• Carolina (11-1) concludes the regular season, non-conference portion of its schedule by playing host to ECU (5-7) on Monday, December 22.
• Tip time is 8:05 p.m. The game will be televised on the ACC Network (Doug Sherman, Terrence Oglesby).
• The Tar Heels are 11-1 for the first time since going 11-1, 12-0 and 12-0 in consecutive seasons in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09.
• Carolina is 8-0 in Chapel Hill this season. The Tar Heels are averaging 84.8 points and have an average winning margin of 22.7 points at home this season. Carolina has won all eight games by 12 or more points.
• The ECU game is one of two remaining December home games. UNC begins ACC play against Florida State on the 30th.
• The ECU and FSU games are the ninth and 10th regular-season home games in November/December. This is the first season UNC will have played 10 home games before the New Year since 2009-10.
• Carolina plays only two games in Chapel Hill in January. This will be the first time since 1990-91 that UNC will play only twice at home in January.
• The Tar Heels and Pirates have two common opponents this season. Carolina beat St. Bonaventure and lost to Michigan State, while ECU lost to both in Ft. Myers, Fla.
• The St. Bonaventure-Michigan State games were the previous occasion this season when Carolina played twice in three days.
• Carolina defeated Ohio State, 71-70, on Saturday in Atlanta as the Tar Heels improved to 8-4 in the CBS Sports Classic and 14-3 all-time vs. the Buckeyes.
• Henri Veesaar dunked the go-ahead and game-winning basket with 7.2 seconds to play, and Caleb Wilson blocked a shot as time expired in Carolina’s win over Ohio State.
• Carolina’s prolific duo of Veesaar (17 points/10 rebounds) and Wilson (20/15) both recorded double-doubles for the fifth time this season, the most by any Tar Heel pair since Tyler Zeller and John Henson had nine-such games in 2011-12.
• Senior captain Seth Trimble scored 17 points, had three assists and tied his career-high with three 3FGs as he returned to action for the first time since the win over Kansas on November 7. The Ohio State game was 42 days since he broke a bone in his left forearm. Carolina went 8-1 in the nine games with Trimble out of the lineup.
• Carolina made eight three-pointers against Ohio State. The Tar Heels have made a three in 1,000 consecutive games.
UNC-ECU
• The Tar Heels are 4-0 all-time against the Pirates.
• UNC is 2-0 vs. ECU in Chapel Hill, including a 93-87 win on 12/15/2012 and a 108-64 win on 12/7/2014 in the most recent game between the teams.
• Brice Johnson had 19 points and 17 rebounds and J.P. Tokoto, brother of Seth Trimble, had 19 points and eight assists in the 2014 game.
• Carolina is 181-18 against in-state, non-ACC teams and has won 51 in a row.
DYNAMIC DUO
• Seven-foot junior center Henri Veesaar and 6-10 freshman forward Caleb Wilson are leading the Tar Heels in numerous statistical categories on both ends of the floor.
• Veesaar and Wilson have combined for 36.4 points and 20.0 rebounds per game. They have blocked 32 shots, have 53 assists, shot 59% from the floor and attempted 149 free throws.
• Wilson is averaging 19.5 points and 10.8 rebounds, while Veesaar is averaging 16.9 points and 9.2 rebounds.
• They combined to score more than half of Carolina’s points in each of the last two games. They combined for 37 of UNC’s 71 points (52.1%) against Ohio State and 46 of Carolina’s 77 points (59.7%) in the Tar Heels’ 77-58 win over ETSU.
• The last time two Tar Heels averaged at least 16 points and nine rebounds was 1959-60 (18.2 points and 11.2 rebounds by Lee Shaffer and 16.8 points and 11.3 rebounds by Doug Moe). Those are the only pairs of Tar Heels to average at least 16 and nine in a season.
• Wilson and Veesaar are the first Tar Heels to average 9.0 rebounds in the same season since John Henson (9.9) and Tyler Zeller (9.6) in 2011-12.
