Wilson Dominates In 79-66 Win Over Seminoles

Tuesday, December 30

Chapel Hill

7 p.m.

North Carolina

13-1,1-0ACC

Florida State

7-7,0-1ACC

Florida St.

North Carolina

Caleb Wilson

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

December 30, 2025 | Men's Basketball

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By: Matt Bowers

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Caleb Wilson dominated with another double-double as 12th-ranked North Carolina pulled away from Florida State for a 79-66 win in the ACC opener for both teams on Tuesday night in the Smith Center.

In one of his best games in a season filled with strong efforts, Wilson became the first Tar Heel freshman ever to score 20 or more in six consecutive games, posting his 10th double-double in 14 college outings and finishing with 22 points, a season-high 16 rebounds and a season-high-tying six assists.

He is only the sixth Tar Heel player in history to have at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a game, joining an illustrious list that includes Hall-of-Famer Billy Cunningham, Mitch Kupchak, Hall-of-Famer James Worthy, Joseph Forte and Luke Maye.

Wilson has scored at least 20 points 10 times in 14 games this season, tying Phil Ford (1974-75) for third-most in UNC history by a freshman. Tyler Hansbrough (14 in 2005-06) holds the record.

"That's your prototypical UNC pro that's going to go make a ton of money playing basketball, and he's going to help win a lot of games," said Florida State head coach Luke Loucks of Wilson. "But I like their team too. I like the big kid, Henri [Veesaar]. He does a great job around the rim. And then their guard play, obviously, is just steady."

The Tar Heels won their seventh consecutive game to improve to 13-1, 1-0 in the ACC. Florida State lost for the sixth time in eight games to fall to 7-7, 0-1.

Carolina is 10-0 at home this season, 59-14 in ACC openers and 64-8 in ACC home openers. UNC has won seven in a row against the Seminoles and is 58-16 all-time in the series.

Kyan Evans put together perhaps his best performance as a Tar Heel, hitting a season-high five three-pointers and matching his season high with 15 points. He hit three from behind the arc in the first half alone, matching his output from long range in the previous three games.

Seth Trimble had his second career 20-point game with 20 points, seven rebounds and four steals, and Henri Veesaar had 12 points and seven rebounds in a strong second half. He finished with 12 points and 12 boards overall for his eighth double-double, all this season.

Wilson & Veesaar tallied double-doubles in the same game for the seventh time this season, most in the nation and tying the third-most by a duo in Carolina history. John Henson and Tyler Zeller hold the record with nine in 2011-12.

"I feel like most teams are going to have to make a decision," Wilson said of the dual threat he and Veesaar present. "Some teams, they'll try to stop him. Some teams try to focus on me, but honestly, we're just beginning. That's how I feel, and we're gonna keep going, keep pushing."

Carolina led, 40-34, after a choppy first half that saw a lot of three-point attempts and both teams shooting under 40 percent overall. The Seminoles refused to go away for much of the game until the Tar Heels used a 14-3 spurt to take control midway through the second period.

The Tar Heel defense was effective once again, limiting the Seminoles to under 40 percent shooting in both halves and 34.6 percent overall. UNC is 10-0 this season and 55-4 under head coach Hubert Davis when holding opponents under 40 percent, and opponents have shot under 40 percent in 18 of 28 halves this season.

Carolina has held each of its first 14 opponents under 75 points this season, doing so for the first time since 1981-82.

"I thought we got off to a good start in the second half," Davis said. "We talked about the things we were doing in the first half that we needed to improve. I felt like in the first half there was maybe a four- or five-minute stretch when we played well. Other than that, we just didn't have any rhythm from an offsensive standpoint. Their pressure and intensity on the defensive end was more than our will and want-to on the offensive end, so we were struggling to get any type of rhythm offensively [until the second half]."

How It Happened
First Half
• Carolina missed 10 of its first 11 shots but went on an 8-0 run to take an 11-7 lead before the second timeout.
• Wilson scored 11 of UNC's first 22 points and finished the first half with 14 points and nine rebounds, barely missing the first first-half double-double by a Tar Heel in two seasons.
• Evans hit three three-pointers in five attempts in the first half, and Trimble scored 10 in the opening 20 minutes.
• Just nine of FSU's 28 first-half shots were two-pointers, and the Seminoles hit 7 of 19 as a team from three-point range (36.8 percent). Meanwhile, Carolina took 15 of its 33 shots from behind the arc and made only four of them (26.7 percent).
• The Tar Heels had a 16-8 advantage in points in the paint, an 11-3 edge off the fast break and an 8-0 lead in points off turnovers.

Second Half
• On one possession seven minutes into the second half, Wilson raced all the way across the width of the court to chase down a missed Trimble three-pointer, then immediately fired the ball inside for a layup and three-point play opportunity by Veesaar.
• The Tar Heels ripped off a 14-3 run midway through the half to take control and eventually led by double digits for most of the game's final 13 minutes.
• FSU shot just 31.6 percent (12 for 38), including 23.8 percent (5 for 21) from three-point range after halftime.

Notes
• Wilson has scored in double figures in all 14 games this season, the third-longest streak by a UNC freshman to start a season behind Rashad McCants' 20 games in 2002-03 and Brandan Wright's 18 in 2006-07.
• Carolina has won nine in a row in Chapel Hill over FSU.
• The Tar Heels are 25-4 all-time against the Seminoles in Chapel Hill, including 22-4 in the Smith Center.
• UNC is 45-15 against Florida State since FSU joined the ACC in 1991-92.
• The victory was Carolina's 499th in the Smith Center, its home since January 1986.
• UNC wore 1980s-style, retro blue uniforms at home in a "Happy Blue Year" promotion. It was the fifth time in the last 35 seasons UNC wore blue at home: vs. UConn on 12/6/1991, in the ACC/Big East Challenge; vs. UNCW on 12/31/2013; vs. Duke on February 8, 2020; and vs. UC Riverside on 11/17/2024.

Up Next
Carolina will play its first game of the 2026 calendar year and its first ACC road game when it visits SMU on Saturday January 3 at 2:15 p.m. ET on The CW. UNC will play only two games in Chapel Hill in the month of January.