North Carolina basketball loses to Cal, 84-78

Shelby Swanson, The News & Observer on Jan 17, 2026

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BERKELEY, Calif. — Caleb Wilson isn’t one to hide his emotions. This California trip has been no different. Following Wednesday’s upset loss at Stanford, the freshman said he was “frustrated” and hates “losing when we don’t have to.”

The Tar Heels followed that up with their worst loss of the season Saturday at Cal, an 84-78 defeat at the hands of an unranked Golden Bears team that, at one point, appeared on track for a blowout. Another game that, as you might imagine, had plenty of points of frustration and plenty of yelling from Wilson and Hubert Davis in timeouts — the head coach at one point shouting at his team to “wake up!”

After Cal recorded its best offensive half of the season, the Tar Heels did eventually wake up, mounting a 16-3 run during one four-minute stretch in the second half. But that gave way to another North Carolina drought, this one spanning three minutes without a field goal from UNC.

North Carolina cut its deficit to four points with a minute remaining. At that point, the Tar Heels had to foul the Golden Bears and hope they missed their free throws.

It didn’t work. Cal stayed composed at the line.

On the other end, Henri Veesaar and Seth Trimble missed five straight shots in the final four minutes before Veesaar swished home a 3-pointer to make it a four-point game again with 18.8 seconds on the clock.

But the Tar Heels were unable to claw their way out of the hole they’d earlier created.

Here are some takeaways from North Carolina’s loss at Cal:

Second-chance points, rebounding hurt the Heels

Ten of Cal’s first 12 points were thanks to second-chance points — a category North Carolina dominated during its trip to Stanford to the tune of 13-0.

A big part of the problem was Golden Bears forward Lee Dort, who racked up a game-high six boards in the first half. He was particularly successful going up against Veesaar on the weak side early on which, presumably, was part of the reason Zayden High substituted in for the seven-footer after four minutes of game time.

By halftime, Cal had outrebounded UNC 18-14 — particularly jarring for a Golden Bears team that entered Saturday as one of the worst rebounding teams in the ACC and sub-200 nationally in offensive and defensive rebounding.

The offensive boards, in particular, have been a sore spot for this Cal team. The squad ranked 305th in that category entering Saturday. And yet, managed 13 second-chance points in the first half against UNC.

North Carolina made the adjustment at halftime, but the Golden Bears’ first-half lead — built, in part, with plenty of second-chance opportunities — proved insurmountable.

Derek Dixon earns the start at point guard

Dixon cracked the starting lineup Saturday as North Carolina continues to tinker with its guard rotation.

While the freshman from the DMV area has shown flashes at many points this season — most notably he played the hero during the Tar Heels’ win over Kentucky at Rupp Arena — he didn’t have a seismic impact with the ball in his hands.

His catch-and-shoot ability proved crucial for the team. Dixon knocked down a team-best four triples — as many as his other teammates combined — to help UNC mount its second-half push.

Dixon had nine points after halftime, handling the point late while also being the go-to target on a lot of UNC’s sets later in the second half.

It’s too early to say what Dixon’s start on Saturday means for North Carolina’s rotation long-term, but the freshman’s scoring was necessary in the team’s late-game rally.

Defense dooms the Tar Heels once again

North Carolina’s perimeter defense has become a jarring issue — one that has multiple causes, per Davis.

“I don’t think you can point to one specific thing,” Davis said when asked about 3-point defense after UNC’s loss to Stanford. “I think it’s coming from a number of different directions. I think not getting picked up in transition, short closeouts, no pressure on the ball, late rotations, kickouts from offensive rebounds.”

There are many pain points here and, it appears, still no solutions. After giving up 10 3-pointers in the second half against Stanford, North Carolina allowed the Golden Bears to knock down 10 triples in the first half on Saturday — a combined 20 for 31 over those two halves.

Things have gotten so bad that, when Cal missed its first 3-pointer of the second half, a UNC fan in the crowd stood up and threw his arms to the sky in celebration. He looked upwards, almost as if thanking some higher power, and cried, “they missed!”

But the Golden Bears didn’t miss much. Cal’s second-half 40% clip from three actually reflected a dramatic turnaround for the Tar Heels’ defense from the opening half.

North Carolina also didn’t allow a career-high from any of the Golden Bears, although forward John Camden knocked down four of eight 3-point attempts as part of his 20-point performance.

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