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#UNC's Seth Trimble, Henri Veesaar, Jarin Stevenson and Derek Dixon after win over Louisville
Feb 24, 2026
#UNC's Seth Trimble, Henri Veesaar, Jarin Stevenson and Derek Dixon after win over Louisville
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0:00
made a couple more free throws. Uh the
0:02
game would have been over, but you know,
0:04
it feels good to have a game like that
0:05
for a
0:05
lot of it coming into the paint. What
0:06
did you guys see as far as being able to
0:08
get into the paint for uh against
0:09
Louisville and what were they allowing
0:11
you to do um defensively?
0:12
Yeah, I just thought, you know, the way
0:14
they guarded ball screens and whatnot
0:15
was really able to get out and either
0:17
create for my team or get downhill and
0:19
make a play. So, it's really simple as
0:21
that. You know, watching film, uh I saw
0:24
myself having a game where it felt if I
0:26
was as aggressive as possible,
0:28
you know, good things were going to
0:29
come. So first seven minutes of the
0:30
second half, they didn't make a single
0:32
shot. What were you guys doing
0:33
defensively to kind of show that?
0:34
Uh we were just being physical. We came
0:36
out and we we threw the first punch in
0:38
that second half. Uh you know, we know
0:40
how important it is to win here. You
0:42
know, it's a huge goal of ours just to,
0:44
you know, defend our home court each and
0:45
every game. So that second half, the
0:47
beginning of it was was huge for us.
0:48
Can you quantify the difference in your
0:50
level from the first half at Syracuse to
0:52
the last three halves of basketball that
0:54
you've played?
0:54
Yeah. Uh, I mean, Syracuse first half
0:57
was a level one and I've been on level 9
1:00
or 10. Uh, you know, I had I've been
1:03
having some inconsistency uh since that
1:05
since that Duke game and I don't think
1:08
it's anything too specific. Uh, I just
1:11
think I'm in that I was in that streak
1:12
where I wasn't playing my best
1:14
basketball and I wasn't being the most
1:15
aggressive and that's where it started
1:16
from. So, my coaches just came, you
1:18
know, these last two days telling me to
1:20
be as aggressive as possible. Uh, you
1:22
know, good things are going to come. the
1:23
challenge the challenge of guarding
1:25
Brown. How fired up were you for that?
1:26
Yeah, I was super fired up. You know, I
1:28
was thinking about that matchup uh as
1:30
soon as we beat Syracuse. Uh and that's
1:32
a huge match up for me. Brown is an
1:34
incredible he's an elite guard. I mean,
1:36
he's top three guard in this draft
1:38
class. So, just to go up against him and
1:41
and you know, try and put some buzz out
1:43
there was good.
1:44
You said
1:46
you said you knew that you wanted to
1:47
have a big night. When did you feel on
1:49
the court that you were approaching that
1:51
28 point mark? that 27 point.
1:53
Yeah. Uh I mean I guess as soon as I hit
1:55
nine points uh you know I felt I don't
1:58
know if I had missed the shot yet but I
1:59
just felt in you know on groove in a
2:01
really good rhythm and you know I just
2:03
knew there was going to be more to come
2:04
in a good way. So around there.
2:07
This team played very aggressive
2:08
tonight. You guys matched their
2:09
physicality on the court. What about
2:11
this defensive performance says about
2:13
this team?
2:14
Yeah uh that we have the versat
2:16
versatility to defend. Uh, I know we
2:18
struggled in the past. Uh,
2:20
but we only struggle when, you know,
2:24
we're not into on the defensive end. You
2:26
know, we're into it as a team. We're
2:27
playing together and when we had the
2:29
cohesiveness on the defensive end, uh, I
2:31
think I mean, we're dangerous team.
2:33
Seth, I'm I'm sure you're well aware
2:34
that three was the first one you made
2:36
since the Duke winner. How good did it
2:37
kind of feel to get that going?
2:39
Uh, it felt super good. It felt super
2:40
good. I've been taking the right ones.
2:42
I've been shooting it. Haven't deferred
2:43
them. Uh, and it just felt good. I mean,
2:46
as simple as that. Been waiting on that
2:48
one. Yeah.
