Against Navy Tuesday night, Caleb Wilson was a one-man battleship.
The star Tar Heel freshman willed his team to a 73-61 victory against the Midshipmen, finishing the night with his third consecutive double-double: 23 points and 12 rebounds, four steals, three blocks and an assist.
In the second-half alone, Wilson accounted for 17 points and eight rebounds. Many of Wilson’s points came on dunks, including a particularly ferocious jam in the second half.
Inspired by Wilson’s all-around effort, UNC led by 24 points late in the second half at 68-44, but had to withstand a frantic 15-0 run by Navy to cut the deficit to single digits at 68-59 with 1:58 remaining. A Jarin Stevenson three-pointer broke the run and effectively sealed the game for the Tar Heels. Still, Navy ended the game by outscoring UNC 17-5 in the final 4:57.
“I was disappointed in how we finished the game,” said head coach Hubert Davis. “I thought we picked it up in the second half and were playing well. It’s just unfortunate that we didn’t finish the game better.”
To Davis’ point, the 24-point advantage for Carolina came after the Tar Heels only led by seven points at halftime, 38-31. Prior to Navy’s game-ending run, UNC had outscored the Midshipmen 30-13 in the first 15:03 of the second half.
Afterward, Carolina was so unsatisfied with its effort that the team called a players-only meeting.
“It’s unacceptable, the way we played,” said Henri Veesaar, who ended the night with 10 points and seven rebounds. “It’s just simply unacceptable. Navy, hats off, they played a great game… at the end of the game, some of us probably thought the game was over. Then they made a big run, and our effort wasn’t there where it needed to be.”
Stevenson told reporters that UNC’s leaders, including injured guard Seth Trimble, called the meeting. Both Stevenson and Veesaar appeared encouraged with its results.
“It was good,” Stevenson said. “We’re gonna clean up a lot of mistakes. We talked about a lot of the mistakes we had. Communicating, I feel like, is a big thing.”
“As a team, we just needed a little talk,” said Veesaar. “Without any coaches, without any extra emotion. Just as a team, being able to talk to each other, that’s great. Everybody takes it the right way, and nobody gets offended. That’s the best part.”
Luka Bogavac scored 16 points to go along with six rebounds in his third start since Trimble’s injury. Stevenson added 11 points and eight rebounds. Veesaar was the only other Tar Heel to reach double figures. Guard Kyan Evans struggled mightily from the field with just three points on 1-9 shooting (1-8 on three-pointers), but still finished with six assists and five rebounds.
Notably, Tuesday’s game was Carolina’s first against Navy since 1998, and its first game against any service academy since 2004. The win was also the 2,400th in the history of the UNC men’s basketball program. The Tar Heels rank third in Division 1 history in wins, behind only No. 1 Kentucky and No. 2 Kansas.
Tuesday’s win moves UNC to 5-0 this season, tying its best start in five seasons under head coach Hubert Davis. The Tar Heels will be back in action next Tuesday, November 25 at 6 p.m. when they face St. Bonaventure in Florida as part of the Fort Myers Tip-Off.
Featured image via Todd Melet. For a full photo gallery of the game, click here.
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