Saturday, December 6
Charleston, W.Va.
6 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Wake Forest
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Mountaineers, Demon Deacons to Clash in Charleston
December 05, 2025 02:41 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia meets Wake Forest Saturday night in Charleston in the GoMart Holiday Hoopfest.
It is part of a series of games put on this year by the Gazelle Group that began early last month and concludes on Feb. 26, 2026, in Washington, D.C., when Duke and Michigan battle it out in Capital One Arena.
Near year, West Virginia and Wake Forest will play in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The free-wheeling Demon Deacons, coached by Steve Forbes, are a couple of baskets away from having an 8-1 record and potentially a spot in the top 25.
Wake Forest (6-3) dropped an 85-84 decision to Michigan at Little Caesers Arena in Detroit, back on Nov. 11, and also lost a narrow 84-83 decision to Texas Tech in the Bahamas on Nov. 20.
Michigan is No. 1 in this week's NCAA NET rankings while Texas Tech checks in at No. 36.
Most recently, Wake Forest lost 86-68 to Oklahoma last Tuesday night in Winston-Salem.
"Tempo-wise, (Wake Forest) is probably similar to Xavier," West Virginia coach Ross Hodge said. "They do a really good job of creating points off of your turnovers. They're aggressive defensively and that lends itself to offense. The other thing they've done really well to this point is they are a very good offensive rebounding team."
Juke Harris, a 6-foot-7, 200-pound sophomore is an emerging talent in the ACC and is currently tied for fifth in the conference in scoring with an average of 19.9 points per game.
The Salisbury, North Carolina, resident is connecting on 51.4% of his field goal attempts while leading the team with 19 3-point field goals. He is also tops on the team in rebounding (7.1 rpg.) and steals with 16.
Obviously, he will get a lot of the attention on Saturday.
Tre'Von Spillers, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound senior who transferred from Appalachian State two years ago, shows averages of 14 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Spillers started every game last year for the Demon Deacons and has been one of Forbes' most consistent performers.
Former Iowa State transfer Omaha Biliew has started all nine games in the post this season while logging an average of 18 minutes per game. The 6-foot-8, 230-pounder scored a season-high 13 in Wake's 34-point win over UMass-Lowell.
The team's other two starters come from the transfer portal - 6-foot-2 senior guard Nate Calmese from Washington State, and 6-foot-5 senior guard Mekhi Mason from Washington.
Mason is averaging 10.9 points per game, while Calmese is scoring at an 8.6 points-per-game clip after averaging 15.2 points per game last year for Washington State.
Wake's top bench performer is Purdue transfer Myles Colvin, who is averaging 11.9 points per contest.
"They can drive the ball from multiple positions, can shoot the ball from multiple positions and get you into rotations," Hodge said. "When the shot goes up, they really go rebound it well. We've got to try and make it as hard on them for as long as we can."
Overall, Wake Forest is averaging 85.2 points per game and will provide an interesting contrast to West Virginia, which comes into this weekend's action ranked second in the country in scoring defense allowing just 57.5 points per game.
Earlier this week, West Virginia (7-2) limited Coppin State to only 49 points in a 42-point victory at Hope Coliseum, but the Mountaineers dropped out of the top spot in scoring defense as a result of Northern Iowa recently limiting Coe to just 34 points, reducing its opponents' scoring average to 55.4 points per game.
Senior guard Honor Huff is one of three double-figure scorers for the Mountaineers with a team-leading 15.8 points-per-game average.
Brenen Lorient is averaging 11.1 points and six rebounds per contest, while Chance Moore is contributing 11 points and 5.3 rebounds in four outings after sitting out the first five games of the season to satisfy NCAA transfer requirements.
Troy transfer Jackson Fields is also giving the team a boost with 18 points and seven rebounds in his two appearances since returning from a preseason wrist injury.
WVU started Huff, Lorient, Treysen Eaglestaff, Jasper Floyd and Harlan Obioha in Wednesday night's victory over Coppin State.
Wake Forest is currently 79th in the NCAA NET rankings while West Virginia is 95th.
Saturday night's game against Wake Forest in the Charleston Civic Center will be the 11th all-time meeting between the two schools and the first since March 19, 2005, when John Beilein's Mountaineers upset the second-ranked Demon Deacons 111-105 in two overtimes in the second-round of the NCAA Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio.
The last time the two teams met during the regular season was in 1975, and the last time the two played each other in Charleston was on Jan. 31, 1962, in Charleston's old Civic Center.
Guard Jim McCormick was the star player for West Virginia with 35 points, which were two points shy of Len Chappell's game-high 37 points in a shootout the Mountaineers won 101-99.
ESPN2 (Mike Corey and Mark Adams) will provide television coverage, while the Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield with Tony Caridi, Brad Howe and David Kahn will broadcast the game on radio stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
Tickets are on sale through TicketMaster.
