Men's Basketball Returns Home To Host Georgetown Sunday

Sunday, December 7

Chapel Hill

5 p.m.

North Carolina

Georgetown

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Freshman Derek Dixon

Photo by: USA Today

December 6, 2025 | Men's Basketball

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• Carolina returns to the Smith Center for an ACC-Big East matchup on Sunday, December 7, when the Tar Heels (7-1) play host to the Georgetown Hoyas (6-2).
• The Tar Heels are 15th in the NET.
• Game time is 5 p.m. on ESPN (Kevin Brown, Cory Alexander).
• The 16th-ranked Tar Heels defeated No. 18 Kentucky, 67-64, on December 2 in Lexington. Freshman point guard Derek Dixon hit a three with 53 seconds to play, then broke a 64-64 tie with a driving layup with 16.7 seconds left for the win.
• It was the first time a Tar Heel made a winning shot with fewer than 20 seconds to play since Pete Nance with 17.7 seconds left at Syracuse in 2023.
• Henri Veesaar (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Caleb Wilson (15 points, 12 boards and six assists) led the Tar Heels to their first win in Rupp Arena since the 2007-08 season.
• It was UNC's fourth road win over a ranked team under head coach Hubert Davis (also at Duke in 2022 and 2024 and at Clemson in 2024).
• The Tar Heels have beaten Kansas and Kentucky in the same season for the first time since 1981-82.
• UNC began the season with five straight home wins before playing the next three times on the road, where they split a pair of games in Fort Myers, Fla., beating St. Bonaventure and losing to Michigan State, and then edged Kentucky in Lexington in the ACC-SEC Challenge.
• The Hoyas also began the season 5-0 before losing consecutive starts against Dayton and Miami. Georgetown is coming off a 90-81 home win over UMBC on Wednesday.
• This is Georgetown's third ACC game of the season. The Hoyas beat Clemson at home on November 15.
• The Georgetown game is the fourth in a four-game stretch where Carolina's opponents are a combined 27-6 (St. Bonaventure 8-1, Michigan State 8-0, Kentucky 5-3 and Georgetown 6-2).
• Carolina has won 2,402 games. UNC joined Kentucky and Kansas as the only three programs in college basketball history with 2,400 victories with its win over Navy on November 18.
• The Tar Heels will be wearing retro uniforms on Sunday from the early 1980s.

CAROLINA-GEORGETOWN
• The Tar Heels are 4-5 all-time against the Hoyas. Georgetown won the first two games in 1920 and 1921 and the most recent pair in 2003 and 2007.
• Sunday's game is the first between UNC and Georgetown since 3/25/2007, a 96-84 overtime win by the Hoyas in the NCAA East Region final in the Meadowlands. The Tar Heels led by 10 with six minutes to play before the Hoyas rallied behind Jeff Green's 22 points and center Roy Hibbert's 13 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks. Tyler Hansbrough led Carolina with 26 points.
• This is the first UNC-Georgetown game in Chapel Hill since the third round of the 2003 NIT, a 79-74 Georgetown win.
• Carolina's most recent win in the series came on 11/23/1999, when Ed Cota and Brendan Haywood both scored 20 points in an 85-79 win in Maui.
• On 3/29/1982, Carolina defeated the Hoyas, 63-62, in New Orleans in the NCAA championship game, giving Dean Smith the first of two national championships.
• James Worthy scored 28 points in the title game to earn Most Outstanding Player honors in the 1982 Final Four.
• Michael Jordan hit the game-winning shot, launching a jumper from the left wing with 17 seconds to play.

FRONTCOURT POWER
• 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.
• The frontcourt duo has combined for 35.3 points and 18.6 rebounds per game. They have combined for 21 blocked shots, 33 assists and are 70 for 97 from the free throw line.
• Wilson is averaging 19.3 points and 10.1 rebounds, and Veesaar is averaging 16.0 points and 8.5 rebounds.
• The last time two Tar Heels averaged at least 16 points and eight rebounds was in 1994-95 (Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace).
• Either Veesaar or Wilson has led the team in scoring and rebounding in seven of the first eight games.

