Henri Veesaar's big night not enough as UNC loses to Clemson at ACC Tournament

Shelby Swanson, The News & Observer on Mar 13, 2026

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Midway through the second half in Charlotte, with his team down by double-digits and continuing to fade deeper into a deficit, that’s what UNC coach Hubert Davis kept yelling at his team from the sidelines. He needed them to fight. To punch back. To claw, if they had to.

But in the second matchup between No. 19 North Carolina and Clemson in 10 days — the latest iteration Thursday equally gritty and physical as the first — the Tar Heels couldn’t muster up enough to battle back in a 80-79 loss.

The Tar Heels (24-8, 12-6) got out to a six-point lead in the first five and a half minutes, but followed that with a cold stretch from the floor. North Carolina had made just one of its last seven field goals when Hubert Davis tore off his glasses and proceeded to tear into his team in a timeout huddle with 7:57 left in the first half.

He had been yelling across the court at his team to go inside — to pass the ball to the post. Instead, the Tar Heels had lofted nine 3-pointers at the time of that stoppage. They’d made two of them, good for 22.2%.

His team responded. A brief UNC flurry, capped by a 3-pointer from Stevenson, cutting North Carolina’s deficit to two at 31-29. But Clemson (24-9, 12-6) followed that with an 8-2 run to close the first half and carry a 39-31 lead into the break.

A balanced Tigers scoring attack helped Clemson mount a double-digit lead early in the second half. The Tigers’ largest lead — 12 points — came after a pull-up jumper from Nick Davidson over Veesaar in the paint at the 15:59 mark.

The closest the Tar Heels came after that was a single point but not until 2.7 seconds remained. UNC needed a late 21-7 run to cut into what had been a double-digit deficit. Clemson led 73-58 with 3:36 to play.

With the loss, the Tar Heels will return home to Chapel Hill and await Selection Sunday at 6 p.m. on March 15 to find out their seeding for the NCAA Tournament. The N&O’s bracketologist, Patrick Stevens, has UNC projected as a No. 5 seed for The Big Dance.

With the win, Clemson moves on to face No. 1 Duke (Blue Devil Gear) in the ACC Tournament semifinals on Friday night.

Here are three takeaways for the Tar Heels:

Henri setting the tone from the tip

Veesaar spoke after UNC’s loss to Duke about needing to set the tone early for his team. It was a personal challenge he took upon himself — one even more necessary given the news that the Tar Heels would be without freshman phenom Caleb Wilson for the remainder of the season.

On Thursday night, there would be no waiting for “second-half Henri” to appear. Veesaar started the game with a block on the opening possession before scoring three early buckets to help put North Carolina up, 14-8.

That said, Veesaar struggled a bit against Clemson’s double teams early on, leading to two turnovers by the Estonian. He faced plenty of pressure, too. At one point, senior forward RJ Godfrey practically shoved Veesaar out of bounds — almost as if he was practicing on a football push sled.

He fought through it to produce 28 points and 17 rebounds, his 14th double-double of the season, complete with career-best totals in both categories.

Too many missed threes early

At the under-eight media timeout in the Tar Heels’ opening half, Davis had one main message for his team.

“17 shots,” he could be heard yelling at his players. “17 freaking shots, and nine of them threes!”

North Carolina trailed 22-21 at that point and had missed its last five 3-point attempts. Out of the break, Luka Bogavac lofted one more shot from outside before the Tar Heels really started to pound the paint.

A Stevenson 3-pointer — preceded by two jumpers from him and Veesaar — cut UNC’s deficit to two points (31-29) with two minutes to play in the first half. But that triple wasn’t just chucked up. It was set up by an inside-out play: a dribble drive and kick from Trimble.

The Tar Heel’s perimeter production took a slight uptick in the second half, but UNC didn’t find its rhythm from deep until the closing minutes.

North Carolina, somehow, claws back

It took a while, but the Tar Heels did eventually answer their coach’s call to fight back.

A 13-3 run in the final four minutes cut UNC’s deficit — which was as large as 18 midway through the second half — to five points with just over a minute to go.

North Carolina called a timeout at the 1:05 mark. Out of the stoppage, a driving layup from Trimble trimmed the Tar Heels deficit further: to three points at 76-73.

After two Clemson free throws, Veesaar answered the call again. He knocked down his third triple and 10th field goal of the game to put North Carolina within two points of the Tigers.

With the score at 78-76, Clemson converted two free throws. Dixon responded with another timely 3-pointer — his fourth of the game — to make the score 80-79.

But a smart play from Davidson, who missed his second free throw on purpose in the waning seconds, prevented the Tar Heels, who were out of timeouts, from getting a good final shot off.

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