North Carolina basketball has had an up-and-down season so far, with some stunning losses mixed in alongside some incredible wins. Now, the Tar Heels are dealing with a couple of key injuries as the regular season starts to wind down.
The injury to star freshman Caleb Wilson has gotten a lot of the headlines, but North Carolina has also been playing without center Henri Veesaar, who is crucially important to their success. Both Wilson and Veesaar were sidelined on Tuesday night for a blowout 82-58 loss to NC State.
Veesaar has been sidelined with a lower-body injury that he suffered in a loss to Miami on Feb. 10, missing his second-straight game in Raleigh on Tuesday night. After the game, North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis gave an update on his standout big man, via Shelby Swanson of The News & Observer.
“Henri Veesaar is ‘day-to-day' per Hubert Davis,” Swanson wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Doesn’t sound like he’s been practicing.”
Veesaar does more than what shows up on the stat sheet, but he is still rock solid in that department as well. He ranks second on the team with 16.4 points per game and averages nine rebounds a night, so his presence on the inside is a big boost for this North Carolina team when he is in the game.
Take North Carolina's win over Duke back on Feb. 7, for example. Veesaar was held scoreless in the first half as Duke raced out to a double-digit lead early in the game. However, the Arizona transfer came alive in the final 20 minutes, scoring 13 points and bumping his rebound total to 11 in what ended up as a dramatic victory.
North Carolina is also expecting to get Wilson back soon from a hand injury that he suffered in the loss to Miami, which has also kept him out for the last two games. This Tar Heels team has shown that it can be one of the most dangerous units in the country when healthy, but Tuesday night was an ugly glimpse into how bad it can get when both Wilson and Veesaar are sidelined.
