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As Hubert Davis prepares his team for Saturday’s rematch at Syracuse, the challenge isn’t just about X’s and O’s but also figuring out what he calls a puzzle.
With Caleb Wilson out and Henri Veesaar questionable, No. 16 Carolina (20–6, 8–5) faces the possibility of playing without both for the third consecutive game.
Here’s a look at Saturday afternoon’s Quad 1 game for No. 16 North Carolina at Syracuse.
BLACKSBURG, Va. — On “Stranger Things” night at Cassell Coliseum, it was as if North Carolina’s offense got yanked into “The Upside Down” during the first half. With more energy, better ball movement and hot shooting, the No. 22 Tar Heels fought their way back. After a seven-point halftime deficit and UNC’s worst shooting half of the season, the Tar Heels battled for a thrilling 66–63 overtime victory Thursday over Virginia Tech and a huge Quad 1 win.
CHAPEL HILL — Hot starts are becoming routine for Carolina baseball, so it’s no surprise that Coach Scott Forbes’ No. 10 Tar Heels are at it again.
RALEIGH — The problem entering the game was that No. 16 North Carolina had to play without the talented front-court duo of Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar. Clearly, their absence played a big part in N.C. State is blowing out the Tar Heels 82–58 on Tuesday night at the Lenovo Center. A bigger issue that will remain when UNC’s two leading scorers return is the lack of consistent play from the Tar Heels’ guards.
North Carolina and N.C. State nearly swapped NET rankings after the Wolfpack’s 82–58 pounding of the Tar Heels on Tuesday night. The short-handed No. 16 Tar Heels (20–6, 8–5) fell from 25 to 28 in the NET while the Wolfpack (19–9, 10–4) moved from 29 to 25, equaling their season-high and moving to 4–6 in Quad 1 games.
RALEIGH — With North Carolina playing without its two leading scorers, both big men, for only the third time since joining the ACC, good perimeter shooting was crucial. Those hopes repeatedly bounced off the rim as the No. 16 Tar Heels struggled to get anything going offensively in N.C. State’s 82–58 victory Tuesday before a raucous, often profane, Lenovo Center crowd.
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina added a massive commitment to its backcourt Tuesday as Dylan Mingo, one of the nation’s top combo guards in the Class of 2026, announced on ESPN’s “First Take” that he’ll be a Tar Heel. The 6–5, 185-pound five-star star from Long Island Lutheran High School in Farmingdale, N.Y., instantly becomes one of the most important building blocks for Carolina.
Here’s a look at No. 16 North Carolina’s game Tuesday at N.C. State, the only regular-season matchup between the rivals.
North Carolina fell five spots to No. 16 in the AP Top 25 men’s poll after splitting a pair of games last week.
Henri Veesaar’s status for Tuesday’s game at N.C. State remains the biggest question for North Carolina. UNC coach Hubert Davis said Monday morning at the weekly ACC Zoom coaches press conference that Veesaar continues to improve after missing Saturday’s win over Pittsburgh, but the final determination won’t come until later, and he’ll be evaluated at Monday’s practice.
RJ Davis continued his outstanding season in the G League with an appearance Sunday in the league’s Up Next event in Los Angeles as part of NBA All-Star Weekend, leading his team to the championship of the four-team tournament.
DURHAM — The number was astounding, and Coach Courtney Banghart carefully danced around it so that she didn’t draw a fine. But she clearly was unhappy with it. The number was zero. That’s how many times that No. 11 North Carolina got to the free throw line in its 72–68 loss Sunday at Cameron Indoor Stadium to Duke, only the third time this century that an ACC team never got to the line.
Elliot Cadeau’s floor leadership has No. 2 Michigan poised to be the No. 1 team in the country when the new AP Top 25 poll comes out on Monday, days after former UNC teammate Jalen Washington had the best game of his career. Meanwhile, Ven-Allen Lubin has stayed consistent despite two straight N.C. State losses leading into Tuesday’s matchup with UNC, and Cade Tyson had another big game in a loss.
North Carolina avoided what would have been a damaging Quad 3 loss by knocking off Pittsburgh at home on Saturday, 79–65, to keep its NET ranking at 25 ahead of three consecutive Quad 1 games it must traverse without Caleb Wilson.
