Tar Heels Return Home To Host PItt – University of North Carolina Athletics

GAME 25: PITT
• Carolina hosts Pitt on Saturday at 2 p.m.
• Kevin Brown and Randolph Childress will call the action on ESPN.
• The Tar Heels are 19-5, 7-4 in the ACC after a 75-66 loss at Miami on February 10.
• Carolina is without freshman standout Caleb Wilson, who suffered a broken bone in his left hand at Miami. There is no timetable established for Wilson’s return.
• Saturday’s game vs. Pitt will feature the sixth different starting lineup this season. Wilson and Henri Veesaar both started the first 24 games.
• Pitt is 9-16, 2-10 in the ACC. The Panthers have dropped four straight, including 70-54 at home to Duke on Tuesday.
• The Tar Heels are ranked a season-high 11th in the Associated Press poll.
• Carolina has four wins over Top-25 teams this season (Kansas, at Kentucky, at Virginia and Duke) and five Quad 1 wins.
• Head coach Hubert Davis has led the Tar Heels to 18 wins over nationally-ranked opponents, including nine 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 and No. 4 Duke in 2026).
• The Tar Heels have 19 wins. One more win will mark UNC’s 66th 20-win season. The Tar Heels have won 20 or more games 55 times in 72 previous seasons as a member of the ACC.
• Hubert Davis is the only Carolina head coach to win 20 or more games in each of his first four seasons.

LAST TIME OUT
• Miami raced to an 8-2 lead and never trailed in ending the Tar Heels’ win streak at five with a 75-66 win in Coral Gables, which also snapped UNC’s three-game win streak over the Hurricanes.
• Miami led by as many as 10 early in the first half. The Tar Heels pulled even at 37 with 3:14 to play in the first half and again at 51-all with just under 13 minutes to play but could never gain the lead.
• Jarin Stevenson led Carolina in scoring for the first time with 13 points, the fewest by the Tar Heels’ top scorer all season.
• Miami scored 46 paint points, which equaled the most against UNC this season (also by Michigan State).
• The Tar Heels shot 55.2% from the floor and scored 40 points in the first half, but produced season lows in points (26) and field goal shooting (26.5%) in the second half.
• Carolina’s offensive efficiency was a season-low 95.2 (points per 100 possessions).

UNC-PITT
• Carolina is 18-9 all-time against the Panthers, including 11-8 in ACC play.
• The Tar Heels are 8-3 in Chapel Hill with all but one of the wins coming in the Smith Center.
• The teams split two games last season with both winning on their respective home courts. The Panthers, won 73-65 at Pitt, while Carolina won 67-66 in Chapel Hill.
• Seth Trimble had 10 points and 12 rebounds in the road loss and 15 points, seven boards two games later in the one-point win.
• The Tar Heels’ win last season at home snapped a three-game losing streak to the Panthers in the Smith Center. Pitt had defeated Carolina on its home court in 2020, 2022 and 2023, the second-longest win streak by an opponent in the Smith Center.

CAROLINA & THE ACC
• This is the 73rd season of competition in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tar Heels were a charter member of the league, which began play in the 1953-54 season.
• Carolina is the only school with 50 or more combined ACC men’s basketball championships (33 regular season and 18 Tournament). Duke is second with 44 (21 regular season and 23 Tournament) and NC State is next with 18 (seven regular season and 11 Tournament).
• Hubert Davis is 63-28 in regular-season ACC games. Only one other team has more ACC wins in the last five seasons.
• Davis led the Tar Heels to ACC records of 15-5, 11-9, 17-3 and 13-7 in the previous four seasons. The 2023-24 team won the regular-season title, Carolina’s 33rd.
• The Syracuse game on February 2 was Carolina’s 1,100th regular-season ACC game.
• Carolina is 778-324 (.706) in regular-season ACC games. The 778 wins are the most in ACC history. Duke is second with 748.

CALEB & HENRI
• The Naismith Hall of Fame named Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson to the Midseason Top 10 lists for their respective positional awards (Veesaar for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center Award and Wilson for the Karl Malone Power Forward Award).
• Wilson is averaging 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds, while Veesaar is averaging 16.4 points and 9.0 rebounds.
• The last pair of Tar Heels to average 16 points and nine rebounds in a season was Doug Moe and Lee Shaffer in 1959-60.
• Combined, they have 24 double-doubles and scored 20 or more points 23 times.
• Per BartTorvik.com, Wilson leads the country in dunks with 66, while Veesaar is 13th with 45.

