By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — When No. 25 Carolina lowered the hammer on No. 19 Kansas early in the second half, the Jayhawks were helpless to stop the Tar Heels’ surge.
In a huge early signature victory for Coach Hubert Davis in his fifth season, the Tar Heels overpowered Kansas 87–74 Friday night at the Smith Center, fueled by a decisive 27–9 run right after halftime.
The halves couldn’t have been more contrasting. Carolina’s half-court offense sputtered against Kansas’ length and switching defense, and turnovers were crippling.
“We were turning the ball over — we had 10 turnovers, and I think they had 17 points off those turnovers,” Davis said later, wearing a quarter-zip after a locker-room celebration drenched his sport coat, button-down shirt and tie.
More on game
— Heels erase 23 years of frustration against Kansas in second half
— Shaky to sensational: Evans sparks UNC’s second-half surge
“It was almost like pick-sixes for us,” Davis said. He lamented that the team abandoned its “point-five mentality” — quick decisions to shoot, pass or drive. “That’s not what we were doing in the first half. A lot of standing, a lot of holding, a lot of dribbling.”
Kansas took advantage, closing the first half on a 15–2 run with four straight 3-pointers to lead 37–29.
But Davis’ halftime message was simple: respond.
“The only thing that you have control over is how you react and how you respond,” he recalls telling the team. “The things that we talked about at halftime, they immediately put into action.”
What followed was a transformation. Carolina (2–0) opened the second half with a 27–9 run — including four Henri Veesaar dunks, three Seth Trimble layups, two Kyan Evans 3-pointers and a Jarin Stevenson 3-pointer — to take a 58–46 lead.
UNC’s 58-second-half points are tied for the second-most points scored in any half against a Kansas team coached by Bill Self, who is in his 23rd season at the school. Kansas outscored UNC 17–2 in points off turnovers in the first half, but UNC had a 12–2 edge in the second half.
“In the second half, it was the exact opposite,” Davis said. “We always changed sides of the floor. We had great ball and player movement that allowed us to find lanes to attack the basket.”
Carolina shot 66.7% after halftime, including 41.7% from 3-point range, scoring an impressive 1.706 points per possession. Five players scored multiple buckets in the second half after only two — Caleb Wilson and Veesaar — did that in the first half.
Wilson (24 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steal, and a team-high +21 while drawing 10 fouls) was outstanding again, leading four Tar Heels who scored in double figures, with Veesaar (20 points, career-high-tying 2 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) and Evans (12 points, 3 assists, 2 steals) also playing well.
Davis praised Evans’ poise after Kansas made a concerted effort to get the ball out of his hands in the first half, when he was scoreless with no assists and two turnovers.
“He was on point. He was like, ‘This is our team.’ He got everybody in the right spots,” Davis said. “We don’t come away with the win without Kyan stepping up in the second half.”
Seth Trimble’s defense was just as vital, getting the primary assignment to shadow Kansas freshman sensation Darryn Peterson, who scored 22 points.
“He blanketed Darryn in a way that, to me, was terrific,” Self said. “Caleb was the best player probably in the game, but you can make a strong case for Henri and for Seth, too. From my vantage point, without watching the tape, because the way he guarded Darryn and playing on top of everything.”
Trimble (17 points, team-high 8 rebounds, 3 assists) made Peterson work for every shot and did a good job of battling through screens.
“We changed something up defensively,” Davis explained. “One through four, it was your guy. It’s nice having Seth, Jarin, Jonathan [Powell] — guys like that — just to try to make it hard for him. And I thought Seth did a really good job.”
It was another edition of the Wilson show. His inspiring hustle, leaping to the floor for loose balls and to the rim for dunks, electrified the crowd. The game was only a whiteout because Wilson pushed for it this week on social media.
“He connects with people,” Davis said. “His personality lights up a room. Him diving for loose balls and just his energy and effort. If you’re doing something that you love at a place that you love, with people that you love, how can [the crowd] not scream?”
The second-half 3-pointers, and how they were produced, reflected the improved rhythm.
“There’s good 3s and bad 3s,” Davis said. “First half was one-on-one, up against the shot clock, didn’t move the ball. The second half was much different.”
For Davis, the night was about more than snapping a 23-year drought against Kansas. He has painful memories of losing to Kansas, including in 1991 as a player.
“I wanted this new team, this new group, to have evidence of what it’s like to play in a game like this in the Smith Center, and to come up big,” he said. “I won’t remember the score, but I’ll remember them jumping around in the locker room. I’ll remember the smiles on their faces.”
Davis visited Roy Williams, the Kansas coach for that 1991 loss, at his Pinehurst home on Thursday. There, Williams offered scouting notes and encouragement. He wanted to visit Williams because the Hall of Fame coach recently had knee surgery and missed the exhibition game and Monday’s opener.
“Coach had a list of preparation for the game,” said Davis, who also greeted Williams after the game. “I told the guys, we always as coaches wish we could put on the uniform and run out of that tunnel. But guess what—you can. What are you gonna do with it?”
