Well, No. 25 North Carolina has a Quad 1 win in its holster now after the Tar Heels rallied from a double-digit deficit to run away from No. 19 Kansas 87-74 in a Friday barnburner.

We’ll dive into some takeaways, but first — take a bow, Caleb Wilson.

North Carolina has something special brewing with Wilson, a five-star freshman.

The 6-10 forward left his imprint all over this one. He dove on the floor to corral loose balls. He ripped down boards. He diced Kansas’ defense as a playmaker and a play-finisher. Wilson jack-hammered three dunks and splashed more than a couple face-up jumpers on his way to a 24-point, seven-rebound, four-assist, four-steal night.

He was utterly tremendous.

Wilson played like a potential top-five pick in exhibition play and also in the Tar Heels’ 94-54 season-opening win vs. Central Arkansas on Monday, but consider Friday his introduction to college basketball at large.

North Carolina has a flat-out dude, who plays with the tenacity and passion of a role player who would do simply anything to stay on the floor. He has quickly become an emotional leader for the Tar Heels, who makes defense cool and has changed the complexion of this roster with his unselfishness.

When your best player is your best passer and your highest-energy workhorse, he’s a beacon of light for others to follow.

Buckets won’t come as easily every night as they did Friday, but the burgeoning skill to go along with the hyperactive defense and energy is extremely appealing for both Wilson’s long-term stock and North Carolina’s short-term quest to be an ACC contender.

UNC will go as Kyan Evans goes

Kansas went on a 15-6 run late in the first half to seize control, and that conveniently was synced up with Evans looking all out of sorts. UNC’s much-discussed portal addition was passing up open 3-pointers, giving up straight-line drives and couldn’t get the basketball out of his hands faster.

That flipped in the second half, and predictably, UNC followed suit. Evans delivered 12 points, three dimes and two net-shredding triples in the second half. After wobbling a little after some fullcourt pressure from Melvin Council Jr. in the first half, Evans responded with a zero-turnover second half.

UNC turned it over just once in the second half and fried Kansas’ defense to the tune of 1.71 points per possession.

Wilson, Seth Trimble and Henri Veesaar (more on them in a minute) were the stars, but Evans is the key to all of it.

Darryn Peterson needs help from Jayhawks

Wonder how Peterson felt after that bloodbath? The Kansas freshman played 28 minutes with Trimble draped inside his jersey for 26 of ’em. The UNC senior tried to give the five-star freshman a rude “welcome to college basketball” moment, and Peterson seemingly rarely flinched.

He still hit tough contested midranges. He tickled the twine for three 3-pointers. Even with UNC expanding the lead out to 16 midway through the second half, there was still an inkling of fear because that dude was still balling.

Trimble played torrid defense, and Peterson still finished with 22 points on efficient 8-for-14 shooting.

I have a feeling a lot of defenders will feel like that after trying to handle Peterson.

He is All-American good, but Kansas has to figure out some secondary answers to the test.

When Peterson exited the first half with two fouls, Kansas’ offense eroded for a stretch. Tre White tried (and failed) to operate as the takeover guy. Kansas simply has to get more from its guards if it wants to be a real-deal contender. Melvin Council gave KU a boost with his point-of-attack defense, playmaking and jet-quick drives, but there are offensive limitations. North Carolina went under every single one of his ball screens, and he couldn’t make ’em pay (0-for-4 from downtown).

Kansas is a good team, and Friday’s result doesn’t change that. But if KU doesn’t become a true National Championship contender, you can harken back to losing out in the final hour in the Darrion Williams Sweepstakes.

This UNC recipe is not fake

Early-season games need to be taken with a grain of salt sometimes.

This was not one of those games.

This blueprint for winning basketball games feels extremely duplicatable for UNC moving forward. The Tar Heels were all over the offensive glass, lassoing in 16 offensive rebounds and turning it into six second-chance points. UNC’s 44% offensive rebound rate was a higher mark than any game last year when North Carolina just didn’t play North Carolina basketball.

Oh, and this frontcourt is the goods. Wilson and Veesaar were the two highest-paid additions this offseason, and they are worth every penny. Veesaar needs to get a few more rebounds (he only had four), but his four assists were enormous. So were the two top-of-the-key treys he hit to start loosening up Kansas’ defense. The Veesaar-Wilson marriage looks extremely promising for the future, thanks to the combination of size, speed, athleticism, skill and passing. Their big-to-big passing gave Kansas serious fits and is eerily similar to the Alex Condon-Tommy Haugh, 1-2 punch that gave Florida a different gear.

Defensively, that combination is working, too. Trimble was able to be so aggressive at the point of attack because of Wilson and Veesaar on the back end. Kansas shot just one layup and one dunk in the final 16 minutes of regulation. Veesaar and Wilson combined for just one block, but the rim deterrence was noticeable down the stretch.

If the offensive rebounding is a staple for UNC moving forward, you can see the vision where this group competes with Duke and Louisville for the ACC crown because the other strengths of this club aren’t going anywhere. All nine Tar Heels who played were threats to knock down a triple. Trimble, Wilson and Veesaar present three real-deal defenders at all three levels of the floor.

A top-five pick, armed with offensive rebounders, defenders and shooters is a real-deal combination. But finding consistent guard play will be essential for UNC to elevate into that elite tier.

---

TarHeel247.com is the largest site that covers North Carolina athletics. The large and talented crew has more than three decades of experience covering the Heels and includes former UNC athletes John Henson and Michael Felder. The staff is around almost 24/7 to interact on the message boards. The team is well-sourced, and often breaks news and shares unique “insider” information. There’s no better collection of veteran voices than at TarHeel247.com. Join today!