• Either Veesaar or Wilson has led the team in scoring and rebounding in 11 of the first 12 games.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
• Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson both have recorded double-doubles in points and rebounds five times (NC Central, St. Bonaventure, Kentucky, Georgetown and Ohio State).
• Wilson and Veesaar rank fourth & ninth, respectively, in the nation in double-doubles. No other team has two players in the top 10.
• Their five games with double-doubles by both players already equal the eighth-most in a season by a pair of Tar Heels.
John Henson & Tyler Zeller 2011-12 9
Rusty Clark & Larry Miller 1966-67 8
Pete Brennan & Lennie Rosenbluth 1955-56 7
Phil Ford & Mitch Kupchak 1975-76 6
Lee Dedmon & Charlie Scott 1969-70 6
Brennan & Rosenbluth 1956-57 6
Brennan & Joe Quigg 1956-57 6
Henri Veesaar & Caleb Wilson, 2025-26 5
Billy Cunningham & Ray Respess 1963-64 5
Raymond Felton & Sean May 2004-05 5
Quigg & Rosenbluth 1956-57 5
Kupchak & Tom LaGarde 1975-76 5
Clark & Miller 1967-68 5
Quigg & Rosenbluth 1955-56 5
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
• Caleb Wilson may be a freshman, but he is averaging 19.5 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks while shooting 54.8% from the floor.
• Wilson has scored 20 points in each of the last four games and has scored 20 or more eight times all season. Ian Jackson scored 20 or more in four straight as a freshman last season. The only Tar Heel freshman to score 20 or more in five consecutive games was Phil Ford in 1974-75.
• The last freshman with nine or more 20-point games in a season was Cole Anthony (nine times) in 2019-20.
• Wilson leads the Tar Heels in scoring, rebounding, offensive rebounds, steals and free throws (made and attempted) and is tied for the lead in blocks.
• Tyler Hansbrough (in 2005-06) is the only Tar Heel freshman to lead the team in both scoring and rebounding.
• Joseph Forte (16.7 ppg in 1999-2000), Rashad McCants (17.0 in 2002-03), Hansbrough (18.9 in 2005-06), Harrison Barnes (co-leader at 15.7 in 2010-11) and Cole Anthony (18.5 in 2019-20) are the freshmen who have led UNC in scoring.
• Hansbrough (7.8 rpg in 2005-06), Antawn Jamison (9.7 in 1995-96) and J.R. Reid (7.4 in 1986-87) are the freshmen who have led UNC in rebounding.
• Eighteen Tar Heels have averaged a double-double in points and rebounds in a season, but none of them were a freshman.
• Wilson leads the country with 36 dunks, six more than any other player (through Saturday).
• He has scored in double figures in all 12 games and has eight double-doubles. He has 12 or more rebounds in seven of his eight double-doubles, including a season-high 15 vs. Ohio State.
• The Atlanta native has the third-longest streak of double-figure scoring games by a UNC freshman to begin a season. Only Rashad McCants (20 in 2002-03) and Brandan Wright (18 in 2006-07) have more.
• Wilson leads the ACC and is fourth in the country in double-doubles (eight), and leads the ACC and is eighth in the nation in rebounds per game (10.8). He leads all freshmen nationally in both categories.
• He set a UNC freshman record with four consecutive double-doubles against Radford, NC Central, Navy and St. Bonaventure. Armando Bacot (twice), Antawn Jamison and Mike O’Koren were the only Tar Heel freshmen with three in a row.
• Wilson made five or more free throws in each of the first 11 games, becoming the fifth Tar Heel in the ACC era (1953-present) to make five or more in 11 consecutive games.
Consecutive Games by a Tar Heel with Five or
More Made Free Throws (in ACC era)
12 Bobby Lewis 1965-66
12 Pete Brennan 1957-58
12 Lennie Rosenbluth 1956-57
11 Caleb Wilson 2025-26
11 Tyler Hansbrough 2008-09*
11 Lennie Rosenbluth 1956-57
* accomplished over two seasons
• Against Navy, he became the first Tar Heel ever to score 23 points, grab 12 rebounds, make three blocks and four steals in any game.
