With Henri Veesaar back, UNC basketball tops Syracuse. Observations from the win

Syracuse fans poured over top of each other — from the temporary bleachers cutting the JMA Wireless Dome football field in half and onto the makeshift flooring underlaying courtside seating — screaming and pumping their fists as they were treated to a game-tying bucket.

An under-the-basket pass to Henri Veesaar was tipped away by Syracuse forward William Kyle III, who raced out in transition for an authoritative dunk. Veesaar had his answer minutes later, capping off an 8-0 run for the Tar Heels with a slam of his own — this one with one outstretched arm and plenty of roaring and flexing to follow.

Welcome back, Henri Veesaar. With the 7-foot junior back in the lineup, No. 16 North Carolina took care of business against a struggling Syracuse squad, racing out in the second half to a 77-64 victory.

On Friday, before the Tar Heels made the trip up north, coach Hubert Davis spoke to the media in Chapel Hill and likened his team’s constantly churning lineup this season as an ever-evolving puzzle. Well, jigsaws are naturally easy to solve if you can recover a missing piece.

After Kyle’s game-tying slam midway through the second half, the Tar Heels outscored the Orange, 12-4, over the next four and a half minutes to build a double-digit lead late in the game.

“It’s super important,” senior captain Seth Trimble said of having Veesaar back for the end of ACC play. “Henri is a seven-foot point forward. He’s able to do so much. He brings height. He brings the physicality that we need.”

As Saturday’s game churned on, UNC (21-6, 9-5 ACC) stayed hot from the field and did just enough to keep Syracuse (15-13, 6-9 ACC) at bay. Being in the double bonus with over five minutes remaining certainly didn’t hurt North Carolina’s cause, either.

Veesaar led the Tar Heels with 19 points on nearly 70% shooting from the field. Zayden High led UNC on the boards with 11 rebounds and was one point away from a double-double.

“Zayden, he’s played in most of the games, but over the last three games, he’s got extended minutes,” Davis said. “His play has been real. And just really proud of him and other guys stepping up today and allowing us to get a win.”

Syracuse’s J.J. Starling finished with a game-high 20 points. Donnie Freeman, the Orange’s leading scorer (averaging 16.7), finished with nine points on Saturday.

Here are observations from the game:

Henri Veesaar back in lineup

When the 7-footer from Estonia heard his name called over the loudspeakers at the JMA Wireless Dome — officially welcoming him back to the starting lineup after two straight games sidelined — he broke out into a big smile.

“I’m just being grateful for everything that I’ve given,” Veesaar said after the win. “Like, all the talent and gifts I’ve been given, just being able to play and have that moment where I’m actually able to play today. Just that opportunity means a lot.”

Veesaar was absent during the Tar Heels’ last two contests, a win against Pitt a week ago and Tuesday’s loss at N.C. State, but he returned Saturday in dominant fashion. The junior forward finished the first half with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting in 12 minutes of play, adding 10 more points after halftime. Veesaar was limited on the boards, only finishing with three rebounds, but the rest of his team — particularly High — picked him up there.

Although he returned to the starting lineup on Saturday, he wasn’t full-go, per se. At least, at first. Veesaar played 12 minutes in the first half, and spent stretches when he was off the court on the exercise bike behind UNC’s bench.

Outside of the numbers, Veesaar provided a defensive presence down low and helped the Tar Heels’ spacing on offense.

Zayden High brings high energy play

Even with Veesaar back in the rotation, High played significant minutes Saturday.

He was the first substitution for the Tar Heels in both halves, replacing Veesaar after a few minutes of play each time.

High finished with nine points, and pulled down 11 rebounds before he was ejected from the game in the final minutes due to a technical foul.

Much of his success came from sheer hustle. High earned three trips to the line — to the chagrin of the Syracuse faithful — and drew fouls by crashing the glass and going up with force. One such example: with 8:44 left in the game, High rebounded a shot from Jonathan Powell that was blocked by Syracuse’s Donnie Freeman. What could have been a momentum-shifting play for the Orange turned to more frustration as High grabbed the loose ball and drew another foul.

Roughly a minute later, High sank a triple to put the Tar Heels up by 11 points.

“He’s pretty annoying to play against in practice... I think a lot of times he’s better than the player I’m scouting for,” Veesaar said of High. “Just the way he operates in short rolls and really good moves. He’s patient with his finish with a good touch. He’s very hard to guard.”

How did UNC guards respond after N.C. State?

UNC’s loss to the Wolfpack on Tuesday night once again exposed some of the inconsistencies of the Tar Heels’ backcourt this season.

Trimble went 1-for-9, while Derek Dixon went 2-of-12. Kyan Evans didn’t score in Raleigh. Powell and Luka Bogavac each had nine points — both on 3-for-8 shooting — but no guard reached double digits in scoring.

But Syracuse was a different story for the Tar Heels, who held the Orange to a meager 17.6% shooting from deep while making 38% of their own chances from the perimeter.

Trimble finished with 13 points — all of them coming in the second half.

“He’s big for us as a captain,” Dixon said. “We all build off his energy, and it’s on both ends. At halftime, we all challenged him, ‘We got to be better. We need you.’ And he stepped up to it.”

Bogavac also added 13 points and pulled down six first-half boards, certainly hearing the complaints of assistant coach Jeff Lebo, who called UNC’s backcourt the worst perimeter rebounding team during film review from the Tar Heels’ loss at Miami, Dixon later told reporters.

“It’s our goal to rebound the ball, especially for the guards, to find a way to help the bigs,” Bogavac said.

Dixon has continued to struggle with his shot and is now 6-of-33 in North Carolina’s past four games, including Saturday. But the freshman point guard led the team with four assists and contributed four rebounds.

Powell and Evans combined for nine points, while Stevenson (playing mostly at the four) had an uncharacteristically poor shooting night: seven points on seven field goal attempts.

The Tar Heels return to action at the Dean E. Smith Center on Monday night, where they will host Louisville (20-7, 9-5 ACC) at 7 p.m.

This story was originally published February 21, 2026 at 3:19 PM.