WILSON: MIDSEASON AWARDS CANDIDATE
• Caleb Wilson is on the midseason watch lists for numerous awards, including the John R. Wooden National Player of the Year, Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year, Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year, USBWA’s Oscar Robertson Trophy and Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Year.
• The 6-10 Atlanta native has made an immediate impact on the Tar Heel record book, becoming the first freshman to score 20 or more points in six consecutive games (from Georgetown through Florida State). The previous record was five by College Basketball Hall of Famer Phil Ford in 1974-75.
• Wilson had another five-game streak of 20-point games ended in the loss at Miami. He is the only UNC freshman with two streaks of five or more 20-point games.
• Wilson has scored 20 or more points 17 times, including a season-high 26 at Stanford. His 17 20-point games have already surpassed Tyler Hansbrough’s previous UNC single-season rookie record. Hansbrough scored 20 or more 14 times in earning first-team All-America and first-team All-ACC honors in 2005-06.
• Wilson, Hansbrough, Rashad McCants and Ford are the only UNC freshmen with 10 or more 20-point games.

20-Point Games by a UNC Freshman
Caleb Wilson, 2025-26 17
Tyler Hansbrough, 2005-06 14
Rashad McCants, 2002-03 12
Phil Ford, 1974-75 10

• Wilson leads the Tar Heels in scoring, rebounding, offensive rebounds, steals, free throws (made and attempted) and blocks and is second in assists and field goal percentage.
• His scoring average of 19.8 points per game is on pace to set the UNC freshman record.

SINGLE-SEASON SCORING, UNC FRESHMAN
19.8 Caleb Wilson, 2025-26
18.9 Tyler Hansbrough, 2005-06
18.5 Cole Anthony, 2019-20
17.0 Rashad McCants, 2002-03
16.7 Joseph Forte, 1999-2000

• Hansbrough (in 2005-06) is the only Tar Heel freshman to lead the team in both scoring and rebounding. He also led the team as a freshman in steals. No Tar Heel freshman has ever led the team in scoring, rebounding, blocks and steals.
• Joseph Forte (16.7 ppg in 1999-2000), 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) have led UNC in scoring as freshman.
• Hansbrough (7.8 rpg in 2005-06), Antawn Jamison (9.7 in 1995-96) and J.R. Reid (7.4 in 1986-87) have led UNC in rebounding as a freshman.
• Wilson is averaging 9.4 rebounds, second-most by a UNC freshman behind only Jamison.

SINGLE-SEASON REBOUNDING, UNC FRESHMAN
9.7 Antawn Jamison, 1995-96
9.4 Caleb Wilson, 2025-26
8.3 Armando Bacot, 2019-20
7.8 Tyler Hansbrough, 2005-06
7.8 Sam Perkins, 1980-81

• He has scored in double figures in the first 24 games and has 11 double-doubles, the second-most by a Carolina freshman. He had 12 or more rebounds in 10 of his 11 double-doubles, including a season-high 16 vs. Florida State.

Double-Doubles by a UNC Freshman
(all points and rebounds)
13 Antawn Jamison, 1995-96
11 Caleb Wilson, 2025-26
11 Armando Bacot, 2019-20
  9 J.R. Reid, 1986-87
  9 Sam Perkins, 1980-81

• Wilson is third in the ACC in double-doubles, fourth in scoring and fifth in field goal percentage and double-doubles.
• Wilson and Duke’s Cameron Boozer are the only players in the top five in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and double-doubles.
• In Carolina’s 79-66 win over Florida State, Wilson became the sixth Tar Heel ever with at least 20 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a game, joining an illustrious list of Tar Heels that includes Billy Cunningham, Mitch Kupchak, James Worthy, Forte and Luke Maye.
• Against the Seminoles, Wilson became the third Tar Heel ever to lead UNC outright in a game in points, rebounds, assists and blocks (joining Jerry Stackhouse vs. Murray State on 3/17/1995 and Mike O’Koren vs. Detroit on 12/4/1978).
• Wilson set a UNC freshman record with four consecutive double-doubles against Radford, NC Central, Navy and St. Bonaventure. Bacot (twice), Jamison and O’Koren were the only Tar Heel freshmen with three in a row.
• Against Navy, he became the first Tar Heel ever to score 23 points, grab 12 rebounds, make three blocks and have four steals in any game.

