No. 25 UNC uses strong second half to beat No. 19 Kansas 87-74
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- No. 25 North Carolina used a strong second half to beat No. 19 Kansas 87-74 on Friday night.
Freshman Caleb Wilson had 24 points and seven rebounds, and big man Henri Veesaar added 20 for the Tar Heels.
The Tar Heels trailed 37-29 at halftime but handily outscored the Jayhawks the rest of the way, building a double-digit lead they maintained most of the second half.
Senior Seth Trimble added 13 of his 17 after halftime, proving to be a catalyst for the Tar Heels (2-0) in taking control of the second-half tempo as UNC roared out of the break.
UNC made 18 of its first 23 second-half shots - including back-to-back push-the-tempo scores by Trimble that had Kansas coach Bill Self first waving his hands in frustration and then burning a quick timeout barely two minutes in.
Kyan Evans added 12 points after a scoreless first half for the Tar Heels, who went from shooting 33% before the break to making 24 of 36 shots (66.7%) after halftime to lead by as many as 16 on the way to scoring 58 second-half points.
Kansas star freshman Darryn Peterson had 22 points to lead the Jayhawks (1-1).
The Tar Heels snapped a five-game losing streak to Kansas (1-1). The Jayhawks won last year's meeting at Allen Fieldhouse despite blowing a 20-point lead and were playing their first-ever game in Chapel Hill.
UNC continues a five-game homestand to open the season with Tuesday's visit from Radford.
