Playing without its top two scorers, UNC nevertheless did more than enough to beat visiting Pitt at the Smith Center Saturday afternoon, using a hot shooting start to cruise past the Panthers 79-65.

 

Caleb Wilson’s absence was expected after the star freshman fractured his hand Tuesday at Miami, but Henri Veesaar was designated a surprise game-time decision. A program spokesman said the seven-footer was dealing with an illness and a lower extremity issue, though the illness was the chief concern. Veesaar had apparently been sick since the team returned from Miami earlier in the week.

“I was really proud of them,” head coach Hubert Davis said of his team’s effort Saturday. “It was a lot, with the news that Caleb was gonna be out, and we didn’t know if Henri was playing or not. We were preparing for Pitt with two different game plans.”

With Luka Bogavac, Seth Trimble and Jarin Stevenson leading the way, the Tar Heels jumped out to an early lead by making their first eight shots of the game. As a team, Carolina shot 16-30 (53.3 percent) in the first half – despite missing eight of its final nine attempts.

“We were intentional right off the rip,” said Trimble. “I feel like at Miami, we were really lackadaisical going into the game. And then we got hit, and it was harder to fight back into it. But today we set the tone, we set the intensity, and we were the more physical ones today.”

Zayden High, who earned his first start Saturday, finished with career highs in both points (15) and rebounds (seven), while Stevenson set a season high with 19 points. He and Trimble tied for the team lead.

“Zayden’s a really good player,” said Derek Dixon, who finished with a team-high seven assists and tied High with seven rebounds. “We see it every day in practice. He’s going head-to-head, banging with Henri and Caleb. And he’s holding his own every day. When he plays confident like that and aggressive like that, it’s really great to see. You guys don’t see it as much as we do, but we all had a ton of confidence in him, and it was good to see him put it out there on the floor tonight.”

“It’s a dream come true to start at North Carolina,” said High. “I’m just thankful for my teammates and my coaches for believing in me.”

Saturday’s win improves UNC to 20-5 overall and 8-4 in ACC play. Carolina has now won at least 20 games in all five of Davis’ seasons as head coach, making him the only coach in program history to achieve such a feat. The Tar Heels will be back in action when they visit NC State in Raleigh Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

 

Featured image via Todd Melet. For a full photo gallery of the game, click here.

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