VEESAAR MAKING A MAJOR IMPACT
• Red-shirt junior center Henri Veesaar, a transfer from Arizona, leads the team in field goal shooting (61.5%) and three-point accuracy (44.8%) and is second in scoring (16.4), rebounding (9.0) and blocks (29).
• He nearly had a double-double in the second half in the win over Duke. In the first half, Duke built a 41-29 lead as Veesaar was 0 for 2 from the floor, scoreless, had two rebounds and was minus 20. However, in the second half, he made six of seven shots from the floor, scored 13 points, pulled down nine rebounds, hit the game-tying three-pointer with 1:40 to play and was a plus 15.
• Veesaar is ninth in the country and leads the ACC with 13 double-doubles, the first 13 of his collegiate career. He played in 66 games over two seasons at Arizona.
• He is second in the ACC and 20th nationally in field goal percentage. He’s also fifth in the ACC in rebounding and 10th in points per game.
• 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.
• He has scored in double figures in 23 games (all except Virginia, where he had seven).
• Veesaar has set numerous career bests as a Tar Heel, including points (26 vs. ETSU and Stanford), rebounds (15 vs. Georgetown), offensive rebounds (six vs. Florida State), blocks (five vs. NC Central), assists (five vs. Ohio State) and three-pointers (four vs. ECU).
• 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 six times – 26 vs. ETSU and Stanford, 25 vs. Wake Forest, 24 vs. the Bonnies, 20 vs. Kansas and 20 at Georgia Tech. He had one 20-point game in his first two seasons at Arizona.
• Veesaar leads UNC in plus/minus at plus 285 and has led the Tar Heels in plus/minus seven times. He and Jarin Stevenson have led seven times apiece.
• Veesaar has eight games where he was plus 20 or higher.

HENRI THE FIRST
• Henri Veesaar is Carolina’s first 7-footer ever to make multiple three-pointers.
• Veesaar is 30 for 67 from three and leads the team in three-point percentage (.448).
• He is tied with Derek Dixon for second on the team in three-pointers, six behind Luka Bogavac’s 36.
• Prior to this season, two 7-footers made one three apiece. Serge Zwikker made a three in the ACC semifinals vs. Tim Duncan’s Wake Forest Demon Deacons on 3/8/1997 and Walker Kessler made one vs. Northeastern on 2/17/2021.
• Veesaar has made two or more three-pointers eight times this season, including a career-high four vs. ECU.

NATIONAL RANKINGS
• Offensively, the Tar Heels are 12th in the country in assist/turnover ratio, 16th in turnovers and turnover percentage, 24th in offensive efficiency, 46th in assists per game, 54th in field goal percentage and 60th in effective field goal percentage.
• Since ACC play began January 2, the Tar Heels are ninth in the country in offensive efficiency and 125th in defensive efficiency.
• In the four-game stretch that included SMU, Wake Forest, Stanford and Cal during which Carolina went 1-3, the Tar Heels were sixth nationally in offensive efficiency and 284th in defense.
• In the last six games (UNC went 5-1) the Tar Heels were No. 16 nationally in offensive efficiency and 53rd in defensive efficiency.

FIELD GOAL DEFENSE
• The Tar Heels are 38th in the country in field goal percentage defense, holding their opponents to a combined 40.8% from the floor. They’ve held seven opponents below 35% and 11 under 40%.
• UNC is 11-0 this season and 56-4 under head coach Hubert Davis when holding opponents under 40% from the floor and 0-4 this season and 6-19 under Davis when the opponents make 50%.
• The Tar Heel defense is fifth in the country in two-point field goal percentage defense (44.3%) and 25th in effective field goal percentage (46.9%).

THREES
• Carolina is making 8.67 three-pointers per game, which would equal the all-time single-season UNC record set in 2018-19, when the Tar Heel lineup included Cameron Johnson, Coby White, Kenny Williams and Luke Maye.
• Over the last six games, Carolina has made 55 threes and allowed 39.
• Five different Tar Heels have made at least 28 three-pointers – Luka Bogavac (36), Derek Dixon (30), Henri Veesaar (30), Kyan Evans (29) and Jonathan Powell (28).

MOST THREE-POINTERS MADE PER GAME
8.67 in 2025-26 (208 in 24 games)
8.67 in 2018-19 (312 in 36 games)
8.41 in 2021-22 (328 in 39 games)
8.29 in 2002-03 (290 in 35 games)
8.25 in 1982-83 (132 in 16 games – ACC games only)

• Carolina is attempting 25.2 three-pointers per game, which would break the previous school record of 23.9 in 2018-19.
• The Tar Heels attempted a season-high 34 threes against Notre Dame and made a season-best 13 vs. the Irish on January 21.

MOST THREE-POINTERS ATTEMPTED PER GAME
25.17 in 2025-26 (604 in 24 games)
23.94 in 2018-19 (862 in 36 games)
23.49 in 2021-22 (916 in 39 games)
23.49 in 2002-03 (822 in 35 games)
22.95 in 2017-18 (849 in 37 games)

• The Tar Heels are making 8.7 threes per game while allowing 7.9. 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 3FGs one time (in 2012-13).
• The loss at Miami ended a streak of 22 straight games the Tar Heels won when they made more three-pointers than their opponent.