• He netted 22 points vs. UCA and 24 vs. Kansas to become the first Tar Heel freshman ever to score more than 20 points in his first two games.
• Wilson compiled a game-high 24 points with seven rebounds, four assists and four steals in the win over Kansas. He became just the second Tar Heel freshman (with Coby White against Virginia Tech in 2018-19) and the fourth Tar Heel regardless of class (with Walter Davis and Mike O’Koren) to have at least 24 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals in a game.
• His 22 points in the opener vs. Central Arkansas were the fourth-most by a Tar Heel freshman in his debut since first-year players became eligible in 1972-73.
ESTONIA TO SPAIN TO TUCSON TO CHAPEL HILL
• Red-shirt junior center Henri Veesaar, a transfer from Arizona, leads the team in field goal shooting (63.9%) and blocks (16) and is second in scoring (16.9) and rebounding (9.2).
• The Estonia native scored the game-winner against Ohio State, had a game-high 17 points in the win at Kentucky and grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds in the win over Georgetown.
• Veesaar has six double-doubles in 12 games as a Tar Heel, the first six of his collegiate career. He played in 66 games over two seasons at Arizona.
• He is second in the ACC and ninth nationally in double-doubles, and second in the ACC and 20th in the country in field goal shooting.
• Veesaar has set numerous career bests as a Tar Heel, including points (26 vs. ETSU), rebounds (15 vs. Georgetown), blocks (five vs. NC Central) and assists (five vs. Ohio State).
• He has established career highs in rebounds four times – 10 vs. Central Arkansas, 11 vs. NC Central, 13 vs. St. Bonaventure and 15 vs. Georgetown.
• He has scored 20 or more points three times – 26 vs. ETSU, 24 vs. the Bonnies and 20 points vs. Kansas. He had one 20-point game in his first two seasons at Arizona.
• Veesaar leads UNC in plus/minus at plus 194.
BY THE NUMBERS
• The Tar Heels are 10th in the country in field goal percentage defense, holding their opponents to a combined 37.2% from the floor. They’ve held five opponents below 35% and eight under 40%, including Georgetown, USC Upstate, ETSU and Ohio State in the last four games.
• This is the first stretch in which Carolina has held four opponents in a row below 40% from the floor since 2023-24, when UNC’s defense did that in five straight games (four of which were ACC opponents).
• The opponents’ field goal percentage of .372 would be the lowest allowed by Carolina since 1956-57, when the opponents shot 35.2%.
• The last time UNC held the opponents below 40% over a season was 2014-15, when the opponents shot 39.8%.
• UNC is 8-0 this season and 53-4 under head coach Hubert Davis when holding opponents under 40% from the floor.
• The Tar Heel defense is second in the country in two-point field goal percentage defense (41.3%) and fifth in effective field goal percentage (42.3%).
• The opponents have shot under 40% from the floor in 14 of 24 halves.
• The Tar Heels have held each of their first 12 opponents to fewer than 75 points, something they did just one other time in the post-Dean Smith era. The 1997-98 Tar Heels didn’t allow 75 or more points in the first 12 games.
• The last time UNC held its first 13 opponents under 75 points was 1985-86.
• Carolina is attempting 25.2 three-pointers per game, which would break the previous school record for attempts per game, which was 23.9 in 2018-19, when the Tar Heel lineup included Cameron Johnson, Coby White, Kenny Williams and Luke Maye.
• The Tar Heels are making 8.2 threes per game, while allowing 6.5. UNC is in on track to make more 3FG than its opponents for the fifth consecutive year. From 2006-07 to 2019-20, Carolina made more 3FG one time (in 2012-13).
• UNC is making 1.67 more threes per game than its opponents. That is the third-most by any Tar Heel team (2.31 more per game in 1986-87 and 1.86 more in 2002-03).
