Vanderbilt Blows Past Wake Forest in Statement Win at the Joel
Wake Forest came into Saturday’s matchup with Vanderbilt needing a bounce-back performance. What they got instead was a humbling reminder of how quickly things can spiral when a team isn’t locked in on either end of the floor. The Commodores didn’t just win-they dominated, handing the Demon Deacons their worst home loss since 2019 in a 98-57 rout that was never in doubt.
This one was over almost as soon as it started. Vanderbilt opened the game on an 8-0 run and never looked back.
The tone was set on the very first possession, when Virginia Tech transfer Tyler Nickel drilled a three from the wing. That was just the beginning.
Nickel caught fire and stayed hot, finishing with a game-high 26 points while going an eye-popping 8-for-10 from beyond the arc. Wake Forest gave him space, and he made them pay-again and again.
Defensively, the Deacs stuck with a game plan that simply wasn’t working. They repeatedly doubled on ball screens, and Vanderbilt was more than ready for it.
The Commodores consistently moved the ball out of the trap and found open looks-whether it was a clean three or a dunk at the rim. The result?
Vanderbilt shot a blistering 59% from the field and 50% from deep. That kind of efficiency doesn’t happen by accident-it’s the product of smart execution and a defense that couldn’t adjust.
On the offensive end, Wake Forest struggled to find any rhythm. The issues that cropped up in their previous game against Longwood-lazy passes, poor spacing, and unforced turnovers-resurfaced in a big way.
Sloppy ball movement led to easy transition buckets for Vanderbilt, and the Deacs never found a reliable scoring option to settle things down. They shot just 35% from the field and a rough 19% from three, numbers that simply won’t cut it against a top-10 opponent.
This was Wake’s final opportunity to make a statement before ACC play begins, and instead, they were overwhelmed on their home floor. In two games this season at the Joel against Power 4 opponents-Oklahoma and Vanderbilt-the Deacs have now lost by a combined 49 points. That’s a tough pill to swallow for a team that had postseason aspirations coming into the year.
While Wake Forest has looked strong against lower-tier opponents, those wins haven’t translated into competitive performances against high-major competition. Shooting under 40% from the field in four of their six non-buy games is a concerning trend-and one that raises real questions about how this team will fare once the conference grind begins.
There’s still time to turn things around, but the margin for error is shrinking. If Wake wants to be in the NCAA Tournament conversation come March, they’ll need to find answers quickly-on both ends of the floor. Because right now, they don’t look like a team ready for the big stage.