We all know that this UNC team isn’t going to go far in the NCAA Tournament unless Caleb Wilson is out on the floor. As the engine for the team, he opens so much else about what Carolina wants to do on offense that you hope all of the chatter about him being back at least for next week’s Duke game is accurate.
Still, while it’s tough to imagine a seven footer getting overlooked, it might be the case that the Tar Heels would be just as stuck without Henri Veesaar. He showed his importance on Saturday
night by tying a career high 26 points in 33 minutes played, going 2-7 from behind the arc, picking up seven boards, two assists, no turnovers, a block and a steal. On this night, he was the engine.
His performance since he came back from injury puts a capper on just how much Carolina missed both him and Wilson in the loss to NC State — and subsequent play by State since that win shows just how much UNC needed at least Veesaar in order to compete. It felt like Veesaar was everywhere on Saturday night, and it came in handy as Jarin Stevenson had perhaps his roughest game of this stretch without Wilson, only scoring four points and hampered by foul trouble.
Could there be another reason for Veesaar’s good play?
Veesaar was spotted earlier this week back in the Lenovo Center, but instead of watching basketball it was to take in the Carolina Hurricanes versus the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Apologies to his fiancé, Jasmine Perezchica, for catching her with her eyes closed.
Veesaar was there after members of the Hurricanes showed up at the Smith Center on Monday to watch the UNC/Louisville matchup that the Tar Heels won for perhaps their biggest Wilson-less win of the season. Why does this matter? Well, front and center of the group that went to the UNC game was center Logan Stankoven.
Credit to fellow Tar Heel Blog writer Akil Guruparan who was at the game Monday for the photo.
Stankoven is the one who put on the shirt and hat, and the team was given a tour of the facilities before the game. Since that game, his line has been the best one on the ice for the Hurricanes in their first two contests since the return from the Winter Olympic break. For those that don’t know, a line consists of three people — a center and two wingers. This season, Stankoven is playing center and recently it’s been alongside Jackson Blake and Taylor Hall. In terms of actual numbers, those three players have combined for five goals and six assists their last two games.
On the other side, since Veesaar returned the favor and went to the Hurricanes’ game on Thursday, he tied his career high and became the engine for the team in another huge win on Saturday night.
I’m not saying there’s a correlation, but how can it not be, right?
In all seriousness, multiple Tar Heels shone bright. Seth Trimble seemed to work through his recent 50% struggle at the free throw line to go 5-8, hit his only three point attempt, and had a slam dunk in the second half that felt like it really sealed the game, even though there was a lot of time left. Jonathan Powell also had a huge game off the bench, going 4-5 overall — all three pointers — and hitting 3-5 from the free throw line to tally another 15 points. Zayden High also stepped up again, showing he’s become a steady and necessary piece while Wilson is out, grabbing five rebounds and going a perfect 8-8 at the free throw line.
It was a total team effort to keep the Hokies from the upset, but Veesaar is far and away the player of the game.
