University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Lucas: Merry
December 23, 2025 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
For one evening in the Carolina Basketball world, it was for all a good night.
By Adam Lucas
Thank you, Santa.
The big man—no, not Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar, the other big man who is popular around this time of year—delivered exactly what all of Carolina Basketball needed on Monday night.
It was more than just a 99-51 shellacking of East Carolina. It was something that's sometimes very, very difficult to find in sports—it was a night when everything went exactly right and everyone went home happy.
When you walk out of the Smith Center and your only quibble is that you didn't get both Crumbl and biscuits, you know it's been a pretty good night.
And before we all move on to Atlantic Coast Conference play and start critiquing how we think the Tar Heels might fare, maybe this game is a good reminder to enjoy what's already happened. Carolina is now 12-1. There are only four other UNC teams this century that have started at least that well through 13 games. That quartet is 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Those are four pretty good years.
This year's group has done it by being one of the best defensive teams in the country. After ECU's 26.0 percent shooting performance, the Heels officially lead the nation in effective field goal percentage defense.
When you think about great defense, maybe you think about boring basketball. This team is the exact opposite. How fun are they to watch? For the first time ever, Carolina is officially tracking dunks. That's because the Tar Heels are putting up pinball statistics in that category.
After Monday's five-dunk performance, Caleb Wilson has made 83 two-point field goals this season. Forty-one of them—almost exactly half—are dunks. That's big kid-playing-against-little kid numbers. And almost every one of them is spectacular or ferocious or spectacular and ferocious.
All-time legend Phil Ford was in attendance on Monday night. He'd been told that Wilson had just tied Ford as the only Carolina freshmen in the history of the program to score at least 20 points in five straight games. Ford, who loves to poke fun at his lack of vertical leap, simply couldn't resist. "Did you hear Caleb tied my record for five games?" Ford asked after the game. "Yeah, it's the record for most dunks in five games."
If you can't get in the holiday spirit while watching one all-time Tar Heel legend grin over the exploits of the newest Tar Heel great, then you're probably the same type of Ebenezer Scrooge who wants to harp on Wilson needing to regain his consistency on his free throws—he's at just over 50 percent in the last four games and he takes so many that it's an important part of Carolina's offense.
Nope, too much went right on Monday to spend much time looking for lumps of coal. Elijah Davis made his first basket as a Tar Heel, as did Ivan Matlekovic. Every player on the Carolina roster has now scored this year. Making it even better, Veesaar demanded that Davis accompany him to the media room so he could get some interview attention. That type of selflessness simply isn't something that always happens in a college basketball locker room, especially from a player averaging 16.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game and shooting 50 percent from the three-point line.
Even the players during the Special Olympics halftime game had storybook performances. Two of the participants, Javi Guzman and Max Kuller, were celebrating birthdays. Guzman tossed in a three-pointer and could later be overheard telling anyone within earshot that making a basket in the Smith Center on his birthday was the best birthday he ever could have imagined.
Although they didn't know it, Javi and Max shared a birthday with a player on the Carolina roster. Hickory native John Holbrook also celebrated on Monday, a worthy reward for the fact that he's the poor guy who spends every day in practice guarding Wilson and Veesaar ("It's what you think," Holbrook said. "It's straight hell. They dunk on me and they're so nice about it.") Although he didn't score in his two minutes of action against the Pirates, he was still well aware that he's living a dream every time he runs out of the tunnel.
"I remember watching every single Carolina game with my dad," Holbrook said after the game on the Tar Heel Sports Network. "I've got lots of pictures of me as a little kid at Carolina games with my family. This is a dream come true. Last year we had a summer workout and Coach Davis broke us down after practice and I was like, 'Dang, I'm really here.'"
Holbrook is here and the Tar Heels are, too. They're 12-1 after playing nine games without Seth Trimble, whose last two outings after returning from injury have reminded you how important he is to this year's team. They have quality wins. They've done what everyone wanted to see: beaten good opponents and set themselves up to make a push in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
They're good, they're fun, and they're recapturing the imaginations of the Tar Heel fan base. Monday night's attendance was 20,479. To put that into perspective, there have been 91 games involving ACC teams in the month of December. Only one out of those 91—Louisville's visit to Tennessee—had higher attendance than Carolina vs. 5-7 East Carolina on a Monday night when students are out of town.
Carolina Basketball is Veesaar and Wilson and Holbrook and Ford and Davis (both of them). But it's all those people that showed up on Monday, too, who wanted to get one more glimpse of their Heels before Christmas and waited for autographs and chanted "We want biscuits!" There is plenty of time to worry about NCAA Tournament seeding and ACC competition and bench production and point guard play. Right now, on December 22, every single part of Carolina Basketball fit together just right in a way that doesn't often happen. Sure, there's absolutely no guarantee this delightful evening can be replicated. Which is exactly why maybe it's worth enjoying for just a minute.
With everyone eager to get started on their holiday travels, the Tar Heels cleared out a little more quickly than normal after the game on Monday night. One of the last Heels to leave the locker room was Seth Trimble. Dozens of fans were waiting outside for autographs. Before he ventured into the sea of Tar Heels, Trimble left the remaining stragglers in the locker room with the perfect summation of the day.
"Merry Christmas, fam!" he called. "Love y'all!"
Thank you, Santa.
The big man—no, not Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar, the other big man who is popular around this time of year—delivered exactly what all of Carolina Basketball needed on Monday night.
