On Tuesday, February 17th, the Tar Heels were obliterated by rival NC State. (I wrote about that here.) While Henri Veesaar sat with a “lower extremity issue” and Caleb Wilson remained out with a broken hand injury suffered during a loss to Miami a few weeks ago, the Heels were faced with the challenge of playing Syracuse, who they only beat by 10 at home while fully healthy.
Henri Veesaar’s recovery was day-to-day for the week following NC State. He was slowly trending in the right direction toward and before tip-off, Veesaar was finally cleared. Although he only played 26 minutes compared to his average of 30, he had a career day.
To start the game, Syracuse took a 4-0 lead, and I began to think, “Okay, we will be playing from behind, just like Duke and Miami.” Luca Bogavac drove left of the lane to add the first Tar Heel points of the game. Then Veesaar caught a lob and made many other plays in the first half to give the Heels a 33-28 lead at halftime.
Coming out of the half, the Heels struggled to get started, but by the 11:00 mark, they began to take firm control. Seth Trimble picked the Syracuse guard’s pocket and made a handful of other plays, while Henri Veesaar had the highlight of the night doing his best Caleb Wilson impression. Veesaar tried to rip the rim down; this, along with Seth Trimble’s and-1, helped spark the Heels to a 10-point lead with just under 8 minutes remaining.
The Heels continued to roll while Syracuse remained unable to score. Late in the game, a hard foul was committed in garbage time, which made Zayden High retaliate by mouthing off at the guy who committed the foul and the guy standing beside him at the free-throw line. This caused him to get a technical foul and his fifth foul, truly bringing the energy that this team needs while not having Caleb Wilson.
In the end, the final score was 77-64. As the Heels cruised, Henri Veesaar finished with 19 points, while Bogavac and Trimble each had 13. It was a very nice team effort in a win. The Heels now look ahead to Monday night at home against Louisville.
