\n<\/p>\n
WITHOUT CALEB<\/strong> HUBERT THE FIRST WITH FIVE<\/strong> CAROLINA & THE ACC<\/strong> SETH’S 30-PIECE<\/strong> WILSON REWRITING THE RECORD BOOK<\/strong> 20-Point Games by a UNC Freshman<\/strong> \u2022 Wilson leads the Tar Heels in scoring, rebounding, offensive rebounds, steals, free throws (made and attempted) and blocks and is second in assists and field goal percentage. SINGLE-SEASON SCORING, UNC FRESHMAN<\/strong> \u2022 Hansbrough (in 2005-06) is the only Tar Heel freshman to lead the team in both scoring and rebounding. He also led the team as a freshman in steals. No Tar Heel freshman has ever led the team in scoring, rebounding, blocks and steals. SINGLE-SEASON REBOUNDING, UNC FRESHMAN<\/strong> \u2022 He scored in double figures in the first 24 games and has 11 double-doubles, the second-most by a Carolina freshman. He had 12 or more rebounds in 10 of his 11 double-doubles, including a season-high 16 vs. Florida State.<\/p>\n Double-Doubles by a UNC Freshman <\/strong> \u2022 Wilson is second in the ACC in rebounding, third in double-doubles, fourth in scoring and fifth in field goal percentage. VEESAAR MAKING ACC HISTORY<\/strong> HENRI FROM 3<\/strong> NATIONAL RANKINGS<\/strong> THREES<\/strong> MOST THREE-POINTERS MADE PER GAME<\/strong> \u2022 Carolina is attempting 25.0 three-pointers per game, which would break the previous school record of 23.9 in 2018-19. MOST THREE-POINTERS ATTEMPTED PER GAME<\/strong> \u2022 The Tar Heels are making 8.4 threes per game while allowing 7.9. UNC is in on track to make more 3FG than its opponents for the fifth consecutive year. From 2006-07 to 2019-20, Carolina made more 3FGs one time (in 2012-13).<\/p>\n TURNOVERS<\/strong> ASSIST\/TURNOVERS<\/strong> WINS VS. LOSSES<\/strong> 500+ WINS IN THE SMITH CENTER<\/strong> IN-SEASON AWARDS<\/strong> CAROLINA-DUKE A RATINGS HIT<\/strong> PRESEASON ALL-ACC, POLL<\/strong> HUBERT DAVIS: YEAR FIVE<\/strong> 2025-26 SCHEDULE NOTES<\/strong> TAR HEELS IN THE NBA<\/strong> GAME 29: VIRGINIA TECH \u2022 Carolina closes out the month of February on Saturday when it hosts Virginia Tech at 8:30 p.m. \u2022 This is the penultimate home game of the season. The Tar Heels are 16-0 in the Dean E. Smith Center. They host the Hokies on Saturday and Clemson at 7 p.m. on … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Mens-Basketball-Hosting-Virginia-Tech-Saturday-Night.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22185"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22187,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22185\/revisions\/22187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u2022 Carolina’s fabulous freshman Caleb Wilson<\/a><\/dfn> played in the first 24 games before suffering a hand injury that has sidelined him the last four games.
\n\u2022 With Wilson, the Tar Heels went 19-5, averaged 81.9 points (82.5 in ACC play), shot 47.7% from the floor, were a plus 5.1 in rebound margin and shot 68.8% from the line (Wilson attempted 32.4% of the team’s free throws and was shooting 71.3%).
\n\u2022 The Tar Heels are 3-1 without Wilson. In those games, Carolina is averaging 72.8 points, shot 45.7% from the floor, has been outrebounded by 2.0 per game and is shooting 62.4% from the line.
\n\u2022 In the first 24 games, three Tar Heels were averaging double figures \u2013 Wilson (19.8), Henri Veesaar<\/a><\/dfn> (16.4) and Seth Trimble<\/a><\/dfn> (13.5). In the last four games, five Tar Heels are averaging double figures, led by Trimble’s 16.5 per game.
