No. 22 MBB Visiting No. 14 Virginia Saturday At Noon

Saturday, January 24

Charlottesville, Va.

Noon

North Carolina

Virginia

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

January 23, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Live Stats UNC Notes UVA Notes Watch Listen Game Program

GAME 20: AT VIRGINIA
• Following Wednesday's 91-69 home win over Notre Dame, the 22nd-ranked Tar Heels travel to Charlottesville to face the 14th-ranked Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday, January 24.
• The game time was changed to noon due to the forecast of a winter storm. The game will be televised on ESPN2 (Kevin Brown, Cory Alexander).
• Carolina is 15-4, 3-3 in the ACC, while Virginia is 16-2, 5-1 in conference play.
• The Cavaliers are 10-0 at John Paul Jones Arena, while the Tar Heels have dropped three straight road starts and are 1-3 this season on the road.
• The Tar Heels snapped a two-game losing streak with their sixth straight victory over the Fighting Irish. Caleb Wilson scored a game-high 22 points and had seven rebounds and five assists.
• Eight Tar Heels hit at least one three-pointer, the second time this season (ECU) and third time ever (at Wake Forest in 2019) eight players made a three.
• Carolina flipped the script from three-point range. After being outscored 132-81, from three-point range in road losses at SMU, Stanford and Cal, the Tar Heels made 13 three-pointers and outscored the Irish, 39-24, from beyond the arc.
• Henri Veesaar grabbed 12 rebounds in his 10th double-double and point guards Derek Dixon and Kyan Evans combined to make six three-pointers.

UNC-VIRGINIA
• Carolina has won two in a row and four of the last six against the Cavaliers and leads the all-time series, 136-62.
• The Tar Heels are 45-38 in Charlottesville, including 5-8 in John Paul Jones Arena.
• Cormac Ryan made six three-pointers and scored 18 points in UNC's 54-44 win in 2024, the Tar Heels' most recent visit to Charlottesville.
• The 54 points were the fewest in any Carolina win since a 54-51 win at Virginia on 2/25/2012.
• Last season, Carolina went on a 15-0 run in the first half and built a 20-point lead in the second in an 81-66 win over the Cavaliers in the Smith Center. Jae'Lyn Withers and Ian Jackson led UNC with 16 points apiece.

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 59-27 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.
• Carolina is 774-323 (.706) in regular-season ACC games. The 774 wins are the most in ACC history. Duke is second with 744.

FRONTCOURT FORCE
• Junior center Henri Veesaar and freshman forward Caleb Wilson are on pace to become the first pair in ACC history to average 17 points and nine rebounds and shoot 55% from the floor (research courtesy of Jody Zeugner).
• Veesaar and Wilson are combining for 36.9 points and 19.6 rebounds per game. They have blocked 48 shots, have 92 assists, shot 61.0% from the floor and attempted 235 free throws.
• Wilson is averaging 19.8 points and 10.4 rebounds. Veesaar is averaging 17.1 points and 9.2 rebounds.
• The last pair of Tar Heels to average at least 17 points in a season were Michael Jordan (19.6) and Sam Perkins (17.6) in 1983-84.
• Four times this season, both players have scored 20 points. Against Wake Forest and Stanford, they combined to shoot 37 for 47 from the floor, the highest combined field goal percentage (78.7%) for two players in consecutive games in UNC history among players with 20 or more field goal attempts.
• Combined, they have 21 double-doubles and scored 20 or more points 18 times.
• Wilson and Veesaar are the first pair of Tar Heels to average 9.0 rebounds in the same season since John Henson (9.9) and Tyler Zeller (9.6) in 2011-12.
• Per BartTorvik.com, Wilson leads the country in dunks with 60, while Veesaar is sixth with 40.
• Veesaar is the only player in the country with 30 or more dunks who has also made 15 or more three-pointers (Veesaar has made 25 threes).
• Either Veesaar or Wilson has led the team in scoring and rebounding in 17 of the first 19 games.
• They account for 44.8% of Carolina's scoring, 48.1% of the rebounds and 47.5% of the field goals made.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
• Caleb Wilson (11) and Henri Veesaar (10) rank sixth & 13th, respectively, in the nation in double-doubles.
• Veesaar and Wilson both have recorded double-doubles in points and rebounds seven times (NC Central, St. Bonaventure, Kentucky, Georgetown, Ohio State, ECU and Florida State).
• Their seven games with double-doubles by both players already equal the third-most in a season by a pair of Tar Heels.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES BY TWO TAR HEELS, SEASON
John Henson & Tyler Zeller 2011-12 9
Rusty Clark & Larry Miller 1966-67 8
Henri Veesaar & Caleb Wilson, 2025-26 7
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