2:49
Apologies if you already been asked
2:50
this, but I know Derrick was talking to
2:51
us at Syracuse, you said that halftime
2:53
they kind of challenged you. They wanted
2:55
you to be more aggressive. Yeah.
2:56
Um, obviously you responded at 13 second
2:58
half points. Um, what was that message
3:02
and what do you think it says about the
3:03
team that they were able to challenge
3:04
you as the captain and senior?
3:05
It was just, you know, the guys in the
3:06
locker room were telling me I had a good
3:07
first half, but you know, you can be
3:09
more aggressive. Uh, don't defer at all
3:12
and just go out there and just play cuz
3:13
we need it. So, it was really as simple
3:15
as that. you know, it came from Saden,
3:17
Kai, and Derek, came from a bunch of the
3:18
guys. Uh, and I just went out and did
3:20
it.
3:21
Seemed like your level of aggression in
3:22
this game was was 10 out of 10. You were
3:26
was that a mindset coming in or did it
3:29
just come come naturally to you during
3:32
the game?
3:32
Uh, I mean, it was a mindset coming in.
3:34
Uh, you know, most of the season it's
3:36
just come naturally. I feel these last
3:38
few games, uh, I've been in a place
3:40
where I've just found myself not being
3:41
aggressive. Uh, and I'm not really too
3:44
sure where it's come from, but you know,
3:46
I've noticed it, the team's noticed, the
3:48
coaches have noticed it. So, they were
3:50
just on me. Uh, last couple days I was
3:51
on myself just about,
3:53
you know, being as aggressive as
3:55
possible, especially with the way that
3:56
Louisville played, I feel like, you
3:58
know, I could have made a lot of
3:59
opportunities, which I did today. So,
4:00
that that steal and dunk that you got in
4:02
the second half to push it to 16 points
4:04
the lead, that felt like as amped as
4:06
this building has been all season, could
4:08
you feel that energy when that happened?
4:10
Uh,
4:12
No, honestly, Zayn not told me how loud
4:14
it was, but you know, I was just
4:17
screaming myself. You know, I wasn't
4:19
really paying attention to anything but
4:20
just letting out some some emotions. So,
4:23
I'm glad I could do that, though. Glad I
4:24
could do that.
4:25
What's going through your head on that
4:26
sequence? Take us through a little dicey
4:28
at the end of the game. What What does
4:29
it take to close out a game?
4:32
Make some free throws. That will help.
4:34
No, but I feel like as a team, we just
4:36
need to be more confident next free
4:38
throws. I went 0 for one. We had a whole
4:40
bunch of guys miss that end up. But I
4:42
feel like those are all controllables
4:43
and I know that's not going to be every
4:45
game. We just need to do a better job of
4:46
that.
4:46
Seth having 30 points and you know
4:48
having a career high. What does that do
4:49
for the locker room do for the team to
4:51
see somebody like you know have that
4:53
type of that type of night?
4:54
Yeah, I feel like he was due for one cuz
4:56
he's been working so hard and I feel
4:58
like he had a couple bad games where he
5:00
hasn't been at scoring and I feel like
5:02
just his aggressiveness today was at the
5:04
right limit where he was making good
5:06
decisions, passing the ball, getting
5:08
downhill. So him being able to do that
5:10
just helps us a lot.
5:11
You guys got rebounded again tonight.
5:13
What What can you guys do on the
5:15
defensive end to kind of win the rebound
5:16
battle and limit the second chance
5:17
points?
5:18
I got to help the team. I have one
5:20
rebound here cuz I had three rebounds.
5:22
So just doing that as a seven foot is
5:24
unacceptable. I got to do a better job.
5:25
I feel like I just coming back from like
5:28
a little injury I haven't been I feel
5:30
like myself. So I got to work on that
5:32
and get back to where I was at before
5:34
helping the team another day and being
5:35
able to win the rebounding battle. And
5:37
then when Seth is that aggressive, does
5:38
it make your life in the paint easier?
5:40
Because I know you're such a big, you
5:41
know, defensive focus for for other
5:42
teams.