\n\u2022 In Wilson’s last six games (UNC was 5-1), the Tar Heels were 17th in the nation in offensive efficiency and 56th defensively. In the last four games, Carolina is 86th in offensive efficiency and 49th defensively.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 With 22 wins this season, Carolina has won 20 or more games an ACC-record 66 times (Duke is second with 60).
\n\u2022 Nationally, Kentucky is first with 68 20-win seasons (the Wildcats enter Saturday 18-10). UNC is second and Duke is third.
\n\u2022 Hubert Davis<\/a><\/dfn> is the first men’s basketball coach in ACC history to win 20 or more games in each of his first five seasons.
\n\u2022 Only three other ACC coaches ever won 20 or more in their first four seasons (Duke’s Jon Scheyer, NC State’s Mark Gottfried and Wake Forest’s Skip Prosser).
\n\u2022 Bill Guthridge won 20 or more in his only three seasons as head coach of the Tar Heels.
\n\u2022 Davis has led the Tar Heels to 19 wins over nationally-ranked opponents, including nine 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 and No. 4 Duke in 2026).
\n\u2022 Carolina has beaten Kansas, Kentucky and Duke this season, the second time ever and first time since 1981-82 the Tar Heels have wins over those three teams in the same season.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 This is the 73rd season of competition in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tar Heels were a charter member of the league, which began play in the 1953-54 season.
\n\u2022 Carolina is the only school with 50 or more combined ACC men’s basketball championships (33 regular season and 18 Tournament). Duke is second with 44 (21 regular season and 23 Tournament) and NC State is next with 18 (seven regular season and 11 Tournament).
\n\u2022 Hubert Davis<\/a><\/dfn> is 66-29 in regular-season ACC games. Only one other team has more ACC wins in the last five seasons.
\n\u2022 Davis led the Tar Heels to ACC records of 15-5, 11-9, 17-3 and 13-7 in the previous four seasons. The 2023-24 team won the regular-season title, Carolina’s 33rd.
\n\u2022 Carolina is 781-325 (.706) in regular-season ACC games. The 781 wins are the most in ACC history. Duke is second with 751.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Senior guard Seth Trimble<\/a><\/dfn> made a career-high 11 field goals (11 for 16) and scored a career-best 30 points in the Tar Heels’ win over Louisville.
\n\u2022 It was the most points by a Tar Heel this season and first 30-point game since RJ Davis<\/a><\/dfn> had 30 in Maui against Dayton last season. Ironically, Trimble’s previous career high (27) came in that same game, a 92-90 win over the Flyers.
\n\u2022 Trimble is averaging a career-high 14.2 points this season, an increase of 2.6 per game from last season. He averaged 1.8 as a freshman, 5.2 as a sophomore and 11.6 as a junior.
\n\u2022 The 30-point effort against the Cardinals was his third game this season with 20 or more points. He had 20 against Florida State and 22 at SMU in the Tar Heels’ first two ACC games.
\n\u2022 It was the first 30-point game by a Tar Heel in the Smith Center since RJ Davis<\/a><\/dfn> set the arena record with 42 vs. Miami on 2\/26\/2024.
\n\u2022 The Louisville game was the second this season Trimble was KenPom’s MVP (also at Virginia).<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Caleb Wilson<\/a><\/dfn> is on the Late-Season Watch Lists for the John R. Wooden National Player of the Year and Naismith Trophy. He was a mid-season candidate for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year, Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year, USBWA’s Oscar Robertson Trophy and Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Year awards.
\n\u2022 The 6-10 Atlanta native has made an immediate impact on the Tar Heel record book, becoming the first freshman to score 20 or more points in six consecutive games (from Georgetown through Florida State). The previous record was five by Phil Ford in 1974-75.
\n\u2022 Wilson had another five-game streak of 20-point games ended in the loss at Miami. He is the only UNC freshman with two streaks of five or more 20-point games.
\n\u2022 Wilson has scored 20 or more points 17 times, including a season-high 26 at Stanford. His 17 20-point games have already surpassed Tyler Hansbrough’s previous UNC single-season rookie record. Hansbrough scored 20 or more 14 times in earning first-team All-America and first-team All-ACC honors in 2005-06.