Veesaar answered that question emphatically in his latest game against Kansas, after only beating the Jayhawks once while he was at Arizona.
“He’s really gifted,” Davis said. “Didn’t turn the ball over in the second half. He can pass, he can shoot, he can finish around the basket. He just knows how to play.”
UNC had more turnovers (3) than points when Kansas jumped out to a 7–2 lead. A Veesaar 3-pointer and a Trimble drive tied it. A Flory Bidunga hook shot with 10:46 left in the first half pushed Kansas’ lead to seven before a Wilson jumper ended a 3½-minute UNC field-goal drought. Two Wilson free throws ended a 2:12 UNC scoring drought with 8:20 left to cut the deficit to three.
After two Trimble free throws, UNC trapped and forced a 10-second violation, and 3-pointers from Zayden High in the corner and Veesaar from the top of the key gave UNC its first lead at 25–22 at the 5:59 mark of the first half.
Kansas went 5½ minutes without a field goal before going on a 15–2 run with four consecutive 3-pointers — two from Bryson Tiller — to take a 10-point edge before leading 37–29 at halftime. Tiller scored 12 points in the first half, but fouled out with 9:22 left in the game.
After Kansas sliced the lead to six, a Wilson drive, a Trimble three-point play, a Jonathan Powell corner 3 and a Luka Bogavac 3 shoved the lead to 16, UNC’s biggest lead of the game, with 8:27 left.
“Obviously had to be something we ate or something I said at halftime, because we came out, and we weren’t any good, and they were great,” Self said. “But I think it got away from us the first five minutes, second half.”
Kansas (1–1), never got closer than 11 points after that as UNC’s starters played the last 7:49.
On a night steeped in history and emotion, Davis summed it up: “Against a storied program and unbelievable coaching team, to be able to come out on the other side—it was nice.”
NOTES — Carolina returns to the Smith Center at 7 p.m. Tuesday to face Radford (ACC Network). The Highlanders, who beat Western Illinois 80–65 in their Monday opener, topped West Virginia Wesleyan on Friday night 99–61. … The Tar Heels play their first five games at home for the first time since 1919, when the season started on Jan. 23. … For the first time in program history, there was a corporate logo on the court: one for Novo Nordisk, a pharmaceutical company. … Scott Smith, Dean Smith’s son, gave his father’s 1952 Kansas jacket to a Kansas fan during a first-half timeout. It will be displayed at the Kansas Hall of Fame. … Red Panda performed at halftime with UNC legend Joel Berry II tossing the bowls to her. … Carolina went up nine spots in KenPom to 21 after the victory. … UNC tied the all-time series at seven, snapped a five-game losing streak against Kansas, and won for the first time since a 67–56 win at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 27, 2002. … Carolina went up nine spots in KenPom to 21 after the victory. … It was Carolina’s against Kansas, topping the 11-point wins Dec. 11, 1959, and that 2002 win. … Carolina shot 51.5% from the floor (34 of 66) and improved to 37–1 when shooting 50% or better under Davis. It was the first time the Tar Heels shot over 50% against a ranked opponent since a Feb. 8, 2020, a 98–96 loss to No. 7 Duke. … It was the first time UNC won when trailing at halftime since beating UCLA in Madison Square Garden on Dec. 21, 2024. … Wilson is the first Tar Heel to score more than 20 points in his first two games. Cole Anthony scored 34 against Notre Dame and 20 at UNCW. … Wilson is the second UNC freshman with at least 24 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals in a game. Coby White did that against Virginia Tech on Jan. 21, 2019 (27 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals).
No. 25 UNC 87, No. 19 Kansas 74
UNC lineup combinations
| Score | Time | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Segment score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starters | 20:00 | Evans | Trimble | Stevenson | Wilson | Veesaar | 2–4 |
| 2–4 | 16:34 | Bogavac | 10–11 | ||||
| 12–15 | 13:36 | Dixon | 1–0 | ||||
| 13–15 | 13:36 | Stevenson | 0–3 | ||||
| 13–18 | 11:20 | Powell | Wilson | 2–2 | |||
| 15–20 | 10:32 | Stevenson | Wilson | High | 0–0 | ||
| 15–20 | 9:10 | Trimble | Powell | Veesaar | 0–0 | ||
| 15–20 | 8:46 | Evans | 4–0 | ||||
| 19–20 | 6:56 | Bogavac | High | 8–17 | |||
| 27–37 | 1:35 | Wilson | 2–2 | ||||
| 29–39 | Half | Stevenson | 13–7 | ||||
| 52–46 | 14:14 | Bogavac | Stevenson | Wilson | 0–0 | ||
| 52–46 | 13:58 | Wilson | Veesaar | 4–0 | |||
| 56–46 | 12:37 | Dixon | 10–10 | ||||
| 66–56 | 9:37 | Evans | Powell | Stevenson | 7–3 | ||
| 73–59 | 7:49 | Trimble | Stevenson | Wilson | 14–15 | ||
| 87–74 | 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 |
Photos courtesy of UNC Athletics
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