5:43
It definitely makes it easier. It makes
5:44
it easier for everybody because if he
5:46
has 30 points, they got to collapse at
5:48
some point and they got to bring two on
5:50
him, help on a overhel, they're going to
5:52
send the big extra. So I get easy ones,
5:54
other people, they easy wide open three.
5:56
So that helps us a lot out.
5:58
Take you through um halftime in
6:00
Syracuse. I know that you guys, you
6:02
know, in a respectful way obviously, but
6:03
challenged Seth, we want you to be more
6:06
aggressive. Um, what was that
6:08
conversation like and how did you see
6:09
him respond?
6:11
I feel like we talk all the time every
6:13
game. Sometimes I have slow first half,
6:15
sometimes he has tough first half. So, I
6:17
think we have this relationship where we
6:18
can say like kind of hard comments or
6:21
hard have hard talks at the half of the
6:22
game and nobody's not going to get in
6:24
their feelings. So I feel like just
6:25
being able to do that helps a lot and
6:27
shows his character as well just and
6:30
second half of Syracuse he kind of got
6:32
himself in the game by playing defense
6:34
and then the way he was just moving the
6:36
ball being able to attack being
6:38
aggressive and I feel like that just
6:39
carried over to the day. So I hope this
6:41
car is always the next game as well.
6:42
Thank you Henry.
6:43
Thanks Henry.
6:45
What was it about the defense? So they
6:47
didn't have any easy baskets and um I
6:50
feel like we communicated and it was
6:51
more physical so I feel like that helped
6:53
our second half defense.
6:55
J just what's the importance when Seth
6:56
is attacking off the dribble off the
6:58
ball screen like that. What does it do
7:00
for you guys as a team?
7:02
Yeah. Um yeah, he's a big part of our
7:04
offense. We need the guards to get down
7:06
um draw two, create offense. So Seth
7:08
going in and you know drawing two um
7:11
being able to finish um make some
7:13
assists and different things like that.
7:15
He was a big part of our offense. Um he
7:17
was also big on the defensive end too.
7:18
But um yeah, just him being aggressive
7:20
getting downhill is is huge for us.
7:22
Just quite frankly the um you know
7:24
guards being able to produce on the
7:25
offensive end seems like something that
7:27
might have been missing just a little
7:28
bit maybe against Pit NC State. What's
7:31
been the challenge for you guys? Um you
7:32
know just challenging some of the other
7:34
guards to maybe you know be more
7:36
aggressive on the offensive end as play.
7:38
Um, yeah, just being confident. Um,
7:40
knowing they could play off too, knowing
7:42
they could draw fouls in different ways
7:44
and just having them just have
7:45
confidence going in there and just
7:47
making plays.
7:48
You think you're finding better
7:49
chemistry with this group, playing
7:50
without Caleb, kind of figuring it out
7:52
better in this game.
7:54
Yeah. Yeah. I feel like we figured, you
7:57
know, some things out. Um, again, it
7:59
comes with energy and intensity. I feel
8:02
like that was a good part of the second
8:03
half run. um and uh ball pressure and
8:06
different things like that. Um we had
8:08
different, you know, runouts in
8:10
transition um which really helped our
8:12
offense. Um we were taking care of the
8:13
ball a little bit better in the second
8:14
half and which eliminated their
8:16
transition. Um so I just Yeah, I just
8:18
feel like we played with more energy and
8:20
intensity in the second half.
8:22
Coach Davis was telling us at halftime
8:23
at Syracuse, he and the rest of you guys
8:26
really challenged Seth to to take his
8:28
play to another level and in the last
8:29
three halves, he's been outstanding. Can
8:32
you take me inside that moment and
8:33
obviously how it affected Seth?
8:35
Yeah. Um, yeah, I think it's big for
8:37
Seth. I think Seth's unlocking himself
8:39
and him just going in being aggressive
8:41
like he's he's a huge part of the team.
8:43
So, 30 ball is huge and just going in
8:46
and just him having confidence and going
8:48
in there and making plays.
8:49
Seven rebounds for you guys, but
8:51
obviously you guys lost the rebounding
8:53
battle tonight. What I guess what can
8:54
you guys do defensively, I guess, to to
8:56
kind of clean that up and limit the
8:58
second chance opportunities?
