Monday night was WAY too close. The North Carolina Tar Heels appeared well on their way to a convincing, ranked victory over Louisville, but that all changed in the final minute.
UNC led by 16 just 6:22 into the second half, but watched its advantage shrink to three with 51 seconds remaining. Just as North Carolina did most of the night, defense came through with another huge stop.
Henri Veesaar lifted his hands straight up, forcing Louisville star freshman Mikel Brown Jr. to miss a layup. Seth Trimble and Derek Dixon made free throws down the stretch, the Tar Heels survived a late Brown three and won 77-74.
UNC (22-6, 10-5 ACC) held a stellar-shooting Cardinals (20-8, 9-6 ACC) to 39 percent overall from the field, including a 36% mark from deep, surviving a pair of 20-point nights from Brown (24 points) and Ryan Conwell (23).
Playing their fourth-straight game without their own freshman superstar, Caleb Wilson, the Tar Heels needed someone to lead their offensive charge. Why not Trimble?
The senior captain, enjoying his best collegiate season in Year Four, netted a career-high 30 points. Trimble nailed 11 of his 16 shots from the field (68.8 percent), plus he hit a North Carolina-best seven free throws. Henri Veesaar and Luka Bogavac joined Trimble in double-figures, each adding 12 points. UNC drained 54% of its shots, continuously keeping the Louisville defense on its toes.
The Tar Heels now own a tiebreaker with Clemson for fifth place in the conference – and can climb into the Top 4 by winning out. Let's take a look at social media reactions from tonight's massive win.
Seth Trimble's career night leads the way
SETH TRIMBLE pic.twitter.com/obWX7oSO7q
— Great Day Tar Heel (@GreatDayTarHeel) February 24, 2026
Seth Trimble. That’s the tweet!
— Amy Can’t Cook (@amynoelle24) February 24, 2026
Seth Trimble deserves nothing but flowers from Carolina fans. The way he stuck with Carolina when it was advantageous for him to transfer elsewhere….now he’s shining. He’s GOAT’d.
— antideprussy (@knuckifubuck5) February 24, 2026
SETH TRIMBLE
— in trevor i trust (@tealbeagle904) February 24, 2026
Oh look it's Seth Trimble pic.twitter.com/jHGHgiugii
— Brendan Marks (@BrendanRMarks) February 24, 2026
30 BALLLLLLLL SETH TRIMBLE. HEELS WIN.
— Ev 📸 (@EvannMcClintock) February 24, 2026
Seth: HUGE win for UNC tonight without Caleb Wilson. Seth Trimble is HIM! He deserves all of this. On to the next one! #GDTBATH
— The Ram and The Relic (@RamRelic) February 24, 2026
The Tar Heels showed PLENTY of fight!
Things got dicey there at the end, but what a gutsy performance from the Tar Heels. They got punched early and fought back- and they controlled the game for much of the 2nd half.
— Andrew Forrest (@Andrew_Forrest1) February 24, 2026
I didn’t like this matchup WITH a healthy Caleb Wilson because of Louisville’s guard play, so…
Tonight's hero is none other than Seth Trimble
Not all heroes wear capes pic.twitter.com/isKLZP2rZb
— Daggum Hubert (@DaggumHube) February 24, 2026
UNC is playing good basketball, event without its freshman superstar
UNC is 3-1 without Caleb Wilson. One of the wins came without Henri Veesaar.
— Sherrell D. McMillan (@RellDMC) February 24, 2026
Impressive.
Plenty to love about tonight's victory!
Massive win for the Heels exceeding expectations without Caleb
— NonStopCarolina🐏 (@NonStopCarolina) February 24, 2026
16-0 at home, another win over a ranked team
Luka stepped up big, good games from Kyan
30 Ball from Seth Trimble
Heels host VT Saturday pic.twitter.com/phAipRNvtP
It's a GREAT day for a...
HEELS HANG ON! CAROLINA VICTORY!
— UNC Tar Heels (@GoHeels) February 24, 2026
The lack of free-throw success is still concerning
Make your damn free throws and this is over.
— Mat (@raylanfoster) February 24, 2026
Send a thank you card to Seth Trimble!
Thank you for ballin’ out today, Seth!!! #GoHEELSpic.twitter.com/Bdrnr2ki7e
— Black & Blue Stew (@go_heels) February 24, 2026
Next time, just keep the pedal down!
And has been the case for a good while, slowing the game down when ahead gets the offense stuck in neutral….and as I said on IC Daily, free throws will bite them in the rear eventually.
— Tommy Ashley (@TAshleyIC) February 24, 2026
Makes no sense to stop doing what’s successful and it’s happened for quite some time.
Seth Trimble did something no Tar Heel has since RJ Davis...
Seth Trimble vs Louisville:
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) February 24, 2026
First UNC player with 30+ PTS since RJ Davis
30 PTS | 11-16 FG | 4 AST pic.twitter.com/zfE89WmHsR
A huge win to remain perfect in Chapel Hill!
That’s a huge win at home for the Heels
— Ian Ebert (@HeelToTheDome) February 24, 2026
General Wilson crediting Seth Trimble for the big win!
Dearest Mother,
— General Caleb S. Wilson (@general_caleb_w) February 24, 2026
Led by Cpt. Seth’s high flying attack, the Tar Heel militia remains unbeaten on home soil! Seth had the Cardinal infantry Trimble-ing. My heart was overjoyed to see the townsfolk raise striped banners in support of the regiment.
Yours,
General Wilson
Great win without Caleb Wilson
Made it harder than it needed to be late, but that was a good win for still Caleb Wilson-less #UNC.
— Jacob Turner (@JacobTurnerNC) February 24, 2026
Seth was immense, but a lot of guys contributed. Henri + Luka were efficient, Zayden really brought the energy off the bench, Derek + Jarin chipped in, too.
16-0 at home now. 👀
There's 365 teams in Division I...
299th in D1 free throw shooting.
— Vαℓαrie ♛ (@LeeenaBellle87) February 24, 2026
I am utterly and completely ashamed. 😮💨🤣
BIG excitement...but free throws still a concern
HEELS WIN HEELS WIN HEELS WIN HEELS WIN HEELS WIN HEELS WIN HEELS WIN HEELS WIN HEELS WIN
— Jon Robinson (@jonrob11011965) February 24, 2026
*** SETH with the 30 piece!
*** Bending but not breaking, coming through under pressure
*** Luka playing with the confidence needed
*** But…
FREE THROWS😡😡😡😡
THEY’RE FREE!!!!!!!
Is Henri Veesaar a Brady Manek clone??
Same energy pic.twitter.com/mc3ySLKm3S
— Daggum Hubert (@DaggumHube) February 24, 2026
Not a good win, but a GREAT one!
Keep stacking those wins, Carolina. https://t.co/PI6JABXaQU
— Jason (@PowderBlue_J) February 24, 2026
Hockey...meet basketball!
Nice of the Carolina Hurricanes to support UNC basketball https://t.co/lAoQ4k4b4q
— Tar Heel Nation (@UNC_TarHeelFan) February 24, 2026
Henri Veesaar had a big impact on the win!
And if we woulda lost, yes it’s because Caleb didn’t play.
— Vαℓαrie ♛ (@LeeenaBellle87) February 24, 2026
But since we won, yes it’s because Henri did play. ✌🏾 pic.twitter.com/PDNAVWFMwE
This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC basketball: Social media reacts to huge victory against Louisville