\n\u2022 Wilson, Hansbrough, Rashad McCants and Ford are the only UNC freshmen with 10 or more 20-point games.<\/p>\n
\nCaleb Wilson<\/a><\/dfn>, 2025-26 17<\/strong>
\nTyler Hansbrough, 2005-06 14
\nRashad McCants, 2002-03 12
\nPhil Ford, 1974-75 10<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 His scoring average of 19.8 points per game is on pace to set the UNC freshman record.<\/p>\n
\n19.8 Caleb Wilson<\/a><\/dfn>, 2025-26<\/strong>
\n18.9 Tyler Hansbrough, 2005-06
\n18.5 Cole Anthony, 2019-20
\n17.0 Rashad McCants, 2002-03
\n16.7 Joseph Forte, 1999-2000<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Joseph Forte (16.7 ppg in 1999-2000), 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) have led UNC in scoring as freshman.
\n\u2022 Hansbrough (7.8 rpg in 2005-06), Antawn Jamison (9.7 in 1995-96) and J.R. Reid (7.4 in 1986-87) have led UNC in rebounding as a freshman.
\n\u2022 Wilson is averaging 9.4 rebounds, second-most by a UNC freshman behind only Jamison.<\/p>\n
\n9.7 Antawn Jamison, 1995-96
\n9.4 Caleb Wilson<\/a><\/dfn>, 2025-26<\/strong>
\n8.3 Armando Bacot, 2019-20
\n7.8 Tyler Hansbrough, 2005-06
\n7.8 Sam Perkins, 1980-81<\/p>\n
\n(all points and rebounds)<\/strong>
\n13 Antawn Jamison, 1995-96
\n11 Caleb Wilson<\/a><\/dfn>, 2025-26<\/strong>
\n11 Armando Bacot, 2019-20
\n\u00a0 9 J.R. Reid, 1986-87
\n\u00a0 9 Sam Perkins, 1980-81<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Wilson and Duke’s Cameron Boozer are the only players in the top five in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and double-doubles.
\n\u2022 Wilson set a UNC freshman record with four consecutive double-doubles against Radford, NC Central, Navy and St. Bonaventure. Bacot (twice), Jamison and O’Koren were the only Tar Heel freshmen with three in a row.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Red-shirt junior center Henri Veesaar<\/a><\/dfn>, a transfer from Arizona, leads the team in field goal shooting (61.4%) and three-point accuracy (43.1%) and is second in scoring (16.3), rebounding (8.5) and blocks (32).
\n\u2022 Veesaar could become the first player in ACC men’s basketball history to block 30 shots, make 30 three-pointers and shoot 60% from the floor in a season. He enters the Virginia Tech game with 32 blocks, 31 threes and is shooting 61.4% from the floor.
\n\u2022 Veesaar is one of only seven Tar Heels to make 30 three-pointers and block 30 shots in the same season. The list includes Jerry Stackhouse in 1994-95, Vince Carter in 1997-98, Jawad Williams in 2002-03, Danny Green in 2007-08 and 2008-09, Luke Maye in 2017-18, Pete Nance in 2022-23 and Veesaar.
\n\u2022 Veesaar is 16th in the country 49 dunks. He is one of two players in the country with 45 or more dunks and 30 or more three-pointers (Marshall’s Wyatt Hicks is the other).
\n\u2022 The Estonia native nearly had a double-double in the second half in the win over Duke. In the first half, Duke built a 41-29 lead as Veesaar was 0 for 2 from the floor, scoreless, had two rebounds and was minus 20. However, in the second half, he made six of seven shots from the floor, scored 13 points, pulled down nine rebounds, hit the game-tying three-pointer with 1:40 to play and was a plus 15.
\n\u2022 Veesaar is second in the ACC and 16th in the country with 13 double-doubles, the first 13 of his collegiate career. He played in 66 games over two seasons at Arizona.
\n\u2022 He is also second in the ACC and 20th nationally in field goal percentage, fifth in the ACC in rebounding and 11th in points per game.