8:59
Yeah, we got to rebound better. Um,
9:02
yeah, we talk about rebounding
9:03
percentages, offensive rebounding
9:05
percentages, and um, we got to be better
9:06
on that. We got to get to O Boys better.
9:09
We got to defensive rebound better. Um,
9:12
so yeah, we just got to be more
9:13
physical, get to the ball, not hold our
9:15
box outs too long as we get to the ball.
9:18
You personally, was this the most edge
9:19
that you've played with since you got
9:21
here?
9:22
This was pretty a pretty edgy
9:23
performance.
9:24
Yeah. Yeah, it was up there. Um, just,
9:26
you know, try to make my mark, try to
9:28
create an impact on the game. um whether
9:31
it's like defensively or just
9:32
offensively trying to um create a po
9:35
post presence or um setting good
9:37
screens, getting our guards open and
9:38
just doing whatever I can to help the
9:40
team.
9:40
Really good teams need to have sort of a
9:42
screw you mentality, a push back
9:44
mentality. The other day when Zayen did
9:46
what he did after you were fouled that
9:48
seemed like that can lift you guys up
9:50
that we've carried over whatever you
9:52
guys had that minute we saw tonight from
9:54
the outside. Is is that like a new layer
9:56
for this team like across the board edge
9:58
and push back? Yeah. Um, we have each
10:01
other's backs and Z's been playing
10:03
really well recently. Um, he's been, you
10:05
know, getting blocks and rebounds and
10:07
he's been having big games. So, yeah,
10:09
he's a huge part of this team and I
10:10
appreciate him having my back and, um,
10:13
yeah, Zay's a great player.
10:14
He was very proud of that.
10:15
Yeah. Is is the free throw stuff mental?
10:18
I know it's something that's kind of
10:19
hard to coach, but these last two games
10:21
have kind of been rough for you guys
10:22
from the line.
10:23
Um, yeah, I guess all around, even for
10:25
me, um, especially. So just getting in
10:27
the gym um being confident and just
10:29
knocking it down. It goes back to just
10:31
repetition and just being confident and
10:33
knocking it down that so we just try to
10:35
stay locked in on them all night and
10:36
never take a deep breath.
10:37
Going back on that a little bit,
10:39
Louisville had eight three-pointers in
10:40
the first half and then you'll kind of
10:42
shut that down in the second half. What
10:44
did those kind of perimeter adjustments
10:46
from the defensive standpoint look like?
10:48
Uh yeah, I don't think there's any
10:49
particular like game plan adjustment or
10:51
anything like that. I think it was just
10:52
uh just getting lost in the game and
10:54
really being locked in on making
10:56
everything difficult for those guys.
10:57
Do you think think you're finding
10:59
chemistry playing without Caleb here in
11:01
the last couple of games? What what's
11:03
making that happen?
11:04
Yeah, I think uh just with time that's
11:06
going to come. Um understanding, you
11:09
know, what what the offense is going to
11:11
run a little bit differently and all
11:12
that type of stuff, but just
11:13
understanding, you know, what we're all
11:15
doing and what our roles are without
11:16
Caleb in the lineup. Um, some guys are
11:18
going to have to, uh, everybody's going
11:19
to have to step up a little bit and, uh,
11:21
just understand our roles.
11:22
Does it feel like the team was played a
11:23
little bit more grit, a little bit more
11:25
edge tonight?
11:26
Uh, I mean, I wouldn't I wouldn't say
11:28
necessarily. Um, I thought we were
11:30
really good defensively locking in on
11:32
those three guards cuz they were really
11:33
good and that was a big emphasis for us
11:35
and I thought we did a good job on them.
11:36
Last one for Derek.
11:38
I know you're typically really good free
11:40
throw shooter, but the last couple games
11:41
have not been so great for you guys from
11:43
the line. Is that a mental thing? I know
11:45
it's something that's kind of hard to
11:46
coach in the middle of the season, but I
11:48
guess what can you guys do to to be
11:49
better from the line?
11:51
Yeah, I think just staying in the gym.
11:52
Um getting those reps up and then it'll
11:55
happen out there. Um
11:57
lastly, it is what it is. You just got
11:59
to get better. Yeah.
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