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North Carolina was headed for another defeat against fellow Kansas, after a shaky half marked by turnovers and a stagnant offense.
Coming out of the second half with enthusiastic energy and an edge changed everything, both for Friday night’s game and in validating Hubert Davis’ reorganization of the team after the Tar Heels barely made the NCAA Tournament last year.
By the end, the 25th-ranked Tar Heels had earned an 87-74 victory over the 19th-ranked Jayhawks, thanks to contributions from a star freshman, a big man from the transfer portal and a returning senior who took on the toughest defensive assignment against Kansas star freshman Darryn Peterson.
Trailing by 10 in the first half and 37-29 at the break, North Carolina made 18 of 23 shots at halftime and 24 of 36 shots (66.7%) in the second half, en route to an almost unthinkable 58 second-half points against Bill Self’s Jayhawks.
“It validates (Davis’s) thoughts and the vision that he had,” said Seth Trimble, who had 13 of his 17 points after halftime while leading the defensive effort in pursuit of Peterson. “It takes a little bit of stress off him at the beginning, getting a big win like that. And it gives not only him, but the whole team, a lot of confidence for the rest of the season.”
Change course
At this point, it was the kind of game that has been getting away from the Tar Heels too often lately. UNC lost eight of nine to AP Top 25 teams last year, including one at Kansas in which the Jayhawks blew a 20-point lead but held on until the end at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence.
Getting a win against Kansas in Week 1, with fans participating in a whiteout largely sparked by a social media post from star freshman Caleb Wilson, was quite a change. It was UNC’s first win over Kansas since November 2002, when Matt Doherty coached UNC against Jayhawks coach Roy Williams – before Williams returned to his alma mater to take over the Tar Heels the following season.
The Jayhawks had won five straight meetings in the interprogram series with a total of 10 NCAA titles as well as that intertwined history with names like Williams, Dean Smith and Larry Brown having deep ties to both schools. That run includes the 2022 national championship game in Davis’ first year, the 2012 NCAA Elite Eight and the 2008 Final Four that Kansas led 40-12.
“I wanted this new team, this new group, to have proof of what it’s like to play in a game like this at the Smith Center, and to be successful,” Davis said. “I just wanted them to get a taste of what it’s like to be here.”
Remarkable efforts
The versatile 6-foot-10 Wilson, who joined Peterson in giving this game a pair of potential NBA freshmen, finished with 24 points, seven rebounds, four rebounds and four steals in a solid show from start to finish. This included showing a soft touch during several fade reversals as well as maintaining his exuberant energy, from diving on the floor to scoring the final seconds of it while waving at the crowd to make noise.
“I want to impress my coach, I want to impress the world,” Wilson said. “I want the world to know who I am, that’s for sure.”
Seven-footer Henri Veesaar, a transfer from Arizona, picked off a pass from Kyan Evans, then connected on a missed 3 from Wilson to start UNC’s second-half surge and finished with 20 points in a clear advantage over KU big man Flory Bidunga (eight points).
And there was Trimble, the 6-3 fourth-year returnee who went from first-half non-factor to catalyst as UNC took control of the second-half pace. That included following Veesaar’s fast start with back-to-back scores pushed up the tempo, leading Self to wave his hands in frustration and then burn a quick timeout just two minutes later.
But Self highlighted Trimble’s defensive effort on Peterson, who had 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting. And Davis noted that Trimble held up after the team tweaked its defensive scheme to stop switching, leaving the perimeter players largely alone.
“He covered for Darryn in a way that, to me, was great,” Self said. “Caleb was probably the best player in the game. But you can also make a strong case for Henry and Seth.
“The way (Trimble) guarded Darryn and played over the top, even though Darryn made 14 shots, it was a situation where he probably needed to shoot 20 or 22” to win.
After this one, Davis arrived for his postgame press conference in athletic warmup gear rather than his traditional sport jacket and pants look. He had to consider that the players had doused him with water to celebrate in the locker room.
“I won’t remember the score, but I will remember their jumping around in the locker room,” Davis said. “I will remember the smiles on their faces.”
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