\n\u2022 He has scored in double figures in 25 of his 26 games (except Virginia, when he scored seven).
\n\u2022 Veesaar has set numerous career bests as a Tar Heel, including points (26 vs. ETSU and Stanford), rebounds (15 vs. Georgetown), offensive rebounds (six vs. Florida State), blocks (five vs. NC Central), assists (five vs. Ohio State) and three-pointers (four vs. ECU).
\n\u2022 He has scored 20 or more points six times \u2013 26 vs. ETSU and Stanford, 25 vs. Wake Forest, 24 vs. the Bonnies, 20 vs. Kansas and 20 at Georgia Tech. He had one 20-point game in his first two seasons at Arizona.
\n\u2022 Veesaar leads UNC in plus\/minus at plus 314 and has led the Tar Heels in plus\/minus eight times, the most on the team.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Henri Veesaar<\/a><\/dfn> is Carolina’s first 7-footer ever to make multiple three-pointers.
\n\u2022 Veesaar is 31 for 72 from three and leads the team in three-point percentage (.431).
\n\u2022 He is tied for fourth on the team in three-pointers.
\n\u2022 Prior to this season, two 7-footers made one three apiece. Serge Zwikker made a three in the ACC semifinals vs. Tim Duncan’s Wake Forest Demon Deacons on 3\/8\/1997 and Walker Kessler made one vs. Northeastern on 2\/17\/2021.
\n\u2022 Veesaar has made two or more three-pointers eight times this season, including a career-high four vs. ECU.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Offensively, the Tar Heels are 15th in turnovers and turnover percentage, 16th in the country in assist\/turnover ratio and 33rd in offensive efficiency.
\n\u2022 The Tar Heels are 43rd in the country in field goal percentage defense, holding their opponents to a combined 41.2% from the floor. They’ve held seven opponents below 35% and 12 under 40%.
\n\u2022 Including the win over Louisville, UNC is 12-0 this season and 57-4 under head coach Hubert Davis<\/a><\/dfn> when holding opponents under 40% from the floor. By contrast, Carolina is 0-4 this season and 6-19 under Davis when the opponents make 50%.
\n\u2022 The Tar Heel defense is 12th in the country in two-point field goal percentage defense (45.4%) and 33rd in effective field goal percentage (47.5%).
\n\u2022 Louisville came into the game shooting 60.1% on two-point field goal attempts, but the Tar Heels held the Cardinals to 46.2% from inside the arc.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Carolina is making 8.43 three-pointers per game, on pace for the second-highest average in a season behind only 2018-19, when the Tar Heel lineup included Cameron Johnson, Coby White, Kenny Williams and Luke Maye.
\n\u2022 Five different Tar Heels have made at least 30 three-pointers \u2013 Luka Bogavac<\/a><\/dfn> (43), Derek Dixon<\/a><\/dfn> (35), Jonathan Powell<\/a><\/dfn> (32), Henri Veesaar<\/a><\/dfn> (31) and Kyan Evans<\/a><\/dfn> (31).<\/p>\n
\n8.67 in 2018-19 (312 in 36 games)
\n8.43 in 2025-26 (236 in 28 games)<\/strong>
\n8.41 in 2021-22 (328 in 39 games)
\n8.29 in 2002-03 (290 in 35 games)
\n8.25 in 1982-83 (132 in 16 games \u2013 ACC games only)<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 UNC is on pace to attempt more three-pointers than free throws for the second time ever. The Tar Heels have launched 700 threes and attempted 643 free throws. This would be the first season since 2001-02 when they take more threes than free throws.
\n\u2022 The Tar Heels attempted a season-high 34 threes against Notre Dame and made a season-best 13 vs. the Irish on January 21.<\/p>\n
\n25.00 in 2025-26 (700 in 28 games)<\/strong>
\n23.94 in 2018-19 (862 in 36 games)
\n23.49 in 2021-22 (916 in 39 games)
\n23.49 in 2002-03 (822 in 35 games)
\n22.95 in 2017-18 (849 in 37 games)<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 UNC is averaging 9.39 turnovers, its fewest ever (previous low is 10.08 in 2023-24).