NO ORDINARY ROOKIE
• Caleb Wilson may be a freshman, but he is averaging 19.3 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks while shooting 52.5% from the floor and 75% from the free throw line.
• He leads the Tar Heels in scoring, rebounding, offensive rebounds, steals and free throws (made and attempted).
• 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 28 dunks.
• He has scored in double figures in all eight games and has five double-doubles, In fact, including his 12-rebound game at Kentucky, he has recorded 12 or more rebounds five times.
• The Atlanta native has the third-longest streak of double-figure scoring games by a freshman to begin a season. Only Rashad McCants (20 in 2002-03) and Brandan Wright (18 in 2006-07) have more.
• Wilson is 21st in the nation in rebounds per game (10.1), second-most among freshmen behind New Mexico's Tomislav Buljan's 11.1 per game.
• 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.
• He leads the ACC and is eighth in the country in double-doubles (5).
• 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.

VEESAAR'S IMPACT
• Red-shirt junior center Henri Veesaar, a transfer from Arizona, leads the team in field goal shooting (64.9%) and blocks (11) and is second in scoring (16.0) and rebounding (8.5).
• The Estonia native scored a game-high 17 points in the win at Kentucky and added 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double, the first four of his college career. He is third in the ACC and 14th nationally in double-doubles.
• Veesaar leads the ACC and is 18th in the country in field goal shooting (64.9%).
• Veesaar has set numerous career bests in his first eight games as a Tar Heel, including points (24 vs. St. Bonaventure), rebounds (13 vs. St. Bonaventure) and blocks (five vs. NC Central).
• He has scored 20 or more points twice – 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 126.

BY THE NUMBERS
• The Tar Heels are 15th in the country in field goal percentage defense, holding their eight opponents to a combined 37.3% from the floor. They've held four opponents below 35%.
• UNC is 49-4 in five seasons under head coach Davis when holding opponents under 40% from the floor.
• The Tar Heel defense is third in the country in two-point field goal percentage defense (40.4%) and eighth in effective field goal percentage (42.5%).
• Carolina is attempting 24.9 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 attempted 28.8 three-pointers in their first four games this season and 21.0 in the last four.
• Carolina has shot 50% or higher from the floor in four of the first eight games. The Tar Heels are 39-1 under Davis when they make at least 50% from the floor.
• Michigan State is the only team that has outrebounded Carolina in the first eight games. The Tar Heels are 96-24 under Davis when they outrebound their opponents.
• Freshman point guard Derek Dixon scored 24 of UNC's 43 bench points over the last four games. That includes the nine points he scored in the win at Kentucky. The Tar Heels averaged 24.2 bench points in their first four games this season and 10.8 over the last four.

AP RANKING
• For the second week in a row Carolina is ranked 16th in the Associated Press poll.
• UNC was ranked 25th in the preseason poll and then moved up seven spots in the November 10 poll. That was the largest jump from the preseason poll by the Tar Heels since the AP began ranking 25 teams in the 1989-90 season.
• In 1984-85, when the AP ranked 20 teams, the Tar Heels went from unranked to 19th after the first week of the regular season.
• Carolina is 2-1 against ranked teams this season (with wins over Kansas and Kentucky and the loss to now 7th-ranked Michigan State).

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. GEORGETOWN
0 – Kyan Evans, Junior, Guard
44 – Luka Bogavac, Junior, Guard
8 – Caleb Wilson, Freshman, Forward
13 – Henri Veesaar, R-Junior, Center
15 – Jarin Stevenson, Junior, Forward

• None of the probable starters were Tar Heels last season.
• Seth Trimble, who is out with an injured left arm, 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 have made a combined 106 college starts. That includes 44 by Evans, 35 by Stevenson, 13 by Veesaar, eight by Wilson and six by Bogavac.

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, 108 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 to 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).
• UNC plays Ohio State in Atlanta on December 20 in the CBS Sports Classic. The Tar Heels are 7-4 in the annual event, including 3-0 vs. the Buckeyes.

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 six wins shy of 500 with an overall record (not counting preseason or exhibition games) of 494-90.
• The Tar Heels are 237-19 in the Smith Center against non-conference opponents.
• The Tar Heels have played 46% of their home games all-time in the Smith Center (584 of 1,268).
• Central Arkansas, Kansas, Navy and USC Upstate each will be playing in the Smith Center for the first time.
• Navy was the 153rd different opponent to play a regular-season or NIT game in the Smith Center against the Tar Heels.
• Carolina has won 494 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).
• Powell averaged 7.4 points as a freshman last season and was selected by Atlanta with the 22nd pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. His rights were traded the night of the Draft to the Brooklyn Nets. Powell was the 55th Tar Heel selected all-time in the first round.