Henri Veesaar flushed a go-ahead dunk with 7.2 seconds left on Saturday, giving No. 12 North Carolina a 71-70 win over Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta.
Caleb Wilson led all players with 20 points and 15 rebounds, while Veesaar chipped in 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels (11-1), who won their fifth straight game. Seth Trimble added 17 points for North Carolina.
Devin Royal’s 18 points paced Ohio State (8-3), which battled back from an 11-point second-half deficit.
With Ohio State trailing by a point with 48.7 seconds left, John Mobley Jr. drilled a 3-pointer and was fouled by Wilson, giving the Buckeyes a 70-67 lead after converting the four-point play.
Trimble’s layup then cut North Carolina’s deficit to one, before Jarin Stevenson’s steal with 23 seconds remaining. After a Tar Heels timeout, Veesar’s dunk put North Carolina ahead by a point, leading to Ohio State’s timeout in the frontcourt with 4.4 seconds left.
Mobley then missed a 3-pointer and Wilson blocked Royal’s tip-in as time expired.
Bruce Thornton added 16, Mobley had 13 and Christoph Tilly finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for Ohio State. Amare Bynum tallied 11 points in defeat.
Leading by three points at halftime, North Carolina’s advantage ballooned to 10 as Trimble’s 3-pointer and Wilson’s four straight points gave the Tar Heels a 51-41 cushion with 13:36 left.
Tilly’s layup and Mobley’s mid-range jumper pulled the Buckeyes within six, before Veesar’s second triple and Stevenson’s layup extended the lead to 56-45.
Ohio State pulled within five on Tilly’s free throws, which were followed by Wilson’s driving dunk with 5:23 remaining. From there, Bynum’s three-point play and Tilly’s floater trimmed the Buckeyes’ deficit to 64-62.
With 6:51 left in the first half, Trimble’s three-point play gave the Tar Heels a 20-17 lead. After Bynum’s hook shot cut the Buckeyes’ deficit to a point, Veesar’s jumper was followed with Stevenson’s basket and Jaydon Young’s 3-pointer, extending North Carolina’s lead to 27-19.
Wilson’s jumper put the Tar Heels up 29-20, before Thornton’s jumper and Royal’s dunk stamped an 11-2 Ohio State spurt, knotting the score at 31 apiece with 54 seconds remaining.
Derek Dixon drilled a triple on North Carolina’s next possession, giving the Tar Heels a 34-31 halftime lead.
–Field Level Media
