ATLANTA — Henri Veesaar dunked on a pass from a tripping Seth Trimble with 7.2 seconds left to beat No. 12 Ohio State 71-70 on Saturday.
Trimble, playing in his first game since breaking his left forearm in a training accident on Nov. 9, tried to take a shot but was tripped as he spun into the lane. When the senior guard fell, he passed the ball to Vissar, who got around his defender and dunked hard.
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Ohio State had two chances to pull off an upset.
John Mobley Jr. missed a three-pointer and Devin Royal grabbed an offensive rebound under the basket. He returned just before the horn sounded, but Caleb Wilson blocked the shot to preserve the victory for the Tar Heels.
Trimble, who covered most of his left arm with a wrap during the game, and Veesaar both scored 17 points. Wilson led North Carolina (11-1) with 20 points.
Trimble also played excellent defense on Ohio State star Bruce Thornton, who scored 16 points on 7-for-16 shooting. His shooting percentage in the last game was 60.2%.
Royal led the Buckeyes (8-3) with 18 points.
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With 48.7 seconds left in the game, Mobley hit a three-pointer to give Ohio State the lead and also drew a foul to tie the score to 4 points, 70-67.
Trimble drove inside to close the deficit, and Jalin Stevenson made a steal as Ohio State tried to bring the ball downfield to set up the game-winner.
This is the second game of the CBS Sports Classic at State Farm Stadium in Atlanta. Kentucky defeated No. 22 St. John’s University 78-66 in the opener.
Next
Ohio State will host Grambling State on Tuesday.
North Carolina will return to Chapel Hill on Monday to take on East Carolina.