\n\u2022 The Tar Heels have committed fewer than five turnovers three times this season (four at Virginia, two at Georgia Tech and four vs. Pitt). This is the first time UNC ever had three games in one season with four or fewer turnovers. The 2014-15 Tar Heels had two games with four or fewer; in no other season did UNC have more than one.
\n\u2022 Carolina has turned the ball over fewer than 10 times in 12 of 28 games (the Tar Heels have won 11 straight and are 11-1 in those 12 games).
\n\u2022 Carolina has committed 10 or more turnovers in each of the last five losses.
\n\u2022 Including this season, Hubert Davis<\/a><\/dfn>‘ teams have produced the four-lowest turnover per game averages and five of the six-lowest in UNC history.
\n\u2022 The Tar Heels force 9.5 turnovers per game. Carolina is 339th in the nation in forced turnovers. The opponents’ 9.5 turnovers are the fewest forced in a season by the Tar Heels (previous 9.7 in 2021-22).<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Carolina’s assist\/turnover ratio of 1.72 is the best in UNC history (previous 1.65 in 2015-16).
\n\u2022 Every player on the team who plays at least 10 minutes a game has more assists than turnovers.
\n\u2022 The Tar Heels are on track to make this the first season when every player who averages double-figure minutes has more assists than turnovers since turnovers were officially recorded beginning in 1979-80.
\n\u2022 Among the eight players who average 10 or more minutes, Kyan Evans<\/a><\/dfn> has the best assist\/turnover ratio (2.47). He is followed by Jonathan Powell<\/a><\/dfn> (2.44) Luka Bogavac<\/a><\/dfn> (2.37) and Derek Dixon<\/a><\/dfn> (2.18).
\n\u2022 Caleb Wilson<\/a><\/dfn> has 64 assists and 47 turnovers (1.36). He is the first Tar Heel to average 9.0 or more rebounds and have more assists than turnovers since Luke Maye in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Maye is the only Tar Heel to accomplish that.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Notable statistical comparisons between Carolina’s 22 wins and six losses:
\n\u2022 UNC averages 82.9 points in the wins and 72.2 in the losses.
\n\u2022 The Tar Heels allow 67.0 points in the wins and 84.5 points in the losses.
\n\u2022 The opponents are shooting 52.2% from the floor, including 49.2% from three, in the six losses and 38.4\/30.5 in Carolina’s 22 wins.
\n\u2022 The Tar Heels have a rebound margin of 5.1 in the wins and have the same number of rebounds as the opponents in the losses.
\n\u2022 Carolina makes 1.4 more three-pointers than the opponents in the wins, while the opponents have averaged 2.9 more in the losses. The Tar Heels have been outscored by a total of 51 points from three in the six losses.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 This is the 41st season the Tar Heels are playing in the Dean E. Smith Center.
\n\u2022 The win over Wake Forest on January 10 was UNC’s 500th in the Smith Center.
\n\u2022 Carolina is 505-90 in regular-season and NIT games in the Smith Center.
\n\u2022 UNC became the ninth current ACC team with 500 or more wins in their respective home venues.
\n\u2022 Carolina has won 84.9% of its games in the Smith Center. Only one team in the ACC that has 500 or more wins in its current venue has a higher winning percentage.
\n\u2022 Carolina is 264-71 (.788) in ACC games in the Smith Center.
\n\u2022 The Tar Heels have won 16 straight games in the Smith Center, all this season.
\n\u2022 The 16-game winning streak is the longest in the Smith Center since a 22-game streak that began 2\/20\/2016 and ended 12\/20\/2017.
\n\u2022 UNC has played 46.5% of its home games in the Smith Center (595 of 1,279).
\n\u2022 Carolina has played 154 different opponents in regular-season or NIT games in the Smith Center.
