When Tre’Von Spillers stepped into a rare three-pointer early in the second half-just his third make from deep all season-it felt like a momentum swing. Wake Forest had cut SMU’s lead to just four, and Joel Coliseum was ready to erupt.
SMU head coach Andy Enfield immediately called for a timeout. It was a moment that could’ve sparked a turning point.
Instead, it lit a fire under the Mustangs.
SMU came out of that timeout and delivered a knockout blow-ripping off a 13-2 run that effectively put the game out of reach. Wake never got closer than the final 91-79 score, with Juke Harris knocking down a late triple that only trimmed the margin on paper.
The Mustangs came in with one of the best three-point shooting resumes in the ACC, and they lived up to the billing. They drilled 14 of their 28 attempts from beyond the arc-an even 50%-and did it with confidence and rhythm.
But it wasn’t just about the shooting. SMU controlled the glass (40-28), moved the ball with purpose (23 assists), and kept their mistakes in check (just 14 turnovers).
“We just couldn't really stay in front of the ball,” Harris said postgame. “And when we did, a few of us overhelped, which left guys wide open for threes.
I feel like it all started with practice yesterday. We didn’t practice how we normally do.”
That lack of sharpness showed. Wake Forest’s defensive rotations were a step slow, and SMU made them pay. The Mustangs got clean looks from the perimeter and turned them into daggers.
Harris was one of the few bright spots for the Deacs. He poured in 27 points on an efficient 10-of-17 shooting night, continuing to prove he can be a go-to scorer.
Spillers added 19 points and four boards, including that early second-half triple that briefly gave Wake life. Myles Colvin brought energy off the bench with 17 points, hitting three threes of his own and throwing down a highlight-reel dunk in the first half.
But the night belonged to SMU’s B.J. Edwards.
While Boopie Miller-returning to his old stomping grounds-was the target of consistent boos and had a relatively quiet outing, Edwards was the one who took over. He packed the stat sheet with 24 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, six steals, and a block.
Yes, he also had six turnovers, but his relentless energy and two-way impact set the tone for the Mustangs all night.
“We weren’t running our stuff like we were supposed to,” Spillers said. “We were stagnant, dribbling the ball too much, just dribbling the air out of it.
We were supposed to move the ball, keep it going. We were just very stagnant.”
That stagnation bled into the defensive effort, too. Wake struggled to match up in transition, often failing to stop the ball or communicate on switches. It wasn’t just a matter of missed shots-it was a breakdown in execution on both ends.
With the loss, Wake Forest falls to 11-8 overall and 2-4 in ACC play. And the road ahead doesn’t get any easier. The Deacs now head into a two-game road stretch, starting Saturday in Durham against Duke, followed by a trip to Pitt a week from now.
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the issues Wake faced-defensive lapses, stagnant offense, lack of urgency-are fixable. But with ACC play heating up, the margin for error is shrinking fast.