CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Henri Veesaar scored a career-high 26 points to power No. 12 North Carolina to a 77-58 victory over East Tennessee State on Tuesday night.
Veesaar shot a near-perfect 10-of-11 from the floor and also pulled down eight rebounds for the Tar Heels (10-1). Caleb Wilson added 20 points and eight rebounds for UNC.
Brian Taylor paced ETSU (8-4) with 14 points, while Blake Barkley scored 11.
ETSU held a two-point advantage midway through the first half after Taylor threw down a fast-break dunk following a UNC turnover. But the Tar Heels used a 19-9 run — which included back-to-back dunks from Wilson and Veesaar — to take an eight-point lead at intermission.
UNC opened the second half with a 9-2 run to take a 15-point lead. The surge was highlighted by a second-chance dunk from Wilson and then punctuated by Veesaar swishing a 3-pointer. UNC led by as many as 27 points.
The Buccaneers went into game ranked No. 17 nationally in steals (114) and No. 28 in points allowed per game (65.5), but the Tar Heels shot 54% from the field, their second-highest mark of the season.
Veesaar, redshirt junior from Estonia, leads the team in field-goal percentage (64.5%) and blocked shots (15). This was the eighth time this season he's shot north of 60 percent from the floor in a game.
North Carolina: The Tar Heels face Ohio State in Atlanta on Saturday.
ETSU: The Buccaneers host Jacksonville State on Saturday. ___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
“A dazzling delight for all ages” Read moreRodger's & Hammerstein's Cinderella
Discover India with Us! Read moreIndia Community Travel: Virtual Information Session
anna kuhre said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.