a driving layup to move the Deacs up by seven with 13:18 left to play.
Colvin swished a three-pointer from the corner to make it 51-44.
- The Indianapolis native drove the lane for a crafty layup to push the lead to nine points on the next trip down the court.
Harris hit a pair from the line to make it an eight-point game.
- With the free throws, Harris moved into second all-time in Wake Forest history for single season points.
Spillers fought through contact for a tough basket to make it 57-50.
- After a steal on one end, Calmese lobbed it up to Colvin for an emphatic alley-oop at the 9:21 mark.
After Illinois State took the lead on an 8-0 run, freshman guard Isaac Carr finished a tough left-handed layup to put the Deacs within one.
- Biliew gave Wake Forest the lead back after hitting a pair from the line with 4:59 remaining.
- Spillers tied the game back at 66-66 on the next possession on a left-handed hook shot.
Biliew moved into double figures as he hit two free throws to give the Deacs the lead coming out of the final media timeout.
Harris surpassed the 20-point mark on a putback layup, tying the game at 71-71.
- Spillers evened the game once again on the next trip down the court with a layup at the 1:11 mark.
Spillers made it 75-75 with another layup.
The Demon Deacons fell 78-75.

Stats of the Game

Sophomore guard Juke Harris reached another personal milestone in the NIT's second round, netting a pair of free throws in the second half to reach 750 total points on the season and move into second in program history for single-season points total, trailing only Wake Forest Sports Hall of Famer Len Chappell.
- Additionally, his 750 points rank 31st in a single season in ACC history, tied with Jeff Mullins of Duke in the 1963-64 campaign.

Most Points Scored In Single Season In School History

Rank	Name	Year	Points
1.	Len Chappell	1961-62	932
2.	Juke Harris	2025-26	750
3.	Dickie Hemric	1954-55	746
4.	Len Chappell	1960-61	745
5.	Charlie Davis	1970-71	690

Senior forward Tre'Von Spillers matched his career high with 24 points on 11-for-11 shooting, along with eight rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal.
- The Charleston, S.C., native's 11 field goals is the most in a 100-percent shooting performance in program history.

Single Game Field Goal Percentage Leaders

FG%	Name	Opponent	Date
100.0 (11-11)	Tre'Von Spillers	Illinois State	March 22, 2026
100.0 (10-10)	Kyle Visser	James Madison	Nov. 11, 2006
100.0 (9-9)	Olivier Sarr	UNC Asheville	Nov. 13, 2019
100.0 (9-9)	Doral Moore	Duke	Jan. 23, 2018

Coach's Comments
"First, I want to congratulate Coach [Ryan] Pedon and his team. They have a really good team, and he's done a really good job coaching this team. They have back-to-back seasons of 22 wins and obviously I spent a year there a long time ago. My son, who's a senior in college, was born there, so it's been a while, but I know how passionate their fanbase is. They should be very proud of their team.

"I thought the number one thing going into the game was two things – guard the ball and rebound the ball. If we couldn't guard the ball, we were going to have a hard time. I thought we got off to a really good start. Our pace on defense was faster than their pace on offense. We were causing some problems. We were scoring mostly at the basket. At about the 10-minute mark of the first half, they decided to step up the physicality of the game, defensively, and I don't think we reacted very well to it. They turned us over and we settled. We didn't get in the paint, even though we outscored them in the paint. But in that critical time to end the half, we just settled on offense.

"They missed some threes in the first half, so we knew they were going to eventually make some. But the whole thing came down to us being so far behind the play off dribble penetration. [Ty] Pence killed us at the five-man position – credit to him for staying there through this environment and riding it out. He's a good player. I knew [Johnny] Kinziger was going to make some shots. He's just too good a player, quick and shoots it well.

