UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs Va. Tech 89-82 Win
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Holds Off the Va. Tech Hokies With Strong Play From the Bench to Earn Another Home Victory
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The Tar Heels basketball team faced off against Virginia Tech on Saturday night. It was a back-and-forth game between the two squads throughout the first half with 8 lead changes. North Carolina got whatever they wanted offensively when they attacked the basket or had great ball movement that led to a great shot. However, Virginia Tech was able to hang around because of UNC’s 8 turnovers and porous paint defense. Virginia Tech had 12 points off turnovers and outscored the Heels 22-12 in the paint. Jonathan Powell came off the bench and gave Carolina a huge boost with 12 first-half points, giving the Heels the offensive spark they needed. Both teams shot over 50% in the first half, and it was tied 44-44 going into halftime.
Seth Trimble and Henri Veesaar both had big second halves, with Trimble scoring 13 and Veesaar scoring 18 in the second half alone. They led the way for the Tar Heels who were able to gain a decent lead over the Virginia Tech. The Heels did a much better job of not allowing the Hokies to get inside the paint easily and forced them into more contested shots, along with increasing their ball pressure and being more active in the passing lanes. Meanwhile, the Hokies had no answers for North Carolina’s ability to score inside the paint, whether that be through dribble penetration or through the post. When the Tar Heels got into the paint, they were either scoring or going to the free-throw line, which allowed them to take control of the game in the second half after they were able to lock up Virginia Tech’s offense. UNC had four players finish in double figures, had 32 points from their bench, and shot an efficient 56% from the floor as they got a quality 89-82 win over Virginia Tech.
UNC Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| Virginia Tech 18-11 | 44 | 38 | 82 |
| 18 North Carolina 23-6 | 44 | 45 | 89 |
| Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| H. Veesaar | 26 | 7 | 2 | 11/20 | 2/7 | 2/3 | 1 | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| S. Trimble | 20 | 2 | 4 | 7/12 | 1/1 | 5/8 | 3 | 35 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| L. Bogavac | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1/3 | 0/2 | 3/4 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| J. Stevenson | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2/3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 5 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| D. Dixon | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1/4 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Powell | 15 | 5 | 1 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 | 1 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Z. High | 12 | 5 | 1 | 2/3 | 0/1 | 8/8 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| K. Evans | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 2/2 | 2 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Young | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| I. Denis | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| E. Davis | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Holbrook | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| E. Smith | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 89 | 30 | 16 | 29/52 | 8/20 | 23/30 | 13 | 200 | 5 | 2 | 12 |
| Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| N. Avdalas | 19 | 3 | 5 | 7/16 | 3/6 | 2/2 | 3 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| T. Lawal | 16 | 5 | 1 | 6/7 | 1/2 | 3/3 | 3 | 35 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| B. Hammond | 16 | 3 | 5 | 5/14 | 0/2 | 6/6 | 4 | 38 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| A. Hansberry | 11 | 1 | 1 | 5/7 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 5 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| J. Bedford | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3/9 | 1/4 | 0/0 | 3 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Schutt | 9 | 1 | 1 | 3/7 | 3/7 | 0/0 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| C. Gurdak | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| T. Johnson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Dorn | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| I. Pasha | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| S. Davis | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| B. Freeman | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 82 | 19 | 16 | 31/62 | 9/23 | 11/11 | 24 | 200 | 6 | 2 | 8 |
UNC Bright Spots
Henri Veesaar had 26 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.
Seth Trimble had 20 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal.
Jonathan Powell had 15 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal.
Zayden High had 12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal.
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 play through the bigs and attack the basket aggressively to collapse the defense, which will generate better shots for them.
The Heels need to learn how to extend their leads. Too often, when they get up in the game, they relax and stop doing the successful things that gave them their lead. They must continue to execute at a high level on both ends of the floor, even when they have big leads.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels improve to 23-6 on the season and are now 17-0 at home. UNC has won 9 of its last 11 games and has gone 4-1 without Caleb Wilson. They are playing some good basketball right now, and that bodes well for them going forward with Caleb Wilson nearing his return. Since Caleb Wilson has been out, everyone has needed to step up and do more to fill his void. With multiple players having more responsibility, the confidence of players such as Zayden High, Jonathan Powell, and Luka Bogavac has gone up. Those guys being confident in their abilities will take the pressure off Caleb Wilson coming back from injury, and he’ll be able to ease his way back in. Free-throw shooting and learning how to play with leads are still areas that this team needs to work on, but those things are very fixable. With two games left in the regular season, the Tar Heels will look to end the season on a high note and take that momentum going into conference tournament play. Next up is Clemson on Tuesday, March 3, at 7:00 P.M. on ESPN.
Excellent win over a very solid Va. Tech Team. I was surprised how good they were, but even being short-handed, we still won an important game.
Very impressed with the win over Va Tech. I was surprised how good of a team Va Tech has. And for us to beat them without our best player, we’re starting to come together here at the right time. Evans played an awesome game, and seemed to be more locked in than Dixon was. Powell also came to play!!