Superstar freshman Caleb Wilson led four North Carolina players in double figures with 24 points as the No. 25 Tar Heels defeated No. 19 Kansas 87-74 in an early-season battle of college basketball titans on Friday night.
It was the first-ever matchup between the two schools in Chapel Hill, N.C. North Carolina outscored Kansas 58-37 in the second half.
Kansas had won five straight games against North Carolina. The all-time series is now tied 7-7.
North Carolina (2-0) also got 20 points from Henri Veesaar, 17 from Seth Trimble and 12 from Kyan Evans. The Tar Heels outrebounded the Jayhawks 39-27.
Kansas (1-1) was led by its own freshman phenom Darryn Peterson with 22 points. Bryson Tiller added 12 points and Tre White scored 10.
The Jayhawks were up by as many as 10 late in the first half and led 37-29 at intermission.
Veesaar scored six points as the Tar Heels came back to tie the game at 39 early in the second half. After a 3-pointer by Kansas’ Kohl Rosario tied the game at 46-all with 15:01 left, North Carolina used a 12-0 run to grab the largest lead by either team to that point.
With Kansas trailing 67-56, Tiller picked up his third foul of the half and fifth of the game, ending his night. North Carolina extended the lead to as many as 16 points on Luka Bogavac’s 3-pointer with 8:27 to go.
Peterson picked up his second foul with 9:25 left in the first half and had to take his seven points to the bench for the next 2:29. Kansas didn’t score a point while Peterson sat. He reentered the game when Wilson went to the bench with his second foul with 6:56 left.
The Tar Heels took their first lead of the night at 25-22 on a 3-pointer by Veesaar. The Jayhawks responded with a 13-0 run to regain the lead at 35-25.
Tiller led the Jayhawks with 12 points in the first half on 4-of-4 shooting from 3-point range. Peterson added 11 points. Wilson had 12 and Veesaar had 10 for North Carolina.