TURNOVERS
• Despite committing eight first-half turnovers in the loss at Miami (and 11 for the game), UNC is averaging 9.50 turnovers, its fewest ever (previous low is 10.08 in 2023-24).
• The Tar Heels committed two turnovers in the win at Georgia Tech. The two turnovers equaled UNC’s all-time single-game record (vs. Fairfield in the 1997 NCAA first round in Winston-Salem and Duke on 2/8/2018).
• The Tar Heels set a school record for fewest turnovers in consecutive games with six (four at Virginia and two at Georgia Tech) and the fewest turnovers in three consecutive games with 14 (eight vs. Notre Dame, four at Virginia and two at Georgia Tech).
• Carolina has committed fewer than 10 turnovers in nine of the last 16 games.
• Including this season, Davis’ teams have produced the four-lowest turnover per game averages and five of the six-lowest in UNC history.
• Carolina’s assist/turnover ratio of 1.77 is the best in UNC history (previous 1.65 in 2015-16).
• The Tar Heels force 9.6 turnovers per game. Carolina is 340th in the nation in forced turnovers. The 9.6 turnovers are the fewest forced in a season by the Tar Heels (previous was 9.7 in 2021-22).

WINS VS. LOSSES
• Notable statistical comparisons between Carolina’s 19 wins and the five losses:
• The Tar Heels allow 66.9 points in the wins and 85.0 points in the losses.
• The opponents are shooting 53.0% from the floor, including 50.0% from three, in the five losses and 37.8/30.2 in Carolina’s 19 wins.
• The Tar Heels have a rebound margin of 6.5 in the wins and have been outrebounded by 0.4 per game in the losses.

500+ WINS IN THE SMITH CENTER
• This is the 41st season the Tar Heels are playing in the Dean E. Smith Center.
• The win over Wake Forest on January 10 was UNC’s 500th in the Smith Center.
• Carolina is 503-90 in regular-season and NIT games in the Smith Center.
• UNC became the ninth current ACC team with 500 or more wins in their respective home venues.
• Carolina has won 84.8% of its games in the Smith Center. Only one team in the ACC that has 500 or more wins in its current venue has a higher winning percentage.
• Carolina is 262-71 (.787) in ACC games in the Smith Center.
• The Tar Heels have won 14 straight games in the Smith Center, all this season.
• UNC has played 46.4% of its home games in the Smith Center (593 of 1,277).
• Carolina has played 154 different opponents in regular-season or NIT games in the Smith Center.
• The Smith Center is the fifth home venue for the Tar Heels. Carolina has won 503 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).

IN-SEASON AWARDS
• Freshman forward Caleb Wilson has earned National Player-of-the-Week honors three times this season. He was one of five players named National Player of the Week by the USBWA for the week of November 3-9, he won the award from Andy Katz at NCAA March Madness for this play the week of December 15-21 and the Naismith Trophy tabbed him for his play against Syracuse and Duke.
• Wilson also was named ACC Freshman of the Week three times, following the games against Central Arkansas/Kansas, ETSU/Ohio State and Syracuse/Duke.
• He is the first Tar Heel to win three ACC Freshman-of-the-Week awards since Coby White was a five-time recipient in 2018-19.
• Wilson also was the ACC’s Co-Player of the Week after the Central Arkansas and Kansas games.
• Wilson was 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), White (2019) and Anthony.

CAROLINA-DUKE A RATINGS HIT
• The Tar Heels’ 71-68 win over Duke on February 7 was ESPN’s most watched college men’s basketball game in the last four seasons.
• The game drew an average of 3.5 million viewers with a peak of 4.8 million.

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.

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, 120 wins, a 63-28 record and 26 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).
• 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 18 wins over nationally-ranked opponents, including nine 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, No. 9 Duke in 2024 and No. 4 Duke in 2025).

2025-26 SCHEDULE NOTES
• The Tar Heels played 10 home games prior to New Year’s Day for the first time since 2009-10.
• In ACC play, the Tar Heels play host to Florida State, Wake Forest, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Duke, Pitt (Feb. 14), Louisville (Feb. 23), Virginia Tech (Feb. 28) and Clemson (March 3).
• Carolina plays at SMU, Stanford, Cal, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Miami, 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 made their first trips as ACC opponents to SMU, Stanford and Cal.

TAR HEELS IN THE NBA
• Eleven former Tar Heels were on NBA Opening Day rosters, including Cole Anthony (Phoenix), 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 (Charlotte).
• Five Carolina alumni are playing in the G League: Leaky Black (Capital City), Garrison Brooks (Birmingham), RJ Davis (South Bay), Harrison Ingram (Austin) and Cormac Ryan (Wisconsin).
• At least a dozen Tar Heels are playing internationally, including Armando Bacot (Turkey), Ty Claude (Serbia), Isaiah Hicks (South Korea), Brice Johnson (Dominican Republic), Christian Keeling (Finland), Nassir Little (Japan), Brady Manek (China), Luke Maye (Japan), James Michael McAdoo (Japan), Kennedy Meeks (Taiwan), J.P. Tokoto (Poland) and Jae’Lyn Withers (The Netherlands).