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There have been times this season when North Carolina struggled mightily with its effectiveness while junior center Henri Veesaar was off the court or off his game. For most games, a lead evaporated or the Tar Heels fell behind when that happened. That all changed on Saturday at Virginia when No. 16 UNC overcame Veesaar’s worst game of the season — season-lows of seven points, three field goals and one rebound — to pull off an impressive 85–80 win over the now No. 17 Cavaliers.
Starting with a season-opening trip across the Atlantic Ocean to Ireland, North Carolina will launch into year two of the Bill Belichick era with a schedule built for spotlight high-stakes matchups. The schedule that the ACC announced Monday includes two September open dates for the Tar Heels after the opener in Dublin, Ireland, against TCU on Aug. 29.
North Carolina jumped six spots to No. 16 in the AP Top 25 men’s poll after a 2–0 week that included a road upset of Virginia. It’s the first time UNC has been ranked in every poll this late in the season since making every poll in the 2024–25 season, when the Tar Heels were in the top 10 for 15 weeks. The Tar Heels’ highest rank this season was No. 12 for two polls in December.
Derek Dixon’s emergence over the last three games has given North Carolina a steadying presence in the backcourt and another source of confidence as the Tar Heels move deeper into ACC play. The freshman leads the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio in league games (4.2) and has started each of the last three games, delivering multiple three-pointers and double-figure scoring each time. It’s a stretch that has coincided with his most consistent minutes of the season.
Coby White delivered three standout performances during a 3–0 week for the surging Chicago Bulls, just as trade chatter intensified ahead of the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline. Meanwhile, Cormac Ryan, RJ Davis and Harrison Ingram continue to light up the G League, while Cole Anthony had his best game in three months and Caleb Love turned in another impressive game.
The overtime heartbreak ended on a chilly afternoon before a small crowd at Carmichael Arena. After North Carolina dropped two ACC home games earlier this season in overtime, it looked ominous when Syracuse erased an eight-point UNC lead in the final 3½ minutes of regulation. This time, the Tar Heels owned overtime.
Ian Jackson and Elliot Cadeau helped their teams continue their rolls while Tyler Nickel and Jalen Washington’s No. 11 Vanderbilt team ended a three-game skid. Meanwhile, Ven-Allen Lubin notched a double-double and Puff Johnson made his Ohio State debut.
North Carolina’s fourth Quad 1 victory jumped the Tar Heels’ NET rankings to 23, stabilizing the Tar Heels’ NCAA tournament résumé that wasn’t looking good after the two losses in the Bay Area dropped them to 30.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Jarin Stevenson’s teammates doused him with Gatorade in the dressing room with the same aggressiveness he showed during the best half of his North Carolina career. He earned every drop.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — It was the sort of victory that can flip the trajectory of a season, and it came because Carolina came out swinging in the second half.
Here’s a look at the No. 22 North Carolina’s game Saturday at No. 14 Virginia.
On a night when the shots just were rarely falling for North Carolina, the Tar Heels’ rebounding and defense proved to be the difference. The Tar Heels scored 15 second-chance points and outrebounded Georgia Tech by 21, finding just enough offense to pull out a 54–46 victory on Thursday at the McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta.
CHAPEL HILL — For four games, North Carolina’s defense had slipped from its identity to anxiety-inducing, a talking point that lingered through three losses and uneven performances.
CHAPEL HILL — Caleb Wilson knows that his Carolina career will be over after his only experience with March Madness, and he didn’t like how the last couple of weeks went. “For me, honestly, I just know that my time here is limited, and I want to make the most of it,” he said. “So, every game matters to me.”
CHAPEL HILL — The Carolina defense that had been missing for the last two weeks showed up on Tuesday, while the Tar Heels turned 3-pointers from a debilitating opponent weapon into a potent offensive force.
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