Once again, the West Virginia Mountaineers are headed to a city named Charleston for a neutral-site basketball game.
The previous trip to Charleston, SC, did not go as planned for Ross Hodge and his squad, which had been expected to perform better after suffering a pair of losses to Clemson and Xavier. On Saturday, December 6th, the Mountaineers will make an in-state trip to Charleston, W.Va., where they have not played a regular-season game since 2016.
They will be matching up against another power conference opponent in the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. As we inch closer toward the beginning of the Big 12 Conference play, the window to build a strong non-conference resume is shrinking for WVU. Needless to say, a win over Wake Forest could potentially bode well for West Virginia moving forward.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
The 6-3 Demon Deacons have not had an easy schedule through non-conference play. Two of their three losses came against ranked opponents (Michigan, Texas Tech) by one point in each contest. Their narrow loss to Texas Tech came in the Baha Mar Tournament, and they followed the 84-83 loss with a one-point win over Memphis in the third-place game in the Bahamas.
Wake Forest is coming off an 86-68 home loss to Oklahoma as part of the ACC/SEC challenge on Tuesday night. After having just a two-point lead at halftime, the Sooners turned it up a notch, scoring 49 points in the second half en route to the 18-point victory. It was a rough shooting night for the Demon Deacons, who managed to shoot just 34% (19-of-56) from the field.
To go along with the 3 losses, Wake Forest has picked up wins over American, Morehead State, UMAss Lowell, Memphis, Northeastern, and Campbell. The Campbell Camels are a mutual opponent between the Mountaineers and Demon Deacons. Wake Forest ran the Fighting Camels out of the gym in a 99-51 blowout while WVU beat Campbell 73-65 in their second game of the season.
Players to Know
6-foot-7 sophomore guard Juke Harris has taken his game to another level in his second year with Wake Forest. As a freshman, Harris averaged about 6 points and 3 rebounds per game. Through 9 games this season, Harris leads the team in points (19.9), rebounds (7.1), and steals (1.8). Harris had a double-double of 26 points and 10 rebounds in the tough loss to Texas Tech in the Bahamas, and he was one of just two Wake Forest players in double figures against Oklahoma with 22 points in a team-high 36 minutes played.
Nate Calmese leads the team in assists per game (5.4) and has scored in double figures 4 times. Calmese averaged 15 points and 4 assists per game in 33 starts at Washington State last season.
Like Harris, Tre’Von Spillers is another returning Demon Deacon who has elevated his game. In 32 starts last season, Spiller averaged 9.9 points and 7.6 rebounds. Thus far in 2025, Spillers is averaging 14 points per game with a field goal percentage over 60%.
Myles Colvin (Purdue) and Mehki Mason (Washington) are a pair of impact transfer guards for Wake Forest who are also averaging double figures in scoring to start the season.
Tip-off between the Mountaineers and the Demon Deacons is set for 6 PM EST on ESPN2.