Henri Veesaar scored 25 points and Caleb Wilson scored 22 to power No. 17 North Carolina to an 87-84 victory over visiting Wake Forest Saturday night in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Wilson pulled down 12 rebounds while Veesaar grabbed nine, and the dominant posts missed just one shot each from the floor (17 of 19) and also combined for seven assists and three steals for the Tar Heels (14-2, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). Jaydon Young added 12 points and Seth Trimble added 10.
Another impressive duo powered Wake Forest (10-7, 1-3), as Juke Harris and Nate Calmese each scored 28 points apiece. Calmese also had nine assists and shot 7 of 11 from 3-point land.
UNC led wire to wire and was up by as many as 15 midway through the second half after a 13-4 run. That push was highlighted by Trimble throwing a lob to Veesaar for an alley-oop slam.
But Wake finally woke up and responded to attempt a comeback late in the game. The Demon Deacons broke a 17-3 run to make it a one-point game, 75-74, with about four minutes left. All but five of Wake’s points during that stretch were scored by Calmese, who made two 3-pointers during the crucial run.
The Tar Heels, however, never let the Demon Deacons get close to the lead. With less than 90 seconds left, Veesaar caught a lob from Wilson, faked a pump and then threw a reverse jam, giving UNC a four-point lead. Calmese made another 3-pointer, fading into the corner, with 6.2 seconds left to cut the deficit to one, but the Tar Heels’ Jarin Stevenson sank two free throws and Calmese’s game-tying shot at the buzzer was off the mark.
UNC scored 21 second-chance points off 13 offensive rebounds and outscored Wake 40-30 in the paint.
The Tar Heels’ victory was their 500th at the Dean Smith Center, which opened in 1986, and they won it in front of a sold-out crowd of 21,750.
–Field level media
