Men’s Basketball Hosting USC Upstate In Saturday Matinee – University of North Carolina Athletics

• Carolina (8-1) hosts USC Upstate (6-5) in the Smith Center at 2 p.m. on Saturday, December 13.
• The game is the first of UNC’s two appearances this season on The CW (Tom Werme, Mike Gminski).
• The Tar Heels are partnering with Wegmans and the UNC Children’s Hospital on a toy drive at Saturday’s game. Fans are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy to the game to support UNC Children’s Hospital. Donated toys will be available at no cost to families who are spending the holidays in the hospital.
• This is Carolina’s first game ever against USC Upstate.
• The Spartans are the second Big South opponent for the Tar Heels this season. Carolina beat Radford, 89-74, in the Smith Center on November 11.
• UNC and USC Upstate have played one common opponent to date. The Tar Heels beat NC Central, 97-53, while the Spartans defeated the Eagles, 82-67.
• The Tar Heels are 6-0 at home this season and 59-9 in the Smith Center in Hubert Davis’ five seasons as head coach.
• Carolina is coming off an 81-61 win over Georgetown on December 7. It was the fourth time both Caleb Wilson (20 points, 14 rebounds) and Henri Veesaar (18 points, 15 rebounds) had double-doubles in the same game.
• The Tar Heel defense held the Hoyas to 22.2% shooting and 22 points in the second half.
• Georgetown had 22 paint points and 10 fastbreak points in the first half. In the second half, UNC held the Hoyas to just 10 paint points and no fastbreak points.
• Carolina has won 2,403 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.

FRONTCOURT FORCES
• 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 35.5 points and 19.8 rebounds per game. They have combined for 25 blocked shots, 37 assists, shot 57.8% from the line and attempted 110 free throws.
• Wilson is averaging 19.3 points and 10.6 rebounds, and Veesaar is averaging 16.2 points and 9.2 rebounds.
• The last time two Tar Heels averaged at least 16 points and nine rebounds was 1959-60 (18.2 points and 11.2 rebounds by Lee Shaffer and 16.8 points and 11.3 rebounds by Doug Moe). Those are the only pairs of Tar Heels to average at least 16 and nine in a season.
• Wilson and Veesaar are the first Tar Heels to average 9.0 rebounds in the same season since John Henson (9.9) and Tyler Zeller (9.6) in 2011-12.
• Either Veesaar or Wilson has led the team in scoring and rebounding in eight of the first nine games.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
• Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson both have recorded double-doubles in points and rebounds four times (NC Central, St. Bonaventure, Kentucky and Georgetown).
• Wilson and Veesaar rank fifth & 10th, respectively, in the nation in double-doubles. No other team has two players in the top 10.
• The next time they both have double-doubles in a game will tie the eighth-most in a season by a pair of Tar Heels.

John Henson & Tyler Zeller 2011-12 9
Rusty Clark & Larry Miller 1966-67 8
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
Billy Cunningham & Ray Respess 1963-64 5
Raymond Felton & Sean May 2004-05 5
Quigg & Rosenbluth 1956-57 5
Kupchak & Tom LaGarde 1975-76 5
Clark & Miller 1967-68 5
Quigg & Rosenbluth 1955-56 5

NO ORDINARY ROOKIE
• Caleb Wilson may be a freshman, but he is averaging 19.3 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks while shooting 53.2% from the floor and 77.1% 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 nine games and has six double-doubles, In fact, he has 12 or more rebounds in all six of his double-doubles, including a season-high 14 in the previous game vs. Georgetown.
• 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 12th in the nation in rebounds per game (10.6), which leads the ACC and also leads all freshmen nationally.
• 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 fifth in the country in double-doubles (6).
• 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.

FROM ESTONIA TO CHAPEL HILL
• Red-shirt junior center Henri Veesaar, a transfer from Arizona, leads the team in field goal shooting (63.6%) and blocks (14) and is second in scoring (16.2) and rebounding (9.2).
• The Estonia native scored a game-high 17 points in the win at Kentucky and grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds in the win over Georgetown.
• Veesaar has five double-doubles in nine games as a Tar Heel, the first five of his collegiate career. He played in 66 games over two seasons at Arizona.
• He is second in the ACC and 10th nationally in double-doubles.
• Veesaar is second in the ACC and is 25th in the country in field goal shooting (63.6%).
• Veesaar has set numerous career bests as a Tar Heel, including points (24 vs. St. Bonaventure), rebounds (15 vs. Georgetown) and blocks (five vs. NC Central).
• He has established career highs in rebounds four times in nine games as a Tar Heel – 10 vs. Central Arkansas, 11 vs. NC Central, 13 vs. St. Bonaventure and 15 vs. Georgetown.
• 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 153.

BY THE NUMBERS
• The Tar Heels are 10th in the country in field goal percentage defense, holding their eight opponents to a combined 36.8% from the floor. They’ve held five opponents below 35%.
• This would be the lowest field goal percentage allowed by Carolina since 1956-57, when the opponents shot 35.2%.
• The last time UNC held the opponents below 40% over a season was 2014-15, when the opponents made 39.8%.
• UNC is 50-4 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 (40.5%) and fourth in effective field goal percentage (41.7%).
•  The opponents have shot under 40% from the floor in 11 of 18 halves.
• The Tar Heels have held each of their first nine opponents to fewer than 75 points, something they have done just two other times in the post-Dean Smith era. The 1997-98 Tar Heels didn’t yield 75 or more points in the first 12 games and the 2019-20 squad didn’t allow 75 or more in the first 10 games.
• Carolina is attempting 25.2 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 are making 8.0 three-pointers per game, while allowing 6.3 per game. UNC is in on track to make more 3FGs than its opponents for the fifth consecutive year. From 2006-07 to 2019-20, Carolina made more threes one time (in 2012-13).
• The Tar Heels have won the last 14 times they made more three-pointers than their opponent.
• Carolina has shot 50% or higher from the floor in four of the first nine 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 nine games. The Tar Heels are 97-24 under Davis when they outrebound their opponents.
• Freshman point guard Derek Dixon scored 38 of UNC’s 62 bench points over the last five games. That includes his season-high 14 points vs. Georgetown and the nine points he scored in the win at Kentucky.

AP RANKING
• Following last week’s wins over Kentucky and Georgetown, the Tar Heels moved up two spots to 14th 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 9th-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. USC UPSTATE
  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 111 college starts. That includes 45 by Kyan Evans, 36 by Jarin Stevenson, 14 by Henri Veesaar, nine by freshman Caleb Wilson and seven by Luka 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, 109 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
• Carolina plays only two games in Chapel Hill in January. This is the first time since the 1990-91 season UNC will play only twice at home in January.
• 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 five wins shy of 500 with an overall record (not counting preseason or exhibition games) of 495-90.
• The Tar Heels are 238-19 in the Smith Center against non-conference opponents.
• The Tar Heels have played 46.1% of their home games all-time in the Smith Center (585 of 1,269).
• USC Upstate is the 154th different opponent to play a regular-season or NIT game in the Smith Center against the Tar Heels.
• Carolina has won 495 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.