CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (Dec. 15, 2025) – The ETSU men's basketball team steps into one of the most difficult places to win in all of college basketball on Tuesday – unless, of course, it's the home team.

The Bucs visit 12th-ranked North Carolina at the Dean Smith Center for the first time since 2012 on Tuesday night in an 8:00pm tipoff on ACC Network.

MATCHUP: ETSU (8-3) at #12 North Carolina (9-1)
DATE: December 16, 2025, 8:00pm
VENUE: Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center (Chapel Hill, NC)
TV: ACC Network (Jay Alter, Terrence Oglesby)
RADIO: WXSM-AM 640 (Jay Sandos)
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
 
ETSU suits up for its final nonconference road game of 2025-26 after coming up one point short at Austin Peay on Friday, 76-75. The Bucs had a chance for a potential game-winning basket in the final seconds, but Blake Barkley's hook shot popped off the inside of the rim and back out. Barkley scored 12 points and led the team with seven rebounds, while Brian Taylor II scored 19 and Cam Morris III notched 12 points despite navigating foul trouble. Point guard Allen Strothers had four assists, the second of which moved him past Quimari Peterson for 10th most in a career at ETSU. Strothers' 253 career assists trail former guard Greg Stephens (1997-99) at 265 for ninth all-time.

North Carolina has won three straight games to rebound from the team's only loss of the season to date, 74-58 to Michigan State on a neutral floor in Fort Myers, Florida, on November 27. The Tar Heels most recently took down USC Upstate 80-62 behind Caleb Wilson's ACC-leading seventh double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds plus 17 bench points from Jonathan Powell. Wilson, a 6'10" freshman, is sixth in the ACC in points per game (19.4) and the conference's leading rebounder per game (10.6). Arizona transfer Henri Veesaar is also among ACC leaders in both categories at 16.0 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, ranking 10th in the nation and second in the ACC behind Wilson with five double-doubles. UNC's 9-1 start is its best through 10 games since 2017-18.

This is the seventh meeting between the Bucs and Tar Heels in men's basketball but just the third at the Dean Dome. ETSU and UNC played three times in what is now Carmichael Arena and once in Brooks Gym in 1975. The Tar Heels have won all six previous meetings, most recently a 78-55 victory in Chapel Hill on December 8, 2012. UNC is 496-90 in the Smith Center since it opened in 1986 and 60-9 under Hubert Davis.

For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com.