Your Georgetown Hoyas have arrived in Chapel Hill for a huge non-conference clash against the No. 16 North Carolina Tar Heels this evening. For Ed Cooley, now in his third season guiding the program, this matchup represents more than just a line on the schedule; it is a barometer for a team striving to return to national prominence. Tipoff is set for 5:00 p.m. EST today at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN with Kevin Brown and Cory Alexander, while Rich Chvotkin handles the radio call on Team 980 and SiriusXM (Channel 973).
While the Hoyas (6-2) have shown flashes of brilliance this season—logging impressive victories over Maryland and Clemson—they have also stumbled against Dayton and Miami. Tonight offers a chance to secure a signature road win against a blue blood program.
Longtime followers of the Blue & Gray remember the last time these two programs met. In the 2007 Elite Eight, a Georgetown squad led by Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert overcame a deficit to defeat North Carolina in overtime, punching a ticket to the Final Four.
Historically, Georgetown holds a narrow 5-4 edge in the series, making the Hoyas one of only 15 programs with a winning record against the Tar Heels.
The statistical profile of this game presents a clear conflict of styles. Georgetown enters the contest protecting the basketball at an elite level. The Hoyas average just 8.6 turnovers per game, the fourth-best mark in the nation. This efficiency is driven by a veteran backcourt, specifically Malik Mack and KJ Lewis, who have managed the offense with poise.
Conversely, North Carolina (7-1) relies heavily on dominating the interior. The Tar Heels rank in the top 30 nationally for rebounding margin and are particularly aggressive on the offensive glass, averaging significantly more second-chance opportunities than their opponents.
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This disparity in rebounding poses the most significant threat to Georgetown. The Hoyas rank No. 215 nationally in rebound margin. To leave Chapel Hill with a victory, Georgetown must neutralize UNC’s apparent front-court advantage and prevent the Tar Heels from feasting on second-chance points.
The task of defending the paint became more difficult with the news that 7-foot-1 senior center Vince Iwuchukwu remains out following a medical procedure. In his absence, sophomore Julius Halaifonua will shoulder the defensive load. Halaifonua must play disciplined basketball; he has been prone to fouls this season, and he faces a formidable frontcourt duo in UNC’s Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar.
Veesaar, a transfer from Arizona, presents an interesting storyline as he faces his former teammate, Georgetown guard KJ Lewis. Veesaar is shooting nearly 65% from the field and leads the ACC in that category.
For Georgetown to counter, the backcourt must score in bunches. KJ Lewis leads the team with 16.6 points per game, while Malik Mack is right behind him at 16.5.
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Hoya shooters, such as Caleb Williams (averaging 12.8 points and shooting 40% from three), will need to stretch the floor to pull UNC’s big men away from the basket.
Fans have reasons to feel encouraged. The Hoyas have already proven they can beat Power 4 opponents this year. However, the rebounding gap and the absence of Iwuchukwu require a near-perfect game from the guards. If Mack and Lewis can control the tempo and limit UNC’s transition opportunities, Georgetown has a path to victory.
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Georgetown and North Carolina will meet for the 10th time in program history, with the Hoyas holding a narrow 5-4 edge in the series. The last meeting between the two teams was March 25, 2007 with the Blue & Gray taking the 96-84 win in overtime in the NCAA East Regional final. Jeff Green led the Hoyas with 22 points and nine rebounds on 10-for-17 shooting while DaJuan Summers scored 20 points and Jonathan Wallace added 19. Roy Hibbert posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds on 6-for-10 shooting. After a Wallace triple tied the game at 81 to force overtime, the Hoyas reeled off 14 unanswered to start the overtime and outscored the Tar Heels 15-3 in the extra frame to advance to the 2007 Final Four. Cooley maintains a 0-2 record against UNC. The Hoyas hold a 175-154 record against the Atlantic Coast Conference while Cooley is 12-21 against the conference.
UNC began the season with five straight home wins before playing the next three times on the road, where they split a pair of games in Fort Myers, Fla., beating St. Bonaventure and losing to Michigan State, and then edged Kentucky in Lexington in the ACC-SEC Challenge.
• The Hoyas also began the season 5-0 before losing consecutive starts against Dayton and Miami. Georgetown is coming off a 90-81 home win over UMBC on Wednesday. • This is Georgetown’s third ACC game of the season. The Hoyas beat Clemson at home on November 15. • The Georgetown game is the fourth in a four-game stretch where Carolina’s opponents are a combined 27-6 (St. Bonaventure 8-1, Michigan State 8-0, Kentucky 5-3 and Georgetown 6-2). • Carolina has won 2,402 games. UNC joined Kentucky and Kansas as the only three programs in college basketball history with 2,400 victories with its win over Navy on November 18. • The Tar Heels will be wearing retro uniforms on Sunday from the early 1980s.
