By R.L. Bynum

CHAPEL HILL — Through two exhibitions, there is quite a bit of clarity on a couple of positives — Caleb Wilson is going to be tough for opponents to stop, and the No. 25 Tar Heels’ core rotation will be fun to watch.

Carolina recovered from a choppy first-half effort against a much less-talented Division II team. Maybe it was a letdown after a competitive game against No. 8 BYU, the smaller-than-normal Smith Center or the liberal use of the bench before halftime.

But the Heels poured it on after leading by 13 at halftime and rolled to a 95–53 victory over Winston-Salem State on Wednesday night. Still, it’s going to take a significantly better first half when No. 19 Kansas comes to Chapel Hill at the end of next week.

Coach Hubert Davis, wearing a tie on the sideline for the first time in five years, said that his team’s first-half effort clearly was lacking.

“I don’t know if we were nervous or it’s the first time this group has been at home and played on our home floor, but just the lack of energy, effort, attention to detail wasn’t there in the first half,” said Davis, adding that the second half was “the exact opposite … specifically on the defensive end, finishing possessions with the rebound, and that allowed us to get out in transition.”

Wilson finished with another double-double — 23 points and 10 rebounds — one of four Tar Heels in double figures. Jarin Stevenson, again in the starting lineup, scored 11 points with two 3-pointers, and Henri Veesaar and Seth Trimble each added 10.

UNC again played without Luca Bogavac. The starting five — Wilson, Veesaar, Trimble, Stevenson and Kyan Evans — played together for just over eight minutes and outscored the Rams 15–6. That unit, with Johnathan Powell instead of Stevenson, went on a 12–0 second-half run.

Considering how little time they’ve had together, Wilson and Veesaar already show excellent chemistry in their high-low action.

“They really have a chemistry where it feels like they have played together a couple of years,” Davis said. “They just feed off of each other. When I separate them in practice, they look like they’re about to cry because they want to be on the same team again.”

Wilson had the ball tapped away on a drive in the first half, but came back seconds later to cock the ball back and slam it down, ending a string of seven consecutive missed Carolina shots.

Asked for his reaction to the dunk, Davis smiled and said that he “wanted him to get back on defense. It was a beautiful finish … not many people can do that.”

Stevenson had a significantly easier defensive assignment, going from guarding freshman phenom A.J. Dybantsa (and holding him under 20 points) in the BYU game to guarding Rams players who were several inches shorter.

“His ability with his size, he really can guard one through five,” Davis said. “Disciplined defensively, and he can also rebound the basketball. I was really happy with him being able to hit some shots in the second half. We’ve got to get him more shots.”

Crisp passing, particularly in the second half, led to an entertaining and productive half-court game, and the Tar Heels also got out in transition better.

“I’m a dominant-points-in-the-paint type of guy,” Davis said. “That’s where you generate those open threes. I think in the first half, we missed eight layups around the basket. Moving forward, that’s just not going to work.”

Carolina hit only 4 of 12 3-point attempts in the first half but made 9 of 12 in the second half, led by Jaydon Young, who had all nine of his points and three 3-pointers after halftime. Stevenson was 2 of 2 outside the arc in the second half after missing his only first-half attempt.

Davis liked the rhythm of those second-half threes.

“They were generated off of a drive, throwing the ball in the post, an offensive rebound, in transition,” Davis said. “When the ball moves, and you have ball movement, player movement, I think you usually shoot a high percentage.”

UNC jumped out 10–0 as Winston-Salem State needed nearly six minutes to score. A Wilson transition layup and free throw made it 15–2 almost seven minutes into the game. Twice, the Rams trimmed the lead to five, but UNC pushed it to 15 on a Wilson layup to cap a 15–5 run and led 39–26 at halftime.

At halftime, Wilson had 17 points and Veesaar had 7 on 10-of-13 shooting, with the rest of the team 4-of-19.

Trimble scored seven straight points during a 21–4 run. Stevenson capped the run with two 3-pointers to give UNC a 60–32 lead with 13:42 left. A Jaydon Young 3-pointer with 10:43 left shoved the lead to 30.

Davis wouldn’t say whether the tie will be a permanent fixture this season.

“I went upstairs and found this shirt, saw my ties, and said, ‘Man, I haven’t worn a tie in five years. Let me see if I can tie it,’ ” Davis said. ‘And then if I could tie it, then let’s wear it. I might wear it on Monday night.”