• The Tar Heels have won 16 straight games when they made more three-pointers than their opponent.
• Carolina has shot 50% or higher from the floor in six of the first 12 games. The Tar Heels are 41-1 under Davis when they make at least 50% from the floor.
• Michigan State is the only team this season that has outrebounded Carolina. The Tar Heels are 99-24 under Davis when they outrebound their opponents.
• Carolina has outscored its opponents by 107 points in the second half, an average margin of 8.9 points over the final 20 minutes.
• The Tar Heels have outscored their opponents in the second half in 10 of their 11 wins this season, including by 29 in the win over NC Central and 21 vs. Kansas. Michigan State outscored UNC by 11 in the second half in the only loss of the season.
• UNC is plus 10 or better in the second half in six of the 12 games.
EARLY ACCOLADES
• Freshman forward Caleb Wilson was one of five players named National Player of the Week by the USBWA for the week of November 3-9.
• Wilson also was both the Co-ACC Player and Rookie of the Week following his performances in the wins over Central Arkansas and Kansas.
• Wilson is the first Tar Heel freshman to also win ACC Player-of-the-Week honors since Cole Anthony in 2019-20.
• Wilson became the eighth Tar Heel to win ACC Player-of-the-Week honors as a freshman, joining Jerry Stackhouse (1994), Antawn Jamison (1996), Rashad McCants (2003), Tyler Hansbrough (2006), Brandan Wright (2007), Coby White (2019) and Anthony.
PROBABLE STARTERS VS. ECU
0 – Kyan Evans, Junior, Guard
7 – Seth Trimble, Senior, Guard
44 – Luka Bogavac, Junior, Guard
8 – Caleb Wilson, Freshman, Forward
13 – Henri Veesaar, R-Junior, Center
• Seth Trimble started 18 of UNC’s 37 games last season. Even with Trimble’s return, this is the first season in which UNC did not return a player who started at least half the games in the previous season since 2005-06, when the Tar Heels replaced all five starters from a national championship team.
• Carolina’s probable starters against ECU (the starters in the previous game vs. Ohio State) have made a combined 111 college starts. That includes 48 by Kyan Evans, 24 by Trimble, 17 by Henri Veesaar, 12 by freshman Caleb Wilson and 10 by Luka Bogavac.
• UNC’s starting lineup against Ohio State was the third different one this season.
PRESEASON ALL-ACC, POLL
• The Tar Heels were picked to finish third in the 18-team Atlantic Coast Conference by the media at the ACC’s preseason media day in Charlotte.
• Caleb Wilson was voted to the league’s preseason All-ACC second team and the All-Freshman team.
• UNC was picked No. 25 in the country in the Associated Press preseason poll.
• This is the 69th different season in the 78-year history of the AP poll the Tar Heels have been ranked at any point in the AP poll.
PRESEASON RECOGNITION
• The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame included three Tar Heels on the preseason watch lists for its five positional awards.
• Seth Trimble is a candidate for the Jerry West Shooting Guard Award list, Caleb Wilson for the Karl Malone Power Forward Award and Henri Veesaar for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center Award.
• Tar Heels have won four Hall of Fame positional awards – three Bob Cousy Point Guard Awards (Raymond Felton in 2005, Ty Lawson in 2009 and Kendall Marshall in 2012) and one Jerry West Award (RJ Davis in 2024).
• Wilson is also on the preseason watch lists for the Naismith and Oscar Robertson (USBWA) Trophies.
HUBERT DAVIS: YEAR FIVE
• The 2025-26 season is Hubert Davis’ fifth as head coach at the University of North Carolina and his 14th on the coaching staff at his alma mater. He is the only Tar Heel head coach to win 20 or more games in each of his first four seasons.
• Davis, 55 (turns 56 on May 17, 2026), has won National and ACC Coach-of-the-Year honors, led the Tar Heels to a national title game appearance, 112 wins, a 56-24 record and 24 road wins in ACC regular-season play, a regular-season ACC title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Only one other team has won more ACC games in the last four years.