UNC-Kentucky Postgame Notes – University of North Carolina Athletics | GOHEELS
Carolina is 26-18 against Kentucky. The 26 wins are the most by any non-SEC team against the Wildcats. • The 67 points were the fewest by the Tar Heels in a win over Kentucky since a 64-55 win in Lexington on 12-13-1966 (this was UNC’s 20th win in the series since that game). • Kentucky’s 64 points were the fewest allowed by Carolina in the series since a 61-56 UK victory at Rupp Arena on 1-3-2004. • The Tar Heels had a season-high 20 offensive rebounds and a season-high 22 second-chance points. • Caleb Wilson had his fifth double-double (15 and 12) and Henri Veesaar had a team-high 17 points and 10 rebounds.
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Will Carolina avoid a big win hangover? Four days after beating Kansas on Nov. 7 for their first big win of the season, the Tar Heels hosted Radford in a buy game. They didn’t begin separating from the Highlanders until late in the first half; the score was tied at 22 with six minutes to go. That’s not an ideal start against a bad Big South team. If Carolina takes a similarly long time to get going against a seemingly competent Big East squad, it could be a lot more difficult to overcome.
To be fair, the game against Radford was also the Tar Heels’ first without Seth Trimble, and there’s little reason to doubt that his absence was a significant factor in the team being slow to heat up. This is still a group without much experience together, and we’re learning more about their collective mentality every game. How they come out of the gate in this one will further paint that picture.
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Georgetown’s biggest strength is its backcourt, which features a pair of veteran guards in KJ Lewis (16.6 PPG, 6 RPG, 3.1 APG, 2.5 SPG) and Malik Mack (16.5 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 4.6 APG, 1.3 SPG). Lewis was teammates with Henri Veesaar at Arizona for the past two seasons before transferring to Georgetown, while Mack is in his second season with the Hoyas after spending his freshman year at Harvard.
Both of these guys are solid 3-point shooters (Lewis is hitting 34.8% and Mack 38.5%) who are capable of taking over the game: Lewis scored a game-high 26 points against Clemson (nobody else had more than 16), and Mack put up a game-high 24 against Dayton (he also scored a career-high 37 in Georgetown’s win over Washington State at the College Basketball Crown last season). Williams shouldn’t be overlooked in either of those categories, either, as he tied for the game-high with 23 points against Miami and is shooting 40.6% on threes.
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With major victories over Maryland and Clemson, though, Georgetown is hoping for a return to college basketball relevance. Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more! The Tar Heels show early signs of a championship team, headlined by their star-studded post duo of Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar. When Seth Trimble returns from injury, UNC will be that much better. North Carolina still needs to make threes at a consistent clip, something that should improve with more games. Georgetown is the Tar Heels’ second big opponent at home. UNC previously came back to beat Kansas, 87-74, back on November 7…
Key to Victory Continue crashing the offensive boards. Until the final stretch of Tuesday’s game, UNC failed to find any sort of offensive rhythm. The Tar Heels kept missing threes, contested layups and turned the ball over. North Carolina kept itself close with Kentucky due to its offensive rebounding ability, which is a program staple. UNC snagged 20 offensive boards to the Wildcats’ eight, giving itself plenty of opportunity for second chances
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That national title game in the Superdome is, to this day, one of the greatest collections of talent in any college basketball game ever. Between the rosters and coaching staffs of both teams, there were six future Naismith Hall of Famers competing that night. My favorite nugget is that the UNC team featured five future National Coach of the Year winners: Dean Smith, Bill Guthridge, Eddie Fogler and Roy Williams on the bench, and also Matt Doherty on the floor.
Doherty won his National Coach of the Year award in 2001 after his first season in Chapel Hill. Just two years later, he was gone – and ironically enough, it was the Hoyas who sent him packing. The 2003 Tar Heels missed the NCAA Tournament for a second straight season but qualified for the NIT thanks to a loaded freshman class which would eventually win a national championship. They beat DePaul and Wyoming in the first two rounds before hosting Georgetown at the Smith Center.
UNC had fought back from a 10-point hole in the second half to tie the game at 70-70, but the Hoyas pulled out the win thanks to a late three-pointer. Doherty resigned less than a week later.
