UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs Duke 71-68 Win
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Snatches Victory Out of the Jaws of Defeat Against the Duke Blue Devils
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
North Carolina and Duke played their 266th matchup in their historic rivalry on Saturday night. UNC got off to a slow start and found themselves down 14-5 in the first few minutes. Duke was the more physical team and dictated the pace in the early going. The Tar Heels took a while to adjust to Duke’s physicality, but when they did, the game changed. Seth Trimble kept the Heels in it with his scoring in the beginning, and about midway through the first half, Caleb Wilson took over, scoring or assisting on 14 straight for the Tar Heels. Carolina cut the Duke lead to one after getting consecutive stops, finding success attacking the paint, and getting Duke’s bigs in foul trouble.
However, after some defensive lapses and questionable shot selection, the Heels were back down by double figures. The Blue Devils outscored UNC 18-4 in the paint. outrebounded them 22-11, and had 13 second-chance points in the first half, which is usually all categories in which North Carolina dominates their opponents in. If it wasn’t for Caleb Wilson, the Heels would’ve been down by much more going into halftime. Wilson had 17 points on 5/9 of the field, while everyone else on Carolina was 4/20 from the field. The Tar Heels had their worst offensive first half of the season and allowed Duke to force them into consistently taking tough shots on most possessions. Meanwhile, UNC gave up too many wide-open shots and easy shots around the basket, leading to their 41-29 deficit at halftime.
In the second half, North Carolina and Duke were trading baskets to start. However, the Tar Heels would need consecutive stops to get back into this game. As the second half went along, UNC played much better defensively. The Heels increased their ball pressure, double-teamed and set up traps when needed, and were very active in the passing lanes. Henri Veesaar was held scoreless in the first half, but made his presence felt after halftime with 13 second-half points, helping the Heels cut into the lead. The Heels were much better attacking the basket and generating quality shots on their offensive possessions. Every time it felt like the Tar Heels were getting close, they would go through a scoring drought that allowed Duke to hang onto the lead a little longer.
Carolina would keep fighting until the very end, and the game would go down to the wire in the closing minutes. With about 2 minutes and 50 seconds left, the Tar Heels trailed 68-62, and they would finish the game with a 9-0 run, outscoring the Blue Devils 42-27 in the second half. Derek Dixon hit a key three-pointer late to cut the lead to three with 2 minutes left, followed by a Henri Veesaar three-pointer to tie the game at 68 after a couple of key stops. Carolina did a much better job of making Duke take contested shots at the rim and on the perimeter and communicating with their defensive rotations. Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson made it tough on Cam Boozer late and forced him into contested layups that ended in stops for the Heels. With 10 seconds left in the game and the score tied at 68, Derek Dixon would dribble to the left side of the floor, drive into the paint, collapse 3 defenders in his area, kick it out to Seth Trimble for a wide open three on the right wing, and Trimble drilled it for the win, hitting one of the best shots in the rivalry history to close out a UNC win over Duke.
UNC Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| 4 Duke 21-2 | 41 | 27 | 68 |
| 14 North Carolina 19-4 | 29 | 42 | 71 |
| Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| C. Wilson | 23 | 4 | 2 | 8/12 | 1/2 | 6/6 | 1 | 40 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| S. Trimble | 16 | 2 | 0 | 5/7 | 1/1 | 5/8 | 3 | 31 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| H. Veesaar | 13 | 11 | 1 | 6/9 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| D. Dixon | 8 | 3 | 4 | 3/8 | 2/4 | 0/0 | 1 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| J. Stevenson | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2/6 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 1 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Powell | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1/3 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| L. Bogavac | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1/7 | 1/4 | 0/0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Young | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| K. Evans | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Z. High | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| I. Denis | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| I. Matlekovic | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Brown | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| E. Davis | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Holbrook | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| E. Smith | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 71 | 25 | 9 | 26/55 | 8/19 | 11/14 | 7 | – | 5 | 3 | 7 |
| Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| C. Boozer | 24 | 11 | 2 | 10/21 | 2/4 | 2/2 | 2 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| D. Sarr | 13 | 6 | 1 | 5/6 | 2/3 | 1/2 | 1 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| I. Evans | 11 | 2 | 2 | 4/14 | 1/4 | 2/2 | 1 | 34 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| C. Foster | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4/8 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 2 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| P. Ngongba II | 4 | 7 | 1 | 2/5 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 5 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| C. Boozer | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2/4 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M. Brown | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1/3 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 4 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| N. Khamenia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| I. Ufochukwu | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Scott | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| S. Wilkins | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| D. Harris | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| C. Sheffield | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 68 | 34 | 12 | 28/62 | 7/19 | 5/6 | 15 | – | 6 | 1 | 8 |
UNC Bright Spots
Caleb Wilson had 23 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.
Seth Trimble had 16 points, 3 steals, 2 rebounds, and 1 block.
Henri Veesar had 13 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels need to make sure they are not allowing the defense to dictate what shots they take. The shot selection must be better. They must consistently attack the basket aggressively to collapse the defense, which will generate better perimeter shots for them.
The Tar Heels need to play hard for 40 minutes. They need to play with a sense of urgency to start games and not have stretches where they play lackadaisical basketball or just look uninterested out there on the floor.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels improve to a 19-4 record and extend their winning streak to 5. They also continue to be undefeated at home. The Heels are in a good position and are finding different ways to win games. They won this game despite not playing well for most of the game. But it really counted; they got stops, and Henri Veesar, Caleb Wilson, Seth Trimble, and Derek Dixon all made winning plays to help pull out the win. UNC didn’t get much help from the bench, but was still able to beat a really good team. That means something, but going forward, they will need their bench to step up and produce to ensure they make a deep tournament run.
The Tar Heels also showed that they will go as far as their defense takes them. They can score with the best of them in the country, but if they don’t defend, they won’t go far. They must be more focused and locked in on defense, and have shown in stretches that they can be one of the best in the country. It’s all about consistency at this stage in the season, and a win like this can propel this team to where they truly want to be. North Carolina still hasn’t played their best basketball yet, but when they do we will see how dangerous and good this team can ultimately become. Next up is Miami on Tuesday, February 10, at 7:00 P.M. on ESPN.
Celebrate the win. It will not be easy when they go to Duke. If they don’t play with more aggressive, it may be a blow out loss.