It is part of a series of games put on this year by the Gazelle Group that began early last month and concludes on Feb. 26, 2026, in Washington, D.C., when Duke and Michigan battle it out in Capital One Arena.
Near year, West Virginia and Wake Forest will play in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The free-wheeling Demon Deacons, coached by Steve Forbes, are a couple of baskets away from having an 8-1 record and potentially a spot in the top 25.
Wake Forest (6-3) dropped an 85-84 decision to Michigan at Little Caesers Arena in Detroit, back on Nov. 11, and also lost a narrow 84-83 decision to Texas Tech in the Bahamas on Nov. 20.
Michigan is No. 1 in this week's NCAA NET rankings while Texas Tech checks in at No. 36.
Most recently, Wake Forest lost 86-68 to Oklahoma last Tuesday night in Winston-Salem.
"Tempo-wise, (Wake Forest) is probably similar to Xavier," West Virginia coach Ross Hodge said. "They do a really good job of creating points off of your turnovers. They're aggressive defensively and that lends itself to offense. The other thing they've done really well to this point is they are a very good offensive rebounding team."
Juke Harris, a 6-foot-7, 200-pound sophomore is an emerging talent in the ACC and is currently tied for fifth in the conference in scoring with an average of 19.9 points per game.
The Salisbury, North Carolina, resident is connecting on 51.4% of his field goal attempts while leading the team with 19 3-point field goals. He is also tops on the team in rebounding (7.1 rpg.) and steals with 16.
Obviously, he will get a lot of the attention on Saturday.
Tre'Von Spillers, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound senior who transferred from Appalachian State two years ago, shows averages of 14 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Spillers started every game last year for the Demon Deacons and has been one of Forbes' most consistent performers.
Former Iowa State transfer Omaha Biliew has started all nine games in the post this season while logging an average of 18 minutes per game. The 6-foot-8, 230-pounder scored a season-high 13 in Wake's 34-point win over UMass-Lowell.
The team's other two starters come from the transfer portal - 6-foot-2 senior guard Nate Calmese from Washington State, and 6-foot-5 senior guard Mekhi Mason from Washington.
Mason is averaging 10.9 points per game, while Calmese is scoring at an 8.6 points-per-game clip after averaging 15.2 points per game last year for Washington State.
Wake's top bench performer is Purdue transfer Myles Colvin, who is averaging 11.9 points per contest.
"They can drive the ball from multiple positions, can shoot the ball from multiple positions and get you into rotations," Hodge said. "When the shot goes up, they really go rebound it well. We've got to try and make it as hard on them for as long as we can."
Overall, Wake Forest is averaging 85.2 points per game and will provide an interesting contrast to West Virginia, which comes into this weekend's action ranked second in the country in scoring defense allowing just 57.5 points per game.
Earlier this week, West Virginia (7-2) limited Coppin State to only 49 points in a 42-point victory at Hope Coliseum, but the Mountaineers dropped out of the top spot in scoring defense as a result of Northern Iowa recently limiting Coe to just 34 points, reducing its opponents' scoring average to 55.4 points per game.
Senior guard Honor Huff is one of three double-figure scorers for the Mountaineers with a team-leading 15.8 points-per-game average.
Brenen Lorient is averaging 11.1 points and six rebounds per contest, while Chance Moore is contributing 11 points and 5.3 rebounds in four outings after sitting out the first five games of the season to satisfy NCAA transfer requirements.
Troy transfer Jackson Fields is also giving the team a boost with 18 points and seven rebounds in his two appearances since returning from a preseason wrist injury.
WVU started Huff, Lorient, Treysen Eaglestaff, Jasper Floyd and Harlan Obioha in Wednesday night's victory over Coppin State.
Wake Forest is currently 79th in the NCAA NET rankings while West Virginia is 95th.
Saturday night's game against Wake Forest in the Charleston Civic Center will be the 11th all-time meeting between the two schools and the first since March 19, 2005, when John Beilein's Mountaineers upset the second-ranked Demon Deacons 111-105 in two overtimes in the second-round of the NCAA Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio.
The last time the two teams met during the regular season was in 1975, and the last time the two played each other in Charleston was on Jan. 31, 1962, in Charleston's old Civic Center.
Guard Jim McCormick was the star player for West Virginia with 35 points, which were two points shy of Len Chappell's game-high 37 points in a shootout the Mountaineers won 101-99.
ESPN2 (Mike Corey and Mark Adams) will provide television coverage, while the Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield with Tony Caridi, Brad Howe and David Kahn will broadcast the game on radio stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
Tickets are on sale through TicketMaster.
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/ Men's BasketballUnited Bank Playbook: Wake Forest Preview
Friday, December 05
TV Highlights: WVU 91, Coppin State 49
Thursday, December 04
Ross Hodge | Coppin State Postgame
Wednesday, December 03
Treysen Eaglestaff, Chance Moore & Honor Huff | Coppin State Postgame
Wednesday, December 03