Caleb Wilson, who has an NCAA-high 28 dunks, leads UNC in scoring (19.3 points per game; fifth- highest in the country among freshmen), rebounding (10.1; 21st in the country, 2nd among freshmen), offensive rebounds (23), steals (14), free throws made (48), free throws attempted (64) and double-doubles (5; leads the ACC and eighth in the country). Tyler Hansbrough is the only UNC freshman to lead the team in scoring and rebounding.
Eighteen UNC players have averaged double-doubles in points and rebounds, but none were freshmen. — Wilson’s streak of seven double-figure scoring games to start a season is third among UNC freshmen after Rashad McCants (20 in 2022–23) and Brandan Wright (18 in 2006–07).
Estonian Arizona center transfer Henri Veesaar leads the ACC and is 18th in the country in field goal percentage at 64.9% and leads UNC in plus/minus at +126. — Carolina is third in the country in two-point field-goal percentage defense (40.4%), eighth in effective field-goal percentage defense (42.5%) and 15th in the country in field-goal percentage defense (37.3%; 3rd in the ACC).
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As the Tar Heels (7-1) continue their 116th season in program history, they enter their Sunday, Dec. 7, game (5 p.m., ESPN) against Georgetown (6-2) with an opportunity to remove the Hoyas from an exclusive club…
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If the Tar Heels are loose with their dribble or making lazy passes, Lewis will make them pay. He’s also made a habit of getting to the free-throw line, attempting six or more free throws in five of eight games. While UNC’s guards have to deal with Lewis, Georgetown’s interior will be tested by 7-foot center Henri Veesaar, a former teammate of Lewis at Arizona who is averaging 16 points and 8.5 rebounds for the Tar Heels. Over the last three games, Veesaar is averaging 18 points and 9.6 rebounds.
Garnering more opportunities with an increase in post moves and finishes out of pick-and-roll situations, Veesaar has an effective field-goal percentage of 68.8% (36th nationally). St. John’s transfer Vince Iwuchukwu, a 7-foot-1 center and Georgetown’s top post presence, is out after undergoing a recent medical procedure. That means Julius Halaifonua, a sophomore 7-footer, will likely be matched up against Veesaar. Prone to foul trouble with at least three fouls in seven of eight games and two disqualifications, Halaifonua could have a tough time with UNC’s big man.
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Georgetown Poor at Defensive Rebounding, Offense Led by Backcourt: Despite initially featuring a pair of 7-footers — Vince Iwuchukwu and Julius Halaifonua — Georgetown has been a below- average rebounding team this season. The Hoyas rank No. 215 nationally in rebound margin (+1.1), while the Tar Heels are strong on the glass and sit in the top-30 (+10).
Though Georgetown crashes the offensive glass for 11.3 rebounds per game, it struggles to secure defensive boards. This may allow Veesaar, Wilson and other Tar Heels to supply a flurry of second- chance scoring opportunities on Sunday. But Iwuchukwu has been sidelined since mid-November for an undisclosed procedure and will miss Sunday’s game as well.
Offensively, the Hoyas are driven by their backcourt. Arizona transfer KJ Lewis leads the team in scoring with 16.6 points per game, barely ahead of Malik Mack, who averages 16.5. Forward Caleb Williams also supplies 12.8 points, stretching the floor with a team-best 40 percent from 3-point range. Arguably, the most impactful attribute about Georgetown’s guard play is its ball security. The 8.6 turnovers per game the Hoyas average is the fourth-best mark in the country and a testament to their experienced roster without any freshman ball handlers.
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The Hoyas (6-2) are looking for another notable victory after topping Maryland and Clemson, though more recently they’ve lost to Miami and Dayton. North Carolina edged No. 18 Kentucky 67-64 on Tuesday in the team’s first true road venture of the season. The Tar Heels learned there are different ways to finish the task. “The end of the game is never going to be perfect,” center Henri Veesaar said. “It’s just whoever plays harder and whoever plays with confidence wins.”
Freshman forward Caleb Wilson has recorded five double-doubles for North Carolina while Veesaar has four. Yet Wilson was contained at times by Kentucky, so that’s something the Tar Heels will look to remedy as opponents have strategies for dealing with the freshman. “More teams are now loading up on him, double-teaming him, trying to make him a passer more than a scorer,” Davis said. “That actually benefits us, because he’s such an elite passer, and we always talk about making plays, not just in scoring, but what can you do out there on the floor that can be a benefit to the team.”
