No. 17 North Carolina will aim to extend its three-game winning streak when it hosts Clemson on Tuesday night in Chapel Hill, N.C.
While freshman phenom Caleb Wilson remains sidelined for the Tar Heels (23-6, 11-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) with a hand injury, his frontcourt mate Henri Veesaar has returned to the lineup and is playing some of his best basketball.
The 7-footer from Estonia is coming off a season-high-tying 26 points in UNC’s 89-82 win over Virginia Tech on Saturday. Since returning from an Achilles injury, Veesaar is averaging 19 points and four rebounds per game, helping the Tar Heels win three in a row over the Hokies, Syracuse and Louisville.
“When Henri is going offensively, it opens up everything for us,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “I felt like he worked extremely hard to catch the ball closer to the basket. If they came to double, there’s an easy pitch-out. And for him, just one dribble step and he was already at the rim with his length.”
In the midst of Wilson’s absence, the Tar Heels have also gotten a boost from guard Seth Trimble, who was named ACC Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 25 points, four assists and three rebounds per games in UNC’s wins over Louisville and Virginia Tech.
As for Wilson, he could be back sooner rather than later. Davis said on Monday that Wilson recently had his cast removed and had been cleared for individual workouts.
“He can’t do anything five-on-five, but in terms of dribbling, catching, shooting, he’s been doing that and just continues to get better every day,” Davis said.
The Tar Heels will likely be cautious with Wilson’s return in order to preserve him for tournament play and his future as a likely top pick in the upcoming NBA draft. They’ll have to take on Clemson (21-8, 11-5) without him.
Brad Brownell’s Tigers snapped a four-game losing streak on Saturday by beating Louisville 80-75 behind 16 points from Jestin Porter. RJ Godfrey added 13 points in the win; he leads the Tigers in scoring with 11.5 points per game this season.
Clemson continues to lean on its defense this year and ranks 19th nationally with just 65.9 points allowed per game. The Tigers also allow their opponents to dish just 10.3 assists per game, which ranks top-10 nationally.
“Felt good for our guys, I know, just to kind of feel like, hey, get a little bit of our swagger back,” Brownell said of the win over Louisville. “And now we’ve got to go play a great team in North Carolina at their place. Just stay confident, keep working, make sure our preparation is really good, and see how we do.”
It’s the final road game of the regular season for Clemson and the last home game for North Carolina. The Tigers will close the ACC campaign out at home against Georgia Tech on Saturday, while the Tar Heels travel to rival Duke.