\n\u2022 The Smith Center is the fifth home venue for the Tar Heels. Carolina has won 505 games and four NCAA titles in the Smith Center, 210 games and one NCAA title in Woollen Gym (1939-65), 170 games and one NCAA title in Carmichael Auditorium (1965-86, 2010), 130 in the Indoor Athletic Court (1924-38) and 63 in Bynum Gym (1911-23).<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Freshman forward Caleb Wilson<\/a><\/dfn> has earned National Player-of-the-Week honors three times this season. He was one of five players named National Player of the Week by the USBWA for the week of November 3-9, he won the award from Andy Katz at NCAA March Madness for this play the week of December 15-21 and the Naismith Trophy tabbed him for his play against Syracuse and Duke.
\n\u2022 Wilson also was named ACC Freshman of the Week three times, following the games against Central Arkansas\/Kansas, ETSU\/Ohio State and Syracuse\/Duke.
\n\u2022 He is the first Tar Heel to win three ACC Freshman-of-the-Week awards since Coby White was a five-time recipient in 2018-19.
\n\u2022 Wilson also was the ACC’s Co-Player of the Week after Central Arkansas and Kansas.
\n\u2022 Wilson was the first Tar Heel freshman to also win ACC Player-of-the-Week honors since Cole Anthony in 2019-20.
\n\u2022 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), White (2019) and Anthony.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 The Tar Heels’ 71-68 win over Duke on February 7 was ESPN’s most watched college men’s basketball game in the last four seasons.
\n\u2022 The game drew an average of 3.5 million viewers with a peak of 4.8 million.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 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.
\n\u2022 Caleb Wilson<\/a><\/dfn> was voted to the league’s preseason All-ACC second team and the All-Freshman team.
\n\u2022 UNC was picked No. 25 in the country in the Associated Press preseason poll.
\n\u2022 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.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 The 2025-26 season is Hubert Davis<\/a><\/dfn>‘ fifth as head coach at the University of North Carolina and his 14th on the coaching staff at his alma mater.
\n\u2022 He is the only head coach in ACC men’s basketball history to win 20 or more games in each of his first five seasons.
\n\u2022 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, 120 wins, a 66-29 record and 27 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 five years.
\n\u2022 Two of his players \u2013 RJ Davis<\/a><\/dfn> and Armando Bacot \u2013 rank second and third, respectively, in all-time UNC scoring, set numerous records and earned national and All-ACC awards.
\n\u2022 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).
\n\u2022 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).
\n\u2022 Davis has led the Tar Heels to 19 wins over nationally-ranked opponents, including nine 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, No. 9 Duke in 2024 and No. 4 Duke in 2026).<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 The Tar Heels played 10 home games prior to New Year’s Day for the first time since 2009-10.
\n\u2022 UNC was not scheduled to play Boston College.
\n\u2022 This is the first time since 1919 the Tar Heels are not playing NC State in Chapel Hill.
\n\u2022 The Tar Heels played Kansas in 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.
\n\u2022 The Tar Heels made their first trips as ACC opponents to SMU, Stanford and Cal.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Eleven former Tar Heels were on NBA Opening Day rosters or are playing in the league, including Cole Anthony (Phoenix), 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<\/a><\/dfn> (Brooklyn), Day’Ron Sharpe (Brooklyn) and Coby White (Charlotte).
\n\u2022 Leaky Black (Washington\/Capital City) and Cormac Ryan (Milwaukee\/Wisconsin) recently have signed two-way contracts.
\n\u2022 Several other Carolina alumni are playing in the G League: Garrison Brooks (Birmingham), RJ Davis<\/a><\/dfn> (South Bay) and Ingram (Austin).
\n\u2022 At least a dozen Tar Heels are playing internationally, including Armando Bacot (Turkey), Ty Claude<\/a><\/dfn> (Serbia), Isaiah Hicks (South Korea), Brice Johnson (Dominican Republic), Christian Keeling (Finland), Nassir Little (Japan), Brady Manek (China), Luke Maye (Japan), James Michael McAdoo (Japan), Kennedy Meeks (Taiwan), J.P. Tokoto (Poland) and Jae’Lyn Withers<\/a><\/dfn> (The Netherlands).
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