The North Carolina Tar Heels notched a stunning upset victory over the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday night.
After trailing the entire game at Chapel Hill’s Dean Smith Center, North Carolina senior guard Seth Trimble hit a go-ahead three pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining on the clock. The Tar Heels held on to win 71-68 — giving the program its best win of the 2025-26 college basketball season. While Trimble was the late-game hero for UNC, it was freshman phenom Caleb Wilson who kept the Tar Heels afloat as they weathered the storm against Jon Scheyer’s talented Duke team.
Wilson finished the victory with 23 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block — shooting 8/12 from the field through a team-high 40 minutes of action. He scored 17 of UNC’s 29 first-half points, keeping the Tar Heels within striking distance heading into the second half.
In an 87-77 win over the Syracuse Orange last Monday, Wilson recorded 22 points and nine rebounds. These performances earned Wilson a Naismith Trophy National Player of the Week award.
Wilson arrived in Chapel Hill as a highly-touted five-star recruit for Hubert Davis’ UNC program prior to the 2025-26 season. Since then, the Atlanta native has more than delivered on expectations. Wilson is averaging 20.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per game for the Tar Heels, scoring 20+ in each of his team’s last five games.
UNC will face off against Duke in another matchup at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Mar. 7.
“We still gotta play them again. You know, it was a great win, but it’s a long season,” Wilson said after Saturday night’s win. “I’m glad we got the win and I feel like this is a great step in the right direction, for us as a team and me individually, but it’s always onto the next. Miami on Tuesday.”
The Tar Heels will tipoff against Miami at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