NOTES — UNC opens the season at 7 p.m. Monday against Central Arkansas (ACC Network) in the first of five consecutive home games before facing No. 19 Kansas on Friday, Nov. 7 (ESPN). … Carolina is 3–0 in exhibition games against Winston-Salem State, also winning 113–53 before the 2004–05 national-championship season and 96–61 before the 2019–20 season. … Because the crowd was only 15,332, fans in the upper arena were allowed to move to the lower arena.

UNC lineup combinations

Score	Time	1	2	3	4	5	Segment score
Starters	20:00	Evans	Trimble	Stevenson	Wilson	Veesaar	7–0
7–0	15:10	Dixon		Powell			5–2
12–2	13:42					Brown	2–0
14–2	13:13		Young				1–0
15–2	13:13				Stevenson		4–6
19–8	10:07	Evans	Dixon	Young		Veesaar	0–2
19–10	8:27		Trimble	Powell	Wilson		3–4
22–14	6:37	Dixon		Stevenson			5–5
27–19	4:57				High		0–0
27–19	3:51	Evans					3–3
30–22	2:18			Powell	Wilson	High	1–1
31–23	1:25					Veesaar	8–1
39–24	23.2					High	0–2
39–26	Half			Stevenson		Veesaar	8–6
47–32	16:46			Powell	Stevenson		13–0
60–32	13:38	Dixon	Powell	Stevenson	Wilson	High	3–2
63–34	12:05			Young			4–5
67–39	9:56					Brown	10–4
77–43	6:56	Denis			High		5–1
82–44	5:36	Dixon	Denis	Powell			9–3
91–47	2:27	Denis	Davis	Holbrook	Smith	Matlekovic	4–6
95–53	Final

Date	Month/day	Time	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
24	Friday	L, 78–76	vs. No. 10 BYU in SLC	Exhib.
29	Wednesday	W, 95–53	vs. Winston-Salem St.	Exhib.
	November
3	Monday	W, 94–54	vs. Central Arkansas	1–0
7	Friday	W, 87–74	vs. No. 17 Kansas	2–0
11	Tuesday	W, 89–74	vs. Radford	3–0
14	Friday	W, 97–53	vs. N.C. Central	4–0
18	Tuesday	W, 73–61	vs. Navy	5–0
			Fort Myers Tip-Off
25	Tuesday	W, 85–70	vs. St. Bonaventure	6–0
27	Thursday	L, 74–58	vs. No. 9 Michigan State	6–1
	December		ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge
2	Tuesday	W, 67–64	at Kentucky	7–1
			—————————
7	Sunday	W, 81–61	vs. Georgetown	8–1
13	Saturday	W, 80–62	vs. USC Upstate	9–1
16	Tuesday	W, 77–58	vs. East Tennessee State	10–1
			CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta
20	Saturday	3 p.m.	vs. Ohio State	CBS
			—————————
22	Monday	8 p.m.	vs. East Carolina	ACCN
30	Tuesday	7 p.m.	vs. Florida State	ESPN2
	January
3	Saturday	2:15	at SMU	The CW
10	Saturday	6 p.m.	vs. Wake Forest	ACCN
14	Wednesday	9 p.m.	at Stanford	ACCN
17	Saturday	4 p.m.	at California	ACCN
21	Wednesday	7 p.m.	vs. Notre Dame	ESPN2
24	Saturday	2 or 2:30	at No. 23 Virginia	ESPN or ESPNU
31	Saturday	2 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	ACCN
	February
2	Monday	7 p.m.	vs. Syracuse	ESPN
7	Saturday	6:30	vs. No. 3 Duke	ESPN
10	Tuesday	7 p.m.	at Miami	ESPN or ESPN2
14	Saturday	2 p.m.	vs. Pittsburgh	ESPN
17	Tuesday	7 p.m.	at N.C. State	ESPN or ESPN2
21	Saturday	1 p.m.	at Syracuse	ABC
23	Monday	7 p.m.	vs. No. 11 Louisville	ESPN
28	Saturday	6:30 or 8:30	vs. Virginia Tech	ESPN or ESPN2
	March
3	Tuesday	7 p.m.	vs. Clemson	ESPN or ESPN2
7	Saturday	6:30	at No. 3 Duke	ESPN
10–14	Tues.-Sat.	ACC tournament	Spectrum Center, Charlotte