Henri Veesaar leads UNC basketball to win. What we learned about the Tar Heels

Just last week, North Carolina men’s basketball held a players-only meeting to address what they felt was a lackluster performance against Navy.

By halftime on Tuesday night — this time facing St. Bonaventure in Fort Myers, Florida — it appeared the Tar Heels might be heading for another postgame accountability talk. A double-digit lead had given way to a tied game late in the first half. Luka Bogavac, slowing down the tempo with a chance to add one more bucket before the half, turned the ball over with a carry.

The whistle blew. Hubert Davis didn’t say anything. The coach just turned and put his hands on his hips. He folded his arms, paced the sideline. Davis then maintained a straight face as he lumbered off the floor and into the locker room.

The coach must’ve saved his words for the halftime talk, because as soon as play resumed, the Tar Heels were off and running — en route to a comfortable 85-70 win over St. Bonaventure.

“One of the things that contributed to them coming back in the first half — it wasn’t just turnovers — I felt that our shot selection wasn’t very good,” Davis said. “So that’s something we talked about as a team at halftime. It just has to be better.”

Arizona transfer Henri Veesaar led the way for North Carolina with a career-high 24 points on 9-for-14 shooting, which he credited to his teammates finding him for easy layups. Veesaar also pulled down a career-high 13 boards. Freshman Caleb Wilson added 18 points — over half of them coming from the free throw line.

North Carolina is now 6-0 to start the season. The last time the Tar Heels started the season with six straight wins was the 2016-17 season.

Here’s what we learned from UNC’s first contest at the Fort Myers Tip-Off:

Henri Veesaar can handle the heat

Veesaar didn’t just have a career night — he proved he can take hits and give them back.

In a game that demanded strength over style at times, the Estonian forward was the one who set the tone inside. Veesaar finished with career-best outputs in scoring and rebounding.

The numbers only tell part of the story. The way Veesaar earned them mattered more.

“We had a slump where they were getting offensive rebounds [and] they were getting their push back,” Veesaar said. “But I think the biggest thing was hitting first rather than getting hit.”

He did just that. The Arizona transfer carved out space in the post, held his ground against one of the nation’s better offensive rebounders in Frank Mitchell and finished through arms, elbows and late contests that tried to knock him off balance.

If there were questions about whether Veesaar could bang down low in a game like this, he answered them. He didn’t just survive in the paint — he owned it.

Bonnies’ physicality a good tune-up for Michigan State

St. Bonaventure has established itself as a threat to high-major opponents in recent years. Tuesday night showed why.

The Bonnies excel at blocking shots, entering the contest against the Tar Heels averaging 5.8 blocks per game and a 16.8 block percentage — both top-25 marks nationally. That physicality down low and length at the rim made life difficult for UNC’s frontcourt, limiting some of the easy lob opportunities the Tar Heels have been able to rack up in recent games.

St. Bonaventure also made North Carolina work on the glass. Despite the final stat line — UNC outrebounded SBU, 40-31 — the Tar Heels had to hustle for nearly every rebound. There were plenty of loose ball scrambles with multiple bodies, or moments where the ball was ripped straight from an opposing player’s hands.

But, as Davis pointed out, the Tar Heels were able to adjust. UNC committed 11 turnovers in the first half, and only two in the second half. And after recording just 14 points in the paint before halftime, North Carolina finished with 36 on the game.

“We were dunking everything, going strong,” Davis said. “If we didn’t finish strong or dunk, we got fouled and got to the free throw line. So, I just felt like we handled the physicality much better.”

All of this as a result of a highly physical Bonnies team that tested the Tar Heels and will prove a valuable tune-up ahead of North Carolina’s matchup with Michigan State on Thursday.

Wilson is at his best when the game comes to him

After recording nine points in the first nine minutes of the game, Wilson went cold from the floor.

The typically efficient freshman was just 2-for-7 before halftime, with five of his points coming from the free throw line. The second half saw Wilson sink two of five from the floor.

The freshman appeared to force shots at times through heavy traffic, or opt for challenging turnarounds and fadeaway jumpers.

“All of our guys are really skilled,” Davis said. “They got a lot in their bag, and I know they feel like they can make plays. [It’s about] understanding when to make those plays and the right time to be able to do so.”

Wilson’s 33% clip on Tuesday night is his second-lowest field goal percentage in a game this season. His lowest mark came against Radford on Nov. 11, when he shot 30.8% from the field on 13 shot attempts.

That said, the Atlanta native was effective when he attacked the rim and drew fouls. Wilson finished 10-for-10 from the charity stripe and made up over a third of the team’s free throw tries.

The Tar Heels have excelled from the charity stripe this season, and entered Tuesday night ranked top-30 in the nation and second in the ACC in free throw attempts per game.

This story was originally published November 25, 2025 at 8:26 PM.