Men's Basketball Grounds Eagles, 97-53

Friday, November 14

Chapel Hill

9 p.m.

North Carolina

4-0,0-0ACC

NC Central

1-4,0-0MEAC

N.C. Central

North Carolina

Caleb Wilson

Photo by: NATE SKVORETZ

November 14, 2025 | Men's Basketball

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By: Matt Bowers

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar both had double-doubles as No. 18 North Carolina cruised past North Carolina Central, 97-53, on Friday night in the Smith Center.

Carolina improved to 4-0 this season with the win, while the Eagles fell to 1-4.

Wilson raced to 17 points and nine rebounds in the first half before finishing with 21 points, 13 rebounds and three assists on 7 of 8 shooting. The last UNC freshman with back-to-back double-doubles was Day'Ron Sharpe in 2020-21, Roy Williams' last season as head coach.

"Caleb Wilson is absolutely incredible," said NCCU head coach LeVelle Moton. "If there's anyone better in the country, I've got to see that for myself, because this kid is remarkable."

Veesaar had 12 points and 11 boards for the second double-double of his career and his second in four games as a Tar Heel. Luka Bogavac scored 13 points on 4 of 7 shooting that included a pair of three-pointers. He added two rebounds and two assists.

Kyan Evans dished out a game-high seven assists, one off his career high of eight set at Colorado State. He only turned the ball over once and has a team-high 20 assists (5.0 per game) with only seven turnovers in four games this season.

The Tar Heels shot well in both halves from the floor, including a blistering 56-percent clip in the first half before finishing at 54.5 percent in the game while holding Central to just 20.6 percent in the second half and 24.2 percent in the game. Twelve different UNC players scored.

Carolina jumped out to a quick, double-digit lead and shot 56 percent in the first half to lead, 39-24, at the break. It outscored the Eagles, 18-5, to start the second half and put the game away quickly.

The Tar Heels blocked 14 shots in the game, the most they've had since having 15 against Northern Kentucky almost 12 years ago on Dec. 27, 2013. It was only the seventh time in school history Carolina has blocked at least 14 shots.

Adding to the strong defense, UNC took care of the ball in the second half. After committing 10 turnovers in a sloppy 20 minutes, it did not turn it over after halftime.

""It's something that we talk about, and I talk about to them every day, the importance of making the easy play," UNC head coach Hubert Davis said. "I give them every slogan you know, make the easy play, make routine plays routinely. We don't need home runs. We just need singles. Simple. Simple works perfectly — everything, and try to get them to understand that it's important for us to get shots and not turn the ball over."

"He was a little bit mad at us because we turned the ball over a lot," Bogavac said of Davis' halftime speech to the team. "But, in the second half, we didn't have any turnovers. He was a little bit mad at us for sure but I think we came out of halftime and showed that we can play clean basketball."

Notes
• In the absence of the injured Seth Trimble, Carolina started the same lineup as in Tuesday's win over Radford: Evans and Bogavac in the backcourt with a frontcourt composed of Jarin Stevenson, Wilson and Veesaar.

How It Happened
First Half
• Carolina built a 10-point lead in less than eight minutes of action, hitting 6 of its first 10 shots while holding NCCU to 3 of 12 (.250) in the same span.
• The Tar Heels shared the ball and had seven assists on their first seven field goals.
• Wilson dominated with 17 points and nine rebounds in the first half to lead all players.
• Carolina shot 56.0 percent (14 for 25) while its defense limited NCCU to 28.1 percent (9 for 28) in the first 20 minutes.
• UNC committed 10 first-half turnovers but dominated points in the paint, 22-10.

Second Half
• The Tar Heels started the second half on an 18-5 blitz to increase their lead to 28 points six minutes into the second half.
• UNC's lead kept growing and expanded to as many as 38 points with under eight minutes remaining after a 17-3 Tar Heel run.
• Carolina's lead never dipped below 24 points in the final 13 minutes.
• After committing 10 first-half turnovers, the Tar Heels had none in the second half.
• UNC outscored the Eagles, 58-29, after intermission.

Up Next
Carolina will play the fifth of five consecutive home games to start the season when it hosts Navy on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.