Seth Trimble put North Carolina on top of the world, or at least the area surrounding Chapel Hill and Durham, when he hit his buzzer-beating three-pointer to take down Duke in the first of two regular season meetings between the neighboring rivals. But as Sir Isaac Newton famously deduced, what goes up, must come down.
And the Tar Heels have been proving him right ever since.
Their freefall began not long after the post-Duke celebration ended when a listless performance at Miami led to a nine-point loss that became even more disappointing when it was revealed that star freshman Caleb Wilson fractured his left hand in the game. The team’s leading scorer and rebounder will miss significant time because of the injury.
Things only got worse when Wilson’s frontcourt mate Henri Veesaar was also sidelined because of a combination of the flu and what has been described as a lower body issue. It’s a situation that forced UNC to play without its top two scorers and rebounders for the first time since Phil Ford and Mike O’Koren missed a game against NC State in February 1978.
The Tar Heels were able to withstand the hardship by beating bottom-feeder Pitt on Feb. 14 in their first game without their starting frontcourt. But their shortcomings were exposed three nights later in an 82-58 embarrassment at the hands of NC State that set off alarms for everyone other than always optimistic coach Hubert Davis.
“I mean, that’s life,” Davis said after the loss to the Wolfpack. “I don’t know how else to put it. I’d like to hear if anyone in this room has had consistent sunny, clear-sky, no-wind days. Things you have to adjust. The only thing you have control over is how you react and respond, so we’ll get back to work and move forward.”
The task of regrouping could get a boost on Saturday with Veesaar’s possible return. The 7-foot Arizona transfer is listed as day-to-day, but Davis has indicated that he’s close to being ready.
Even if he is in the lineup, the Tar Heels will continue to be a work in progress as they try to reinvent themselves and find ways of replacing the 19.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and leadership lost in Wilson’s absence.
“I still feel like our team is capable of winning and doing good things,” junior forward Jarin Stevenson said. “We can still compete. We just need to fight back.”
Stevenson has stepped up in the absence of Wilson and Veesaar, averaging 16 points and 6 rebounds since moving to the post from his usual wing position. UNC has also gotten help, at least offensively, from deep reserve Zayden High, who has answered the call by contributing double-figure scoring in each of his first two career starts.
But the Tar Heels had no answers around the rim defensively for NC State. They were outscored 40-28 by the Wolfpack in the paint and played to a virtual standoff on the glass against an opponent that ranks 12th in the ACC in rebounding margin. It’s a problem that was compounded by a frigid 31.7-percent shooting night (5 of 33 from beyond the three-point arc), punctuated by a 1-of-9 performance from the usually reliable Trimble.
While the shooting woes against the Wolfpack can be written off as just one of those nights against a good defensive team, Davis said his team needs to get tougher both physically and mentally to weather the storm until – or if – Wilson is able to return. UNC’s final five games are at Syracuse and home against Louisville, Virginia Tech and Clemson before finishing with a rematch with Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“There’s no other way. There’s no other road. There’s no other route,” Davis said. “It starts with us with defense and rebounding. That’s what leads us to really good offense. We weren’t tough enough (against NC State).”
It’s a point Wilson helped drive home in the locker room in Raleigh by delivering some tough love and encouragement to his teammates, the only kind of contribution he’s capable of making for at least the next few weeks.
“Caleb stepped up and he was really not happy about the way we played,” Stevenson said. “He felt like we could have been a lot better. He believes in us.”
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Red-hot Brown shooting his way into the Freshman of the Year conversation
The ACC might want to hold off engraving Cameron Boozer’s name onto its Freshman of the Year trophy, at least for a little longer. The Duke star is still the clear frontrunner for both that and the league’s Player of the Year award. He leads the conference in scoring at 22.8 points per game and rebounding at 10.0 while also pacing the Blue Devils in assists.
But he’s getting some late competition as the ACC’s best rookie, even though his most dangerous rival – UNC’s Wilson – has been sidelined for an extended period. Boozer’s newest challenge comes from Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr., who has been on a heater since returning from a lower back issue eight games ago.
The 6-foot-5 point guard broke Cooper Flagg’s single-game ACC freshman scoring record and tied Wes Unseld’s school mark by scoring 45 points in a lopsided win against NC State on Feb. 9. He followed that performance, which included 10 three-pointers, 9 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists, by putting up 29 points, 6 assists, 5 steals and 3 rebounds in a key nonconference win against Baylor to earn Naismith National Player of the Week recognition.
“(Brown) is a great player,” NC State coach Will Wade said. “He’s going to be a lottery pick. He’s a tremendous player. You let a tremendous player get going and see the first one go in, they think it’s their night.”
Brown had another of those nights on Wednesday at SMU, staying hot even if his team didn’t by hitting for 29 more points on 11-of-18 shooting in a loss that snapped the Cardinals’ five-game winning streak.
Despite missing eight games because of injury, Brown leads Louisville in both scoring (18.6 points per game) and assists (5.1) while shooting 34 percent from three-point range. But according to coach Pat Kelsey, his value to the team isn’t limited to the numbers he puts on the stat sheet. “He’s been affecting the game in so many ways outside of scoring,” Kelsey said. “I love the ownership he has taken on the floor. He’s a young guy compared to these other guys, but he’s speaking up. He’s the primary voice in the huddle many times. In the last three or four games there have been several instances where, before I could call the next set, he would come over to me and tell me, ‘Here’s what we’re going to run,’ and I would say, absolutely.”