It was more than just a 99-51 shellacking of East Carolina. It was something that's sometimes very, very difficult to find in sports—it was a night when everything went exactly right and everyone went home happy.
When you walk out of the Smith Center and your only quibble is that you didn't get both Crumbl and biscuits, you know it's been a pretty good night.
And before we all move on to Atlantic Coast Conference play and start critiquing how we think the Tar Heels might fare, maybe this game is a good reminder to enjoy what's already happened. Carolina is now 12-1. There are only four other UNC teams this century that have started at least that well through 13 games. That quartet is 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Those are four pretty good years.
This year's group has done it by being one of the best defensive teams in the country. After ECU's 26.0 percent shooting performance, the Heels officially lead the nation in effective field goal percentage defense.
When you think about great defense, maybe you think about boring basketball. This team is the exact opposite. How fun are they to watch? For the first time ever, Carolina is officially tracking dunks. That's because the Tar Heels are putting up pinball statistics in that category.
After Monday's five-dunk performance, Caleb Wilson has made 83 two-point field goals this season. Forty-one of them—almost exactly half—are dunks. That's big kid-playing-against-little kid numbers. And almost every one of them is spectacular or ferocious or spectacular and ferocious.
All-time legend Phil Ford was in attendance on Monday night. He'd been told that Wilson had just tied Ford as the only Carolina freshmen in the history of the program to score at least 20 points in five straight games. Ford, who loves to poke fun at his lack of vertical leap, simply couldn't resist. "Did you hear Caleb tied my record for five games?" Ford asked after the game. "Yeah, it's the record for most dunks in five games."
If you can't get in the holiday spirit while watching one all-time Tar Heel legend grin over the exploits of the newest Tar Heel great, then you're probably the same type of Ebenezer Scrooge who wants to harp on Wilson needing to regain his consistency on his free throws—he's at just over 50 percent in the last four games and he takes so many that it's an important part of Carolina's offense.
Nope, too much went right on Monday to spend much time looking for lumps of coal. Elijah Davis made his first basket as a Tar Heel, as did Ivan Matlekovic. Every player on the Carolina roster has now scored this year. Making it even better, Veesaar demanded that Davis accompany him to the media room so he could get some interview attention. That type of selflessness simply isn't something that always happens in a college basketball locker room, especially from a player averaging 16.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game and shooting 50 percent from the three-point line.
Even the players during the Special Olympics halftime game had storybook performances. Two of the participants, Javi Guzman and Max Kuller, were celebrating birthdays. Guzman tossed in a three-pointer and could later be overheard telling anyone within earshot that making a basket in the Smith Center on his birthday was the best birthday he ever could have imagined.
Although they didn't know it, Javi and Max shared a birthday with a player on the Carolina roster. Hickory native John Holbrook also celebrated on Monday, a worthy reward for the fact that he's the poor guy who spends every day in practice guarding Wilson and Veesaar ("It's what you think," Holbrook said. "It's straight hell. They dunk on me and they're so nice about it.") Although he didn't score in his two minutes of action against the Pirates, he was still well aware that he's living a dream every time he runs out of the tunnel.
"I remember watching every single Carolina game with my dad," Holbrook said after the game on the Tar Heel Sports Network. "I've got lots of pictures of me as a little kid at Carolina games with my family. This is a dream come true. Last year we had a summer workout and Coach Davis broke us down after practice and I was like, 'Dang, I'm really here.'"
Holbrook is here and the Tar Heels are, too. They're 12-1 after playing nine games without Seth Trimble, whose last two outings after returning from injury have reminded you how important he is to this year's team. They have quality wins. They've done what everyone wanted to see: beaten good opponents and set themselves up to make a push in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
They're good, they're fun, and they're recapturing the imaginations of the Tar Heel fan base. Monday night's attendance was 20,479. To put that into perspective, there have been 91 games involving ACC teams in the month of December. Only one out of those 91—Louisville's visit to Tennessee—had higher attendance than Carolina vs. 5-7 East Carolina on a Monday night when students are out of town.
Carolina Basketball is Veesaar and Wilson and Holbrook and Ford and Davis (both of them). But it's all those people that showed up on Monday, too, who wanted to get one more glimpse of their Heels before Christmas and waited for autographs and chanted "We want biscuits!" There is plenty of time to worry about NCAA Tournament seeding and ACC competition and bench production and point guard play. Right now, on December 22, every single part of Carolina Basketball fit together just right in a way that doesn't often happen. Sure, there's absolutely no guarantee this delightful evening can be replicated. Which is exactly why maybe it's worth enjoying for just a minute.
With everyone eager to get started on their holiday travels, the Tar Heels cleared out a little more quickly than normal after the game on Monday night. One of the last Heels to leave the locker room was Seth Trimble. Dozens of fans were waiting outside for autographs. Before he ventured into the sea of Tar Heels, Trimble left the remaining stragglers in the locker room with the perfect summation of the day.
"Merry Christmas, fam!" he called. "Love y'all!"
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballUNC Men's Basketball: Tar Heels Breeze Past ECU, 99-51
Tuesday, December 23
Carolina Insider: Rapid Reactions pres. by Modelo – Men’s Basketball vs. ECU – December 22, 2025
Monday, December 22
MBB: Tar Heels Breeze Past ECU, 99-51
Monday, December 22
MBB: Hubert Davis Post-ECU Press Conference
Monday, December 22