UNC Basketball Shocker: Tar Heels’ Emerging Star Ignites March Madness Title Hopes

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — UNC basketball is back under the bright lights of the Dean Smith Center, and Friday night’s showdown with No. 19 Kansas promises to set an early tone for the 2025-26 college basketball season. Fresh off a 94-54 demolition of Central Arkansas in Monday’s opener, the No. 25 North Carolina Tar Heels will try to extend their 22-year streak of 2-0 starts while welcoming the Jayhawks to Chapel Hill for the first time ever. New-look roster, same high-octane attack Head coach Hubert Davis rolled out five new starters on opening night, and they wasted no time putting their stamp on UNC basketball. Five-star freshman forward Caleb Wilson erupted for 22 points on 8-for-10 shooting, tying the fourth-best debut by a Tar Heel rookie in the last half-century. Junior transfer point guard Kyan Evans drilled four threes and stuffed the box score with 15 points, six boards, five assists and four steals, while 7-footer Henri Veesaar added a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double. Wilson’s athletic dunks and Evans’ floor-spacing solved Central Arkansas early, fueling an 18-0 first-half blitz that ballooned the margin to 39-13. By intermission, Carolina led 51-23 and never looked back, shooting 57 percent after the break and winning the glass 46-26. Blue-blood collision on Tobacco Road Now the Tar Heels pivot to a marquee non-conference clash steeped in history. Kansas leads the all-time series 7-6 and has taken five straight, but none of those meetings came in the Smith Center. ESPN’s Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas will be courtside for the 7:01 p.m. tip, underscoring the national intrigue as two programs with a combined 10 NCAA titles collide. Key storylines to watch • Caleb Wilson vs. Hunter Dickinson: The freshman phenom faces a seasoned All-America candidate in Kansas’ veteran center. • Pace of play: Both teams topped 90 points in their openers; transition defense could decide momentum. • Three-point duel: UNC knocked down 10 triples against Central Arkansas, but Kansas shot 40 percent from deep in its 94-51 win over Green Bay. • Bench depth: Carolina’s Montenegrin guard Luka Bogavac provided 10 points and five assists in 18 energetic minutes Monday, giving Davis another perimeter weapon. Why the game matters For UNC basketball, beating a top-20 foe would validate preseason buzz around a roster that returned just 14 percent of last year’s scoring yet landed third in the ACC media poll. For Kansas, snapping its five-game winning streak over Carolina in Chapel Hill would be a statement that Bill Self’s group remains a Final Four contender despite heavy roster turnover. Ticket demand has soared, with secondary-market prices rivaling Duke games, and Smith Center officials expect the 496th win in building history—if Carolina prevails—to be among the loudest ever recorded inside the 21,750-seat arena. Bottom line Friday’s matchup offers everything fans crave: blue-blood brands, NBA prospects, and stakes that will echo in March. If Caleb Wilson and the Tar Heels can protect home court, UNC basketball will surge up early polls and reclaim a place among the sport’s elite.