Wake Forest Struggles to Contain SMU in Home Loss, Defensive Woes Continue
This one got away from Wake Forest early-and never really came back.
The Demon Deacons were outpaced and outplayed on their home floor by an SMU team that looked sharper, deeper, and more disciplined from the opening tip. The Mustangs rolled into Winston-Salem and handed Wake a 91-79 loss that felt even more lopsided than the final score suggests.
SMU didn’t score in the final 2:42, after pulling their starters with the game well in hand. Wake closed on an 8-0 run thanks to continued effort from Juke Harris and Tre’Von Spillers, but by then, the damage was already done.
The turning point came late in the first half. With Wake trailing by just five, a single sequence flipped the momentum hard in SMU’s favor.
BJ Edwards picked off a pass from Myles Colvin and, in the process, collided with Nate Calmese-who went down and had to leave the game. Edwards drilled a three on the other end, stretching the lead to eight.
Though Calmese returned after halftime, he clearly wasn’t himself. He went scoreless in 12 second-half minutes, missing both of his shot attempts.
Even with Calmese limited, Wake’s offense wasn’t the issue. The Deacs put up 79 points, assisted on 20 of their 28 made field goals, and outscored SMU 32-24 in the paint. They also kept turnovers in check, giving it up just 11 times.
But the defense? That’s where things unraveled.
Wake simply couldn’t get stops. SMU shot a blistering 50% from the field and 50% from three, and they controlled the glass with a 40-28 rebounding edge. The Mustangs moved the ball beautifully, finishing with 23 assists and getting at least one made three from eight different players.
Wake’s aggressive, trapping defensive style-designed to offset their lack of size up front-has had some success this season. But against teams with shooters and smart ball movement, like SMU, Vanderbilt, and Oklahoma, it’s been a recipe for disaster.
Every time Wake doubled a ball screen, collapsed on a post-up, or helped off a drive, SMU made the right read. The result?
Open layups and wide-open threes, over and over again.
The Deacs are undersized, so they’ve leaned into their quickness and pressure to force turnovers. But when those gambles don’t pay off, they give up high-quality looks-and SMU capitalized all night.
This marks Wake’s third blowout home loss of the season, and while it’s likely to go down as a Quad 1 loss when the dust settles, the performance raises real concerns about the team’s trajectory. There’s still a path to the NCAA Tournament, but it’s getting narrower. Wake likely needs to win at least three of their remaining five Quad 1 games to get back in the bubble conversation.
Saturday’s matchup at Duke looms large-assuming the predicted snowstorm doesn’t interfere. It’s a big opportunity for a team that badly needs to show it can respond to adversity.
The margin for error is gone. If Wake wants to keep its postseason hopes alive, it’s going to have to start with stops.