WILSON: MIDSEASON AWARDS CANDIDATE
• Caleb Wilson is one of the most productive and engaging freshman in Carolina Basketball history.
• Wilson is one of 25 players named to the midseason watch list for the John R. Wooden Award, presented to the National Player of the Year by the Los Angeles Athletic Club, and the USBWA's Oscar Roberston Trophy.
• He was also one of 15 players named to the Midseason Watch List for the Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Year award.
• 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. The previous record was five by College Basketball Hall of Famer Phil Ford in 1974-75.
• Wilson has scored 20 or more points 13 times, including a season-high 26-point performance at Stanford. His 13 20-point games are the second-most by a Tar Heel. Tyler Hansbrough holds the single-season rookie record with 14 in 2005-06.
• Hansbrough, Rashad McCants, Wilson and Ford are the only UNC freshmen with 10 or more 20-point games.

20-Point Games by a UNC Freshman
Tyler Hansbrough, 2005-06 14
Caleb Wilson, 2025-26 13
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 (six off the lead) and field goal percentage.
• His scoring average of 19.8 points per game is on pace to set the UNC freshman record.
• In six ACC games, Wilson is averaging 20.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists

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) 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 led UNC in rebounding.
• Wilson is averaging 10.4 rebounds per game. The UNC freshman record is 9.6 per game in 1995-96 by Jamison.

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

• Eighteen Tar Heels have averaged a double-double in points and rebounds in a season, but none of them were a freshman.
• He has scored in double figures in all 19 games and has 11 double-doubles, the second-most by a Carolina freshman. He has 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 has second-longest streak of double-figure scoring games (19) by a UNC freshman to begin a season. Only McCants (20 in 2002-03) has more.
• Wilson leads the ACC in double-doubles (11) and rebounds per game (10.4). He leads all freshmen nationally in double-doubles and is second in rebounding.
• 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.
• He netted 22 points vs. Central Arkansas 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 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 A DUAL THREAT
• Red-shirt junior center Henri Veesaar, a transfer from Arizona, leads the team in field goal shooting (64.1%) and three-point accuracy (48.1%), is second in scoring (17.1), rebounding (9.2) and blocks (22).
• 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 10 double-doubles as a Tar Heel, the first 10 of his collegiate career. He played in 66 games over two seasons at Arizona.
• He is second in the ACC and 11th in the country in field goal shooting and second in the ACC and 13th nationally in double-doubles. He's also fifth in the ACC in rebounding and ninth in points per game.
• 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 five times – 26 vs. ETSU and Stanford, 25 vs. Wake Forest, 24 vs. the Bonnies and 20 vs. Kansas. He had one 20-point game in his first two seasons at Arizona.
• Veesaar leads UNC in plus/minus at plus 279 and has led the Tar Heels in plus/minus six times, which also leads the team.
• He was a season-best plus 30 in the first and most recent wins against Central Arkansas and Notre Dame.

HENRI THE FIRST
• Henri Veesaar is Carolina's first 7-footer ever to make multiple three-pointers.
• Veesaar is 25 for 52 from three and leads the team in three-point percentage (.481).
• He is third on the team in three-pointers, just one off the lead held by Luka Bogavac and Kyan Evans.
• 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.

