Tar Heels Beat Navy 73-61, Hold Players-Only Meeting

The North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team secured a 73-61 victory over Navy on Tuesday night at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, improving to a perfect 5-0 record early in the season, though the win prompted a players-only meeting due to concerns over lapses in execution.

Freshman forward Caleb Wilson led the Tar Heels with 23 points and 12 rebounds, marking his third consecutive double-double. North Carolina's defense shone in stretches, holding the Midshipmen scoreless for more than seven minutes in the second half and limiting them to 29 percent shooting from the field. The Tar Heels built a 24-point lead with under five minutes remaining, but Navy responded with a 15-0 run that trimmed the margin to single digits, forcing UNC to revert to its starting lineup in the final two minutes.

Despite the comfortable final score, frustration lingered in the locker room. Players delayed postgame interviews by over 20 minutes to hold a meeting initiated by Seth Trimble and Henri Veesaar, with contributions from the entire team. "Everybody said what they had on their mind, the way they saw the game go, and how they seen us practice," Veesaar, a transfer from Arizona,...