No. 12 North Carolina hosts Riley and East Carolina

Published Dec. 21, 2025 4:23 a.m. ET
Associated Press

East Carolina Pirates (5-7) at North Carolina Tar Heels (11-1)

Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Monday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: East Carolina faces No. 12 North Carolina after Joran Riley scored 24 points in East Carolina's 74-53 win over the Presbyterian Blue Hose.

The Tar Heels are 8-0 on their home court. North Carolina averages 9.9 turnovers per game and is 3-1 when it wins the turnover battle.

The Pirates have gone 0-2 away from home. East Carolina is eighth in the AAC with 10.2 offensive rebounds per game led by Giovanni Emejuru averaging 4.8.

North Carolina's average of 8.2 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.2 more made shots on average than the 8.0 per game East Carolina allows. East Carolina averages 68.4 points per game, 3.8 more than the 64.6 North Carolina allows.

TOP PERFORMERS: Caleb Wilson is averaging 19.7 points and 10.8 rebounds for the Tar Heels. Henri Veesaar is averaging 16.9 points and 9.6 rebounds over the last 10 games.

Riley is scoring 21.7 points per game with 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists for the Pirates. Emejuru is averaging 12.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Tar Heels: 9-1, averaging 77.8 points, 39.2 rebounds, 16.4 assists, 4.1 steals and 4.4 blocks per game while shooting 46.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.7 points per game.

Pirates: 4-6, averaging 65.7 points, 31.8 rebounds, 10.4 assists, 7.1 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 39.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.6 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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