TRENDING TOPICS
• The Tar Heels are 26th in the country in field goal percentage defense, holding their opponents to a combined 39.6% from the floor. They've held seven opponents below 35% and 11 under 40%.
• The Tar Heels held Notre Dame to 36.0% from the floor, the best defense since Florida State shot 34.8% in the ACC opener. SMU, Wake Forest, Stanford and Cal shot a combined 53.8% from the floor and made a combined 58 of 116 from three-point range (50.0%) in the previous four games.
• The opponents tied the record for most three-pointers against UNC in two consecutive games (30) and set records for the most in three (44), four (58) and five consecutive (70) games.
• SMU, Wake Forest, Stanford and Cal shot better than 50% from the floor in six of eight halves, something the opponents had only done twice in the previous 28 halves (second half by Michigan State and first half by Kentucky in consecutive games).
• Prior to the SMU game on January 3, Carolina had held six straight opponents below 40% shooting from the floor, the first time the defense had done that since 2014-15.
• The opponents' field goal percentage (.396) is the lowest allowed by Carolina since 2000-01, when the opponents shot 39.8%, which was the last time UNC held the opponents below 40% over the course of the season.
• 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 still fourth in the country in two-point field goal percentage defense (43.2%) and 20th in effective field goal percentage (46.1%).
• The Tar Heels held each of their first 14 opponents to fewer than 75 points. It was the first time Carolina held its 14 opponents under 75 points since 1981-82.
• Carolina is making 8.74 three-pointers per game, which would be the all-time single-season UNC record, edging the 8.67 made per game in 2018-19, when the Tar Heel lineup included Cameron Johnson, Coby White, Kenny Williams and Luke Maye.
• Five different Tar Heels have made at least 23 three-pointers, led by Luka Bogavac and Kyan Evans with 26, Henri Veesaar's 25, Derek Dixon's 24 and Jonathan Powell's 23.

MOST THREE-POINTERS MADE PER GAME
8.74 in 2025-26 (166 in 19 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 25.6 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.

MOST THREE-POINTERS ATTEMPTED PER GAME
25.63 in 2025-26 (487 in 19 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 8.3. 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 Tar Heels have won 18 straight games when making more three-pointers than their opponent. However, the opponents have made more threes in all four of UNC's losses this season (by a combined 18 in the four games).
• Including the win over Notre Dame, Carolina has made 50% or better of its field goal attempts in 10 of the first 19 games. The Tar Heels are 44-2 under Davis when they make at least 50% from the floor.
• Michigan State remains the only team this season that has outrebounded Carolina. The Tar Heels are 102-26 under Davis when they outrebound their opponents.
• Carolina is averaging 10.16 turnovers, which is the second-fewest per game in UNC history (10.08 in 2023-24).
• 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 1.68 is the best in UNC history (1.65 in 2015-16).
• Carolina is second in the ACC and is 20th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio.
• The Tar Heels force 9.5 turnovers per game. Carolina is 343rd in the nation in forced turnovers.

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 501-90 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 (.850 by Duke). Syracuse and Virginia are the only other ACC teams that have won 80% of their games in their current home arenas.
• Carolina's first win in the Smith Center came 40 years ago this week, on 1/18/1986, when No. 1-ranked UNC defeated No. 3 Duke, 95-92.
• Carolina is 260-71 (.785) in ACC games in the Smith Center.
• The Tar Heels have won 12 straight games in the Smith Center, all this season.
• UNC has played 46.4% of its home games in the Smith Center (591 of 1,275).
• 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 501 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 twice this season. He was one of five players named National Player of the Week by the USBWA for the week of November 3-9 and he won the award from Andy Katz at NCAA March Madness for this play the week of December 15-21.
• Wilson also was named ACC Freshman of the Week twice, following the games against Central Arkansas and Kansas and against ETSU and Ohio State.
• He is the first Tar Heel to win multiple ACC Freshman-of-the-Week awards since Caleb Love was a two-time recipient in 2021.
• 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), Coby White (2019) and Anthony.

PROBABLE STARTERS VS. VIRGINIA
(based on the previous game vs. Notre Dame)
3 – Derek Dixon, Freshman, Guard
7 – Seth Trimble, Senior, Guard
4 – Jaydon Young, 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 Virginia have made a combined 113 college starts. That includes 31 by Trimble, 24 by Henri Veesaar, 19 by freshman Caleb Wilson, 11 by Jaydon Young and two by freshman Derek Dixon.
• UNC has used five different starting lineups in the first 19 games. Veesaar and Wilson have started all 19 games.

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, 116 wins, a 59-27 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).
• 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, Wake Forest, Notre Dame, Syracuse (Feb. 2), Duke (Feb. 7), Pitt (Feb. 14), Louisville (Feb. 23), Virginia Tech (Feb. 28) and Clemson (March 3).
• Carolina plays at SMU, Stanford, Cal, 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 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 (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).
• 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).