• Two of his players – RJ Davis and Armando Bacot – rank second and third, respectively, in all-time UNC scoring, set numerous records and earned national and All-ACC awards.
• Carolina won its 100th game under Davis in the 2025 ACC Tournament, making him the third-fastest coach in UNC history and the sixth-fastest in ACC history to win 100 games. Only Duke’s Vic Bubas, UNC’s Roy Williams and Frank McGuire, Wake Forest’s Skip Prosser and Maryland’s Lefty Driesell reached 100 wins in fewer games than Davis (who won his 100th in 143 games).
• Over the previous four seasons, UNC had the 10th-most wins among teams in the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC.
• Under Davis, Carolina is 8-3 in NCAA Tournament play, including wins against three national championship-winning coaches (Baylor’s Scott Drew, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo) and three other coaches who have taken teams to the Final Four (Marquette’s Shaka Smart, UCLA’s Mick Cronin and San Diego State’s Brian Dutcher).
• Davis has led the Tar Heels to 16 wins over nationally-ranked opponents, including eight over top-10 teams (No. 4 Duke, No. 4 Baylor and No. 9 Duke in 2022; No. 6 Virginia in 2023; and No. 10 Tennessee, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 7 Duke and No. 9 Duke in 2024).
2025-26 SCHEDULE NOTES
• In ACC play, the Tar Heels play host to Florida State (Dec. 30), Wake Forest (Jan. 10), Notre Dame (Jan. 21), Syracuse (Feb. 2), Duke (Feb. 7), Pitt (Feb. 14), Louisville (Feb. 23), Virginia Tech (Feb. 28) and Clemson (March 3).
• Carolina plays at SMU (Jan. 3), Stanford (Jan.14), Cal (Jan. 17), Virginia (Jan. 24), Georgia Tech (Jan. 31), Miami (Feb. 10), NC State (Feb. 17), Syracuse (Feb. 21) and Duke (March 7).
• UNC is not scheduled to play Boston College.
• This will mark the first season since 1919 the Tar Heels are not playing NC State in Chapel Hill.
• The Tar Heels played Kansas in Chapel Hill for the first time ever. Last year, the Jayhawks defeated UNC in Lawrence. The November 7 game was just the third on-campus matchup in 14 games between the Tar Heels and KU.
• The Tar Heels are making their first trips as ACC opponents to SMU, Stanford and Cal. UNC is 1-0 all-time against the Mustangs in Dallas (12/30/1986), 2-0 vs. the Cardinal in Maples Pavilion (12/3/1983 and 11/20/2017) and 1-0 vs. the Bears in Haas Pavilion (12/22/1972, when its was Harmon Gym).
NEARING 500 WINS IN THE SMITH CENTER
• This is the 41st season the Tar Heels are playing their home games in the Dean E. Smith Center.
• Carolina is three wins shy of 500 with an overall record (not counting preseason or exhibition games) of 497-90.
• The Tar Heels are 240-19 in the Smith Center against non-conference opponents.
• The Tar Heels have played 46.2% of their home games all-time in the Smith Center (587 of 1,271).
• USC Upstate was the 154th different opponent to play a regular-season or NIT game in the Smith Center against the Tar Heels.
• Carolina has won 497 games in the Smith Center, 210 in Woollen Gym (1939-65), 170 in Carmichael Auditorium (1965-86, 2010), 130 in the Indoor Athletic Court (1924-38) and 63 in Bynum Gym (1911-23).
TAR HEELS IN THE NBA
• Eleven former Tar Heels were on NBA Opening Day rosters, including Cole Anthony (Milwaukee), Harrison Barnes (San Antonio), Tony Bradley (Indiana), Harrison Ingram (San Antonio), Cameron Johnson (Denver), Walker Kessler (Utah), Caleb Love (Portland), Pete Nance (Milwaukee), rookie Drake Powell (Brooklyn), Day’Ron Sharpe (Brooklyn) and Coby White (Chicago).
