Veesaar's career night leads No. 12 North Carolina past ETSU

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Henri Veesaar scored a career-high 26 points to power No. 12 North Carolina to a 77-58 victory over East Tennessee State on Tuesday night.

Veesaar shot a near-perfect 10-of-11 from the floor and also pulled down eight rebounds for the Tar Heels (10-1). Caleb Wilson added 20 points and eight rebounds for UNC.

Brian Taylor paced ETSU (8-4) with 14 points, while Blake Barkley scored 11.

ETSU held a two-point advantage midway through the first half after Taylor threw down a fast-break dunk following a UNC turnover. But the Tar Heels used a 19-9 run — which included back-to-back dunks from Wilson and Veesaar — to take an eight-point lead at intermission.

UNC opened the second half with a 9-2 run to take a 15-point lead. The surge was highlighted by a second-chance dunk from Wilson and then punctuated by Veesaar swishing a 3-pointer. UNC led by as many as 27 points.

The Buccaneers went into game ranked No. 17 nationally in steals (114) and No. 28 in points allowed per game (65.5), but the Tar Heels shot 54% from the field, their second-highest mark of the season.

Veesaar, redshirt junior from Estonia, leads the team in field-goal percentage (64.5%) and blocked shots (15). This was the eighth time this season he's shot north of 60 percent from the floor in a game.

Up next

North Carolina: The Tar Heels face Ohio State in Atlanta on Saturday.

ETSU: The Buccaneers host Jacksonville State on Saturday. ___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up  here. AP college basketball:   https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll  and  https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball