CBS SPORTS CLASSIC: NORTH CAROLINA VS. OHIO STATE

December 20, 2025

Caleb Wilson

Henri Veesaar

State Farm Arena

North Carolina Tar Heels

Press Conference

North Carolina 71, Ohio State 70

Q. Caleb, over the last 48 hours perspective, winning in front of family and friends. How are you feeling right now?

CALEB WILSON: I feel great. It was definitely a huge win. Of course we all like blowouts, but having a fun close the game like that is definitely fun, especially for the crowd.

Like I said, I'm just glad we got the win and I'm glad we got Seth back. I feel like we're a much better team.

Q. The last play there, the put-back, is that what happened?

HENRI VEESAAR: Yeah, I got my fingers on it. They tried to get it up and I got my fingers on it and then that was it.

Q. For both of you, you guys were up 11; couldn't extend the lead. Was there any stress there for you guys that last minute, and how did you pull it out?

HENRI VEESAAR: I feel like as a team as a whole. We had been in those situations so many times in practice. Like down eight, but this time had a lead, so like them just (indiscernible) we just need to win by one, and that's what we did. Just getting stop by stop, trying to make the game as short as possible, get in position a little longer, and then just win the game play-by-play.

Q. Caleb, any stress in falling behind?

CALEB WILSON: No, it wasn't no stress. I was getting mad when I let the and-1 three happen, but every second we work on those things in practice. It was just about trusting our process and we can get it done.

Q. Henri, Caleb just touched on it, but obviously having Seth back in that lineup, how much does that open things up for you guys? You had those first couple games with him, but now that he's back how does that help you guys and open things up for you?

HENRI VEESAAR: I thought definitely having such a big presence on our guards, like we barely have to do anything as bigs on the ball screen and just flies through it. He's so handsy. He kind of makes those plays, and then on offense he runs like -- we have so many more transition points just because of him running and like fast break points, lay-ups. I think he had four points in doubles today, and those are huge for us because they're huge momentum plays.

Q. Jarin came off the bench but still played 27 minutes. How much versatility does he give you especially as a backup 5 which we haven't see a ton of before tonight?

CALEB WILSON: He gives us tremendous versatility. He's a great player, and he came up with that last steal to give us the ball back later in the game. He's just going to do everything it takes to win. That's why you love to have a guy like that on your team.

Q. Why is the transition game so much better with Seth out there? What does he do to make that thing go?

HENRI VEESAAR: I think he just plays with effort, but he's a freak athlete. He's the fastest guy on the team. He has the biggest vert on the team, so the way he runs the floor, there's not many guys that keep up with him.

Q. When Ohio State calls timeout with 44 seconds left, what were you guys watching for?

CALEB WILSON: We kind of knew it was going to be -- we either thought it was going to Bruce or it was just going to be a tougher shot. We really knew we were going to get hand, a good contest on the shot. It was all about boxing out and making sure you finished the play. It's no worse than we do in practice all the time and worse than getting a tip up, tip in later in the game where you play defense and then you got to get a second-chance opportunity.

So we just focused on making sure we boxed out and communicated throughout the play.

Q. Caleb, before today (indiscernible) what does he give you as a 5 that you guys need?

CALEB WILSON: He just gives us rebounding with the lineup with me and Jarin, we're just gunners, like we're just running as hard as we can. We're trying to create advantages just knowing we're quicker than most 5 men that we'll play against. He just gives us an -- well, both of us give us an added sense of versatility, especially in transition.

HENRI VEESAAR: I feel like I can add one thing. I feel like him just being able to switch as well as he can at his size and being able to still rebound and block shots makes a huge difference for us, because I think the floor spacing is great with him when he gets in they're both together. Because they're both really good athletes, but the other part is we can switch and give a different look for the opponents.

Q. Henri, I know you said (indiscernible) off the ball screens. Again, leading the team in points from behind the arc. How cool is that?

HENRI VEESAAR: No, for sure to see Seth make those shots means a lot. Just being able to know -- because like over the summer we were all the time working in the gym together and shooting, and like just I feel like all of us told him every time, anybody goes under, wherever he is, he's got to shoot it.

There can't be any confidence issues or anything. Just every time everybody believes in him to make it, and today he showed his shooting those threes were huge momentum boosts for us any time he made those.

Q. How do you describe what you guys have been able to do on defense? How do you describe the defense as a whole and it coming down to one final stop there?

HENRI VEESAAR: Yeah, I feel like we're a very connected team on the defensive end. Like we talk, we communicate, everybody does their job. I feel like the best part of it is we still have a whole bunch to improve. I feel like we don't feel like we're yet as good a defensive team as maybe the numbers show because I feel like we still make a lot of mistake.

Every game I feel like we can go back and watch and there's like 16, 18, 20 points that we can easily take away not making mistakes.

Q. In the first half you were making a difference in rebounding and many different areas, but you never had (indiscernible) two quarters. What was the dynamic of -- what was going on there?

CALEB WILSON: I had four. I mean, I was just trying to let the game come to me. I knew playing against Ohio State, especially at home, that they were going to be focused on me, so I am not going to try to force shots and not trust my teammates.

I'm just going to get my teammates open, try to get assists, try to affect the game whatever it needs to be done. Whatever it takes to win honestly. I mean, the second half I was able to do more offensively with scoring and stuff like that, but I'm not on a team where it is just me and I know that. Got Henri, got Seth, got a bunch of great players so I'm not going to try to force it for sure.