Wake Forest will aim to string together back-to-back wins for the first time in more than a month when it hosts SMU on Tuesday night in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Demon Deacons (11-7, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) are coming off a narrow road victory on Saturday at Florida State, where Nate Calmese sank a game-winning mid-range jumper with six seconds left to secure a 69-68 win. In both of Wake Forest’s ACC triumphs, Calmese scored the game-winner in the last seconds.
In the final moments on Saturday, Juke Harris got a crucial stop, forcing a shot from the Seminoles’ Martin Somerville to miss the mark.
“Nate Calmese made a big play, and then Juke Harris made a great play defensively,” Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes said. “I thought we did a great job of turning defense into offense. We outscored Florida State 16-3 on possessions that started with a live-ball turnover.”
Wake Forest ultimately scored 18 points off 16 Florida State turnovers. Opponents turn the ball over an average of 15.6 times per game against the Demon Deacons this season, which was tied for 16th best in the country through the weekend. The Demon Deacons also ranked 19th in steals with 9.5 per game. Five Wake Forest players have 20 or more steals this season.
One of them is Harris, who also averages a team-leading 20.1 points per game.
Wake Forest’s opportunistic defenders could be a problem for SMU (13-5, 2-3), which coughs up 11.7 turnovers per game. The Mustangs actually did a decent job taking care of the ball in their most recent game — a 72-68 home defeat to then-No. 16 Virginia on Saturday — but they lost the rebounding battle by eight and allowed the Cavaliers to sink 12 3-pointers.
One area where SMU could have an advantage against Wake Forest is on the glass. The Mustangs rank fifth in the ACC in offensive rebounds (12.4 per game) and Wake Forest was an abysmal 307th in defensive rebounds per game (22.83) through the weekend. Samet Yigitoglu grabs an average of 3.2 offensive boards per game for the Mustangs and also scores 11.0 ppg.
SMU coach Andy Enfield would like to see the 7-foot-2 Yigitoglu become a more efficient scorer.
“He has to take pressure off our guards. He has to take pressure off our team. It’s very demoralizing when you’re missing 6-inch shots, 1-foot shots and 2-foot shots,” Enfield said after Yigitoglu’s 3-for-11 shooting performance against Virginia. “No excuses. He has to make more of those and finish better and set himself and make those shots.”
Boopie Miller, who was a starter for Wake Forest in the 2023-24 season, powers SMU with 20.3 points and an ACC-leading 6.8 assists per game.
According to the ACC availability report, neither team has any injuries.
–Field Level Media