From rock bottom back to .500, Loucks has Florida State on the rise
The most important game of Florida State’s season wasn’t a win. In fact, it was the most lopsided loss in Luke Loucks’ short tenure as the coach at his alma mater. A 113-69 home drubbing at the hands of NC State on Jan. 10 dropped the Seminoles to 7-9 overall and 0-3 in the ACC, and at the time things couldn’t have looked much worse.
But instead of panicking, berating his players in the media or worse, giving up, the first-year coach went right to work trying to find a solution to his team’s problems.
“We try to keep things in perspective,” Loucks said. “Even in the lowest of lows, it wasn’t a funeral. It was how do we get better and how do we get out of this.”
Loucks knew that what he was doing wasn’t working, so he and his staff stayed in the office until the wee hours of the morning following the NC State debacle watching video and devising a gameplan better suited to their personnel. They settled on a plan that put a higher priority on attacking the rim rather than relying so heavily on the three-point shot. Defensively, they created a greater sense of urgency by instituting practice drills that met lapses in effort and communication with punitive consequences.
The changes didn’t pay immediate dividends, but they were noticeable. The Seminoles took care of the ball better, scored more and allowed less in close setbacks to Syracuse and Wake Forest that extended their ACC losing streak to five.
Since then, they’ve run off six wins in eight games to even their overall record at 14-14 and all but assure their participation in the ACC Tournament next month. Although they still rank last in the conference in scoring defense, they’ve allowed 72 or fewer five times.
As satisfying as the turnaround has been, Loucks isn’t ready to “throw a big party and celebrate” as Florida State faces a difficult closing stretch that includes games against top-tier opponents Clemson, Miami and SMU.
“We didn’t let the lows splinter us as a team,” he said. “We found solutions, we found ways to get better and now we’re reaping the benefits in terms of the win column. Hopefully we can keep pushing. We’re nowhere near a complete team. We have a lot of room to grow. That’s the exciting part. We have (five) games left and I know everyone in the locker room can feel how much better we can play even when we’re winning games.”
Around the rim
- Boston College coach Earl Grant was asked earlier this week for his opinion on the situation involving Kansas State’s Jerome Tang, who was fired for cause after making public comments that brought “public disrepute, embarrassment and ridicule” to the Wildcats program. His response could soon turn out to be prophetic, considering that his own job is on shaky ground with his 9-17 (2-11) Eagles in danger of missing the ACC Tournament for the second year in a row. “These jobs are on loan,” Grant said Monday on the ACC’s weekly coaches conference call. “We have to be so thankful and fortunate that you get the chance to impact the lives of young men and try to help them grow. Most times in this profession you’re either getting a raise or you’re getting fired. So it’s unfortunate that it happened to the coach. But I think you’ve got to inspire your players. I think you’ve got to challenge them. You’ve got to encourage them and you have to do it in a way that’s best for your group.”
- Wake Forest has rebounded from a five-game losing streak that had it keeping BC company in the conference cellar to win three straight and is back over .500 overall at 14-12 (5-8 ACC). The most impressive aspect of the surge is that it has come with starting point guard Nate Calmese sidelined with an ankle injury. While the Deacons still have a long way to go just to get back within shouting distance of the NCAA Tournament bubble, they’ll at least have a puncher’s chance with two more Quad 1 opportunities on their schedule (at Virginia Tech on Saturday and at No. 14 Virginia on March 3). Even if Wake isn’t able to get into the field of 68 for the first time in coach Steve Forbes’ six seasons, despite winning 19-plus games four times, Forbes’ rival Brad Brownell of Clemson thinks the Deacons are heading in the right direction. “He reminds me a little bit of my early time at Clemson where they’ve been really close to making the tournament, but maybe haven’t made it,” Brownell said before his team was beaten by Wake on Tuesday. “The guy wins 20 games about every season and I think they’ve got a good culture in place. Their kids are not going to back down. They’ve had a major injury and they’re figuring it out. That’s what good coaches do. That’s what their staff has done and now they’re playing really good basketball.”
- When Miami and Virginia meet in Charlottesville on Saturday, it will be a matchup between two of the most improved teams in Division I. The Hurricanes have fashioned the biggest turnaround in their first season under new coach Jai Lucas. Their .800 winning percentage (21-5) is .574 better than the .226 mark they posted while going 7-24 in 2024-25. The 23-3 Cavaliers, meanwhile, are tied for fourth nationally. Their current .880 percentage is a plus-.411 improvement from their 15-17 (.469) performance a year ago.
- While Miami and Virginia are the ACC’s most improved teams, Wake Forest’s Juke Harris and Cal’s Justin Pippen hold down the top two spots among the league’s most improved players. Harris, a 6-foot-7 sophomore wing, ranks third in the conference in scoring at 21.3 points per game. That’s a 15.2-point jump from the 6.1 points he averaged as a freshman. Pippen, the son of Naismith Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, is averaging 14.9 points, 13.3 better than the 1.6 points he managed a season ago at Michigan.
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