UNC shot better than 60 percent from the field in the second half and Henri Veesaar matched a career high with 26 points as the Tar Heels beat Virginia Tech 89-82 at the Smith Center Saturday night.
UNC’s win came after the two teams entered halftime tied at 44-44. The Hokie offense thrived in the first half, shooting 17-32 (53.1 percent) overall and 4-8 (50 percent) on three-pointers, though the highlights of the night came on a pair of high-flying dunks from Virginia Tech star Tobi Lawal. He scored 13 points and did not miss a shot in the first half. For UNC, Jonathan Powell led the way with 12 points in the first half, matching his season high for an ACC game.
“In the first half, we were playing defense and reacting when the action started,” head coach Hubert Davis said. “It’s too late. You’re one or two steps behind. At this level, you’ve got to be in a defensive stance, you have to anticipate actions so you can play defense before that action.”
Inspired by what Davis called “spirited conversations” at halftime, the Tar Heel defense made life more difficult on the Hokies in the second half. Virginia Tech still shot a respectable 14-30 (46.7 percent) from the floor, but saw its paint presence dry up and relied more on three-pointers. After finishing the first half with five dunks and eight three-point attempts, those numbers flipped to just one dunk and 15 three-point attempts in the second half. Virginia Tech held a slim advantage in points in the paint at 38-34, but this came after the Hokies held a 20-8 advantage at one point in the second half.
UNC’s concerted effort at getting the ball inside helped Veesaar erupt for 18 of his 26 points in the second half. He took 11 of Carolina’s 23 shot attempts and made eight of them. Veesaar and Seth Trimble combined for 31 of the Tar Heels’ 45 second-half points. Trimble finished his night with 20 points, giving him 50 across the team’s last two games.
“We wanted to establish Henri,” Davis said. “I challenged him in the second half.”
“He realized the player he needs to be for us to win,” Trimble said of Veesaar. “When Henri is aggressive and he’s going to take it, he’s so dominant. It’s so easy for him to take over a game.”
Powell and Zayden High joined Trimble and Veesaar in double figures, with Powell’s 15 giving him his most productive ACC game of the season. High played 21 minutes off the bench with Jarin Stevenson mired in foul trouble and scored 12 points. He also finished with a team-best +13 plus-minus rating, meaning the Tar Heels outscored the Hokies by 13 points with High on the floor.
With that quartet each playing at least 11 minutes each in the second half, the Tar Heels shot 14-23 (60.9 percent) from the floor. Saturday marked the third consecutive game UNC has shot at least 60 percent in a half. The Tar Heels last accomplished this feat in the 2006-07 season.
Carolina is now 75-17 all-time against Virginia Tech, 22-7 in ACC play, 35-6 in Chapel Hill and 10-1 in the Smith Center. The Tar Heels are also now 17-0 at home this season, tying the program record for most home wins in a single campaign.
Saturday’s win improves UNC to 23-6 overall and 11-5 in ACC play. The Tar Heels will be back in action when they host Clemson at the Smith Center Tuesday at 7 p.m. It will be the final home game of the 2025-26 season.
Featured image via Todd Melet. For a full photo gallery of the game, click here.
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