"With that all being said, we had a nine-point lead, and then we came down in transition and took a quick three. We're in the double bonus, and it kind of goes downhill from there. We gave up an offensive rebound, led to a three, lost sight of the guy in the corner for no reason, led to another three. They quickly got back in it, and they got a lot of confidence. We can't give up 46 points in a half. But that's kind of been our deal all year long. We improved a lot, number-wise, offensively from last year, but not defensively. Two of the biggest issues have been guarding the basketball and securing the rebound. So, credit to Illinois State and their team. They came in here and got a road win and and they earned it."- head coach Steve Forbes

Season Highlights

With 74 home victories since the start of the 2021-22 season, Wake Forest ranks tied for seventh in the country in home wins during that span.
Wake Forest has earned 54 victories in ACC play since the 2021-22 season, fifth-most in the ACC during that span.
The Demon Deacons finished the season with 18 victories, including postseason wins over Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament and Navy in the NIT.
Juke Harris experienced a breakout campaign, as the sophomore from Salisbury, N.C., earned ACC Most Improved Player of the Year, an All-ACC second-team selection and a nod as an NABC All-South Atlantic District first-team selection.
- This was the second ACC Most Improved Player selection in Wake Forest history (John Collins 2016-17).
- The Demon Deacons have earned six All-ACC selections under sixth-year head coach Steve Forbes.
- Additionally, Wake Forest has earned six NABC All-District selections over that span.
- Harris was the national leader in scoring increase from last year, as he went from 6.1 points per game as a freshman to 21.4 as a sophomore.
- He finished the season with 750 points, second-most in a single season in program history.
- His 21.4 points per game were most in a single season since Rod Griffin averaged 21.5 points per game during the 1977-78 season.
- He finished ACC play averaging 22.9 points per game, most by a Demon Deacon in conference action since Charlie Davis in 1970-71.
- He also was the first Wake Forest player to score 30 or more three times against ACC opponents in a single season since 1996-97.
With a 111-73 victory over Queens on Dec. 14, Forbes became the third-fastest head coach in program history to 100 victories, trailing only Wake Forest Sports Hall of Famers Dave Odom and Skip Prosser.
- On Feb. 11 in an 83-67 win over Georgia Tech, Forbes earned his 400th career win as a head coach at the NCAA and NJCAA levels.
Junior Cooper Schwieger and senior Tre'Von Spillers each eclipsed the 1,000-point mark at the Division I level.
- Spillers finished his two years at Wake Forest with the most blocks in the Steve Forbes era (95) and the second-most rebounds (446).
Senior guard Nate Calmese turned in numerous memorable performances including scoring the game-winning baskets in ACC victories against Virginia Tech and Florida State.
- Despite missing most of the second half of ACC play, the Gilbert, Ariz., native finished the season with 116 assists – fifth-most in the Steve Forbes era.
Senior guard Mekhi Mason reached the 10-point mark nine times including a season-high 26 at No. 13 Virginia.
- The 26 points were most off the bench by a Demon Deacon in the Steve Forbes era and most overall since Dinos Mitoglou scored 26 against Syracuse on Jan. 13, 2015.
Junior guard Myles Colvin's season was highlighted by hitting the game-winning shot against Memphis in the Baha Mar Championship and earning ACC Player of the Week and Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week honors after scoring 33 points against Queens on 11-of-13 shooting while going 7-of-8 from three along with eight rebounds.
- Twenty-six of his 33 points came in the first half, as he became the first Demon Deacon to score 26 points in a single half since Wake Forest Sports Hall of Famer Randolph Childress scored 27 against Duke in the 1995 ACC Tournament.
- At 11-of-13 from the field, Colvin became just the sixth Demon Deacon since 1996 to record a field goal percentage of 84 percent or higher on 13 or more attempts, joining ACC Players of the Year Tim Duncan and Tyree Appleby along with Darius Songaila (twice), Hunter Sallis and John Collins.
- Additionally, the junior guard went 7-of-8 from three-point territory, matching Jonah Antonio (Feb. 13, 2021 vs. Florida State) for the best three-point shooting percentage (87.5 percent) in a single game in program history on eight attempts.