UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. Central Arkansas 94-54 Win

UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Steamrolls Central Arkansas in the Season Opener

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

The North Carolina basketball team opened their 2025-2026 season against Central Arkansas on Monday night. Coming into this game, there was some uncertainty whether their highly touted international transfer, Luka Bogavac, would be able to play. However, just minutes before the game, Luka Bogavac’s issues were resolved, and he was cleared to play. Early in this game, Caleb Wilson made his presence known with four ferocious dunks in the first three minutes of the game, setting the tone for the Heels. UNC jumped out to a 21-8 lead in the opening minutes of the game after forcing some turnovers and getting out in transition for easy baskets.

North Carolina’s ball movement and activity were excellent, moving the ball to the open man for quality shots and crashing the offensive glass for putbacks. Defensively, Carolina was all over Central Arkansas, forcing them into tough shots with their defensive pressure and intensity. The Tar Heels went on an 18-0 run from the 13-minute mark to the 5-minute mark, helping the Heels extend their lead to as much as 28 in the first half. Kiyan Evans and Caleb Wilson led the way with 12 points each on 9-11 combined from the field. UNC held Central Arkansas to just 23 first-half points and 32% from the field. 

In the second half, North Carolina continued to dominate on both ends of the floor, and the game was never in doubt after the first few minutes of the game. There were stretches where the Heels were sloppy with the ball when the second unit came in the game, but they eventually settled in. Five different UNC players finished the game in double figures, including Caleb Wilson with 22 points, Kyan Evans with 15 points, Henri Veesar with 14 points, Seth Trimble with 12 points, and Luka Bogavac with 10 points. The Tar Heels had 23 assists on 33 made baskets and shot 50% from the field. Carolina’s defense was tremendous throughout as their size, length, and athleticism just overwhelmed Central Arkansas and had them out of sorts, forcing them to shoot under 32% from the field. North Carolina’s energy, effort, and relentlessness on both ends of the floor propelled them to the first win of the season in impressive fashion. 

UNC Stats

	1	2	T
Cent. Arkansas 0-1	23	31	54
25 North Carolina 1-0	51	43	94

North Carolina

Starters	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
C. Wilson	22	4	3	8/10	1/1	5/6	2	24	1	1	2
K. Evans	15	6	5	5/8	4/7	1/2	2	25	4	0	2
H. Veesaar	14	10	1	6/9	0/1	2/2	1	25	1	1	2
S. Trimble	12	2	4	4/8	0/2	4/4	2	25	2	0	2
J. Stevenson	5	1	0	1/4	0/1	3/4	0	19	0	0	0

Bench	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
L. Bogavac	10	3	5	3/9	1/5	3/4	1	20	2	0	1
J. Young	5	1	0	2/4	1/3	0/0	1	6	1	0	0
I. Denis	5	1	0	2/2	1/1	0/0	0	4	0	0	1
D. Dixon	3	6	0	1/2	1/2	0/0	4	13	1	0	0
J. Powell	3	0	1	1/6	1/6	0/0	0	16	1	0	1
Z. High	0	4	2	0/3	0/0	0/0	0	11	0	1	1
I. Matlekovic	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	2	0	0	0
J. Brown	0	1	1	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	4	0	0	0
E. Davis	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	2	0	0	0
J. Holbrook	0	1	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	2	0	0	0
E. Smith	0	1	1	0/0	0/0	0/0	1	2	0	0	0
Total	94	41	23	33/65	10/29	18/22	14	–	13	3	12

Cent. Arkansas

Starters	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
C. McCormick	9	4	0	4/5	1/2	0/0	5	20	0	0	1
R. Bolden	8	5	1	3/10	1/3	1/2	2	24	1	0	0
T. Robinson	8	2	2	2/9	2/6	2/2	2	19	1	0	2
C. Hunter	5	3	1	2/11	1/4	0/0	1	23	1	0	3
M. Marable	3	1	1	1/3	0/0	1/2	3	15	0	0	0

Bench	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
L. Moore	8	3	1	3/10	2/7	0/0	0	19	3	0	1
J. Guy-King	7	3	2	2/5	1/3	2/2	4	14	0	1	5
C. Mason	4	2	0	2/5	0/1	0/0	1	13	0	0	1
P. Applegate	2	2	0	1/2	0/1	0/0	2	16	2	0	1
O. Dehrmann	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	2	0	0	0
E. Thomas	0	0	0	0/1	0/0	0/1	0	2	0	0	0
T. Lee	0	1	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	8	0	0	0
T. Byrne	0	0	0	0/1	0/1	0/0	2	12	0	0	2
H. Beauchamp	0	1	0	0/2	0/1	0/0	0	11	0	0	1
J. Shulman	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	2	0	0	0
R. Newton	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
R. Marshall	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total	54	27	8	20/64	8/29	6/9	22	–	8	1	17

UNC Bright Spots  

Caleb Wilson had 22 points, 4 rebounds,3 assists,1 steal, and 1 block. 

Kyan Evans had 15 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals. 

Henri Veesar had 14 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block. 

Seth Trimble had 12 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals. 

Luka Bogavac had 10 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals. 

Needs Work  

The Tar Heels need to make sure they are not getting stagnant offensively in the halfcourt. There needs to be constant ball movement and player movement to create advantages for someone to take a quality shot. They also must do a better job of protecting the basketball, not being sloppy with the ball, trying to make the spectacular or difficult pass or having careless turnovers. 

Final Observations 

The Tar Heels win their first game of the season and put on display all the different skillsets they possess on the basketball court. Over the next couple of weeks, it will be about defining roles for each player, each player understanding their role, and then learning to thrive in that role.  There is no doubt that this team is extremely talented. This team has size, length, athleticism, shooting, and versatility. They have players that can shoot the three, create for themselves and others offensively, post up, hit the midrange, crash the offensive glass at a high level, and guard the perimeter and in the post effectively.

Most importantly, this Carolina team plays hard defensively and just plays unselfish basketball. They play an exciting brand of basketball, up-tempo fast fast-paced with energy, effort, and relentlessness on both ends of the floor. This Tar Heel team also has depth and can go 9 to 10 deep if need be. They have lineup versatility, have the option to go big or small, and have different unique lineup combinations that can all be successful because of how the different players’ skillsets complement each other so well. This team is well-balanced and has the ingredients to become a very good team. It will be up to the coaching staff to get the most out of the team and help push them to reach their potential. Next up is Kansas on Friday, November 7, at 7:00 P.M. on ESPN.