Wake Forest’s Sebastian Akins made a three-pointer with 2:02 to play to ultimately finish off Clemson Wednesday night, as the Demon Deacons beat the Tigers, 85-77, at the LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C. It marked Clemson’s third straight loss.

Jake Wahlin led Clemson with 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting. Carter Welling had 13 points and 7 rebounds in the loss. Guard Ace Buckner also had 13 points.

Atkins finished the night with 16 points, as five Wake players scored in double digits, including Juke Harris who scored a game-high 20 points and had 7 rebounds. The Demon Deacons also got 14 points from Myles Colvin, all in the first half, 13 from Mekhi Mason and 10 points and 6 rebounds from Tre’Von Spiller.

The Tigers (20-7, 10-4 ACC) had cut Wake Forest’s lead to six points, 72-66, following a driving layup by Buckner with 2:23 to go. However, Akins’ dagger-three, with Clemson playing zone defense, did the Tigers in. Before his three-pointer, Wake had not scored against Clemson’s zone in the game.

After trailing by 20 points with 2:27 to play in the first half, the Tigers fought back with a 16-1 run that carried into the second half. Welling made two layups to start the second half and Wahlin added another, as Clemson moved within the five points, 46-41, 16:25 to go.

The Tigers closed the first half with a 7-0 run.

Clemson could not get Wake’s lead below five points. It had several opportunities to cut into the lead at 46-41, but failed to capitalize, turning it over on two straight possessions. The Deacons eventually upped its lead back to double-digits.

After the Demon Deacons (14-12, 5-9 ACC) increased their lead back to 11 points, 57-46, Jestin Porter made a three-pointer and then stole a pass and raced the floor for a layup to cut the lead to six points, 57-51, with 10:01 to play.

The Tigers got the ball back after that and had an opportunity to cut the lead to four points or lower, again, but they turned the ball over and Wake turned Omaha Biliew’s steal into a Harris layup to increase the lead back to eight points.

Wake Forest increased its lead to 14 points, 70-56, with 5:01 to play.

HOT START

Wake opened Wednesday night’s game by making 13 of its first 16 field goal attempts (81 percent). That allowed the Demon Deacons to build a 16-point lead.

They continued to stay hot in the first 20 minutes. With 3:58 to play before halftime, they were still shooting 76 percent from the floor and held a 14-point lead, 39-25.

Wake Forest extended its lead to 20 points, 45-25, following a Colvin triple with 2:27 to go in the half. However, they cooled off a little in the final 2:27, as the Demon Deacons went scoreless the rest of the way, missing their last three attempts and turning the basketball over on an offensive foul.

The Tigers closed the half with a 7-0 run, as Wahlin hit a three-pointer and later dunked a shot home. Butta Johnson made two free throws with 34 seconds to play to close out the scoring in the first half, as Clemson trailed 45-32 at the break.

The Deacons connected on 18 of 27 first half shots (67 percent) and were 6 of 12 from behind the arc (50 percent). Colvin scored all of his 14 points in the first half and was 5-for-5 from the field in the first 20 minutes.

Wake finished the game shooting 55 percent overall (28-51) and was 10 of 22 (45 percent) from downtown. Clemson shot 46 percent (26 of 56) and 8 of 26 from three-point range (8-26).

A DIFFERENT STREAK

Clemson had its streak of winning 14 straight road games in ACC play snapped at Duke last Saturday. It was tied for the second longest streak in ACC history.

However, the Tigers now have a new streak, and it is not a good one. The loss to Wake Forest was Clemson’s second straight road loss in conference play.

The Tigers are now 15-3 in their last 18 road games inside the conference, second only to Duke’s 15-2 record.

80 IS NOT THE MAGIC NUMBER

Clemson has now lost three straight games at Wake Forest, dating back to the 2022-’23 season. In each of those three losses, the Tigers have given up at least 81 points. They lost 87-77 in 2023, 81-76 in 2024 and Wednesday’s 85-77 loss in Winston-Salem.

NOT TONIGHT

Clemson head coach Brad Brownell went into Wednesday’s game with a 16-4 record against Wake Forest in his 16-year career at Clemson. He is now 16-5.

However, he owns 23.5 percent of Clemson’s all-time wins against the Deacons. The Tigers are 68-102 all-time against Wake Forest.

UP NEXT

Clemson returns to Littlejohn Coliseum on Saturday where it will host Florida State in a crucial ACC matchup. Tipoff is set for noon.