MIAMI, Fla. — It’s simple: the Tar Heels go as Caleb Wilson goes. Tuesday night was not Caleb Wilson’s night, and the Tar Heels followed suit, seeing their five-game winning streak come to a sobering end in a 75-66 loss to Miami.
In his first half since his iconic 23-point performance in his inaugural meeting with Duke, Wilson managed three points on three field-goal attempts in Tuesday’s opening 20 minutes.
Wilson’s first two touches against the Hurricanes resulted in turnovers, an ominous sign of things to come as UNC’s star freshman posted a team-worst minus-11 plus/minus in the first half.
On the night, Wilson finished with 12 points — his lowest output of the season — as well as a minus-15. He had several explosive plays, with three blocks and a big dunk down the middle of the lane, but there were far larger reasons for concern in the wake of Tuesday’s loss. The consistent motor and overall emotional spark seemed to be missing on this night, and most importantly there’s the matter of his left hand.
As Wilson walked onto the court to start the second half, he could be seen looking briefly at his left hand. Several minutes later, at the 15:51 mark, Wilson approached Hubert Davis during a break in the action, gesturing toward his left hand.
Wilson exited the game less than a minute later and went to the end of the Tar Heel bench to visit with UNC trainer Doug Halverson.
After an initial examination by Halverson, the two left the bench and headed down the tunnel to the UNC locker room. Several minutes later, Wilson’s mother, Sabrina, made the same trip.
The star freshman returned to the bench and, following taping of his hand from Halverson, re-entered Tuesday’s contest at the 8:47 mark.
Despite converting his first shot upon re-entering — a right-handed hook at the 8:38 mark — UNC’s freshman phenom never quite looked the same, finishing 2-for-5 from the field with his shot attempts being mostly one-handed. Wilson did get to the free-throw line, getting fouled on a putback dunk attempt and on a deep jumper, going 3-for-4 on those free throw attempts after his return to the action.
The moment that best encapsulated Wilson’s uncharacteristic night came at the 2:04 mark of the second half.
Down 64–60, Wilson seemed to either forget or simply make no effort to box out Miami’s Ernest Udeh Jr. on Udeh Jr.’s missed free throw, allowing the Hurricanes’ big man to easily secure his own miss and push Miami’s lead back to six.
The Tar Heels’ coach pulled Wilson from the game 20 seconds later and sat him for the final 1:43 of Tuesday’s loss.
Whether that substitution was injury or effort-related remains to be seen. When asked if Wilson’s apparent injury contributed to his off night, Davis was brief, responding, “Not to my knowledge.”
What made Davis’ comments peculiar, however, was that moments earlier the head coach curtly insisted there was “no situation” to monitor with the Tar Heels’ rookie when asked about his left hand.
None of Wilson’s teammates addressed the uncertainty after the game either.
In Wilson’s almost six-minute absence earlier in the half, the Tar Heels held their own, out-scoring the Hurricanes 7-4. But Miami outscored UNC 9-6 over the final 1:43 of the game after he exited.
Make no mistake, Wilson’s off night was one of a slew of reasons the Tar Heels fell short Tuesday. The state of the apparent hand injury, and whether UNC will be without their future lottery pick when Pittsburgh makes the trip to Chapel Hill on Saturday, will be the questions that needs to be answered in the days to come.