On Saturday, January 31st, the Tar Heels played on the road against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, who were struggling on the season. For Christmas, my Dad got the 2 of us tickets to watch the Heels in ATL. My dad wrote about our experience here. But here are my thoughts on the game, not just the ACC highlight of the season by Caleb Wilson.
The Game started quickly being tight going into the first media timeout. Caleb Wilson was held scoreless for a solid chunk of the game. not scoring until under 8 minutes to play in the first half. While Wilson was not getting looks at the basket, Veesaar was scoring, getting 11 of the heels’ first 19. The heels continued to balloon the half lead, but the highlight of the afternoon and the season came when Caleb Wilson did his best Vince Carter impression, grabbing a lob that was about 2 feet over the rim and slamming it home. Outside of that, the team entirely had a great day. 4 guy finished with more than 15, those 4 being Seth Tremble with 18, Luca Bogavac with 16, Henry Veesaar with 20, and Caleb Wilson with a history-making 22 points, being the first Freshman in UNC History to have 15 games with 20 or more points. The final score in ATL was 95-71 in favor of the team in Blue. A major deal in this game was the number of UNC fans. A Caleb Wilson fan club was in the building as he returned home, and I met multiple people with a tie to Wilsons Highschool. The fan turnout was over 75% Tar Heel fans in the Jackets arena.
Now, after the Heels destroyed the Jackets, they had a home game against the Syracuse Orange. The Heels started hot, winning by 14 at the end of the 1st half, 32-46. The Heels would balloon that lead up to 32 at one point, thanks to another 20-point game from Caleb Wilson. Syracuse would find a way to battle back, but the Heels would still find a way to win by 10. Despite the Orange being able to cut the deficit down to 7 at one point.
The Heels now prepare for the UNC-Duke rivalry game in Chapel Hill. Where headlines will talk about the Wilson Vs Boozer matchup.
