Veesaar & Wilson Lead 81-61 Win Over Hoyas

Sunday, December 7

Chapel Hill

5 p.m.

North Carolina

8-1,0-0ACC

Georgetown

6-3,0-0Big East

Georgetown

North Carolina

Henri Veesaar

Photo by: AINSLEY E. FAUTH

December 7, 2025 | Men's Basketball

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By: Matt Bowers

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.— Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson led the way with double-doubles as 16th-ranked North Carolina pulled away from Georgetown, 81-61, on Sunday afternoon in the Smith Center. The dynamic forward duo combined for 38 points and 29 rebounds in the victory, shooting 13 for 23 collectively.

Veesaar posted his fifth career double-double (all this season) with 18 points and a career-high 15 rebounds while tying his career best with two three-pointers and also blocking three shots.

Wilson tallied his fifth 20-point game and sixth double-double in his first nine college games, finishing with 20 points and 14 boards.

It was the second game in a row and fourth overall that both Veesaar and Wilson had double-doubles. They are the first two Tar Heels to average at least 16.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in a season since Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace in 1994-95.

Freshman guard Derek Dixon set a season high with 14 points, shooting 5 for 7 from the floor and drilling 3 of 5 three-pointers. Luka Bogavac added 14 points.

KJ Lewis led the Hoyas with 17 points, and Julius Halaifonua scored 14.

Carolina won its second game in a row and improved to 8-1 this season, including 6-0 at home. Georgetown fell to 6-3 and lost for the third time in four games.

"We did a good job of keeping our foot on the gas and not ever giving them the chance to get the comeback," Veesaar said. "Just keep increasing the lead. Keep increasing the lead, play by play. Get a stop. Score. Get a stop. Score."

UNC tied the all-time series with GU, 5-5, and snapped a two-game losing streak to the Hoyas with its first win over the Hoyas since November 23, 1999, in the Maui Invitational.

Playing their first home game in three weeks since a November 18 win over Navy, the Tar Heels' defense limited Georgetown to 22.2 percent second-half shooting (8 for 36), including 7.1 percent on three-pointers (1 for 14). UNC out-rebounded the Hoyas, 45-36, and wore them down by earning 21 free throw attempts while allowing only 12.

Carolina was brilliant in the first half on two-point shots, hitting 12 of 18 (66.7 percent) but led only 44-39 at intermission because it was 4 for 15 from three-point range. The Tar Heels surged early in the second period, building a 15-point lead with 13:26 to play that ballooned as the game continued.

Georgetown shot only 33.3 percent overall, and UNC improved to 50-4 under head coach Hubert Davis when holding opponents under 40 percent. The Tar Heels are 97-24 under Davis when winning the battle of the boards and 65-9 when scoring 80-plus points.

"Well, you've gotta give UNC a lot of credit," said Hoya head coach Ed Cooley. "I thought they played incredibly well, thought they shared the ball. I thought their length definitely impacted the game. At the rim between Caleb [Wilson] and [Henri Veesaar] though, [Derek] Dixon did a really good job coming in, gave him a lot of energy."

"There's no route [to team success], there's no road other than being able to be tough on both ends of the floor," Davis said.

How It Happened
First Half
• Georgetown started hot, hitting 6 of its first 9 shots from the floor and going on an 8-0 run to lead, 15-9, at the first timeout.
• Seven of Carolina's first 14 shot attempts came from three-point range, and the Tar Heels missed six of them. Overall in the half, UNC shot 66.7 percent (12 for 18) from two-point range and 26.7 percent (4 for 15) from outside the arc.
• The Tar Heels hit six consecutive shots to take a 30-25 lead, forcing a Hoya timeout with 8:20 to go until the break.
• Veesaar scored five points in a row and seven of the team's nine as UNC built a 37-32 lead at the final media timeout with 2:41 remaining. He finished the half with 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots (all game highs), along with two assists.

Second Half
• Carolina used a 12-2 run, including a 9-0 spurt in 1:25 to take its biggest lead at 62-47, forcing a Hoya timeout with 13:25 to go. Dixon, Veesaar and Jarin Stevenson all hit three-pointers during the run.
• The Hoyas missed 19 of their first 25 shots in the second half and 28 of 36 overall.
• Meanwhile, UNC hit 5 of its first 9 three-pointers after intermission and eventually pulled away from GU.

Notes
• The contest was the first game in the series in Chapel Hill since the third round of the 2003 NIT, a 79-74 Georgetown victory.
• Carolina wore white retro, 1980s-era uniforms for the game in honor of the 1982 NCAA Tournament meeting between the Tar Heels and Hoyas won by UNC for Dean Smith's first national title.
• The win was the Tar Heels' 495th in their 41st season playing in the Smith Center, improving to 495-90. UNC is 238-19 in the arena against non-conference opponents.

Up Next
With the Tar Heel players in the midst of fall semester final exams, the team has a light schedule this week and will return to action next Saturday December 13 at home against USC Upstate at 2 p.m. on The CW.