North Carolina
Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State’s 94-91 overtime win over North Carolina in the Maui Invitational
1. That was a massive win for MSU on several fronts
LAHAINA, Hawaii – There was a look to Michigan State’s men’s basketball team Wednesday that I hadn’t seen in any other game out of the gate this year. A determination to them. They weren’t leaving Maui without beating North Carolina. Or at least not without putting up the best wire-to-wire fight they could.
It’s as if they firmly understood that if you want to be taken seriously, you have to win some of these games.
A shaky-as-all-heck final couple minutes of regulation (and parts of overtime) notwithstanding, this 94-91 overtime win in their Maui Invitational finale was a you-better-take-me-seriously performance by MSU, which was playing without, arguably, its best player to this point in freshman Jase Richardson, who missed the game after taking an elbow to the head Tuesday in the Spartans’ loss to Memphis. And without Richardson, MSU played its best game of the season, almost end to end.
The reason: Just about everyone else elevated their games — beginning with junior guard Tre Holloman, who replaced Frankie Fidler in the starting lineup and couldn’t miss in the first half and made big free throws late, and Xavier Booker, who rewrote the script for his season (and maybe career) Tuesday, and Coen Carr, who rebounded and attacked with a ferocity that changed the game, and Jaden Akins, who was really good for a while, and Jeremy Fears Jr., who shepherded the Spartans along and made a boatload of free throws (and one massive defensive gaffe late), and Fidler, who, coming off the bench for the first time, made steady and important plays throughout.
This was an incredible game to watch. And the sort of game the Spartans have lost a lot in recent years. They nearly lost this one, losing a 79-71 lead by not making a field goal for the final four minutes of regulation.
They need to work on finding offense down the stretch — having Richardson will help. But give MSU credit, too. Once North Carolina sent this thing to overtime, with the Spartans visibly losing their poise in the final minute, I thought there was no way they were pulling this out. They were gritty in overtime — all the way to the final long pass up three, when Carr jumped through two North Carolina players to haul it in and all but end the game.
MSU shot 54% and scored 50 points in the paint — including 14 from Carr and 12 from Booker — and took advantage of a North Carolina team with some defensive deficiencies. But this is still North Carolina and the Tar Heels still have some serious backcourt firepower and shot-making.
So did MSU on Wednesday, with Holloman scoring 19 points and hitting three 3s — all of them coming in the first half — and Akins netting 14, playing well until the final minutes, and Fidler and Fears both 13.
This was a massive win on several fronts — what it means for Booker’s season, for Holloman, who’d been struggling, for Fidler, for their collective confidence and for their non-conference resume.
The way they began and played for so long — and that they held on — should help them.
2. Xavier Booker, holy smokes
Depending on where Xavier Booker’s season and career goes from here, this might be remembered as a pivot point. Booker was outstanding in the second half (more coming in a full column).
He was the catalyst for MSU during a critical stretch when the Spartans were wobbling a bit for the first time. Booker scored six points in less than a minute in the middle of the second half as the Spartans rebuilt a small cushion. It wasn’t just that he scored. It was how he scored — with aggression in the paint, which hasn’t come naturally for him. It was also how he impacted the game on the glass and how he changed shots defensively.
He finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and a block, his best moments coming in the second half. He wanted the ball in the post. His teammates wanted him to have the ball in the post. And they were thrilled for him.
One of best signs and scenes came when he checked out of the game after that impactful stretch — his teammates were so excited for him. He came back in and was in MSU’s closing lineup in regulation and overtime. That says a ton about how well he was playing.
A good game for Frankie Fidler in a big spot
Starting Tre Holloman proved to be the absolute right move Tuesday. MSU needed more in the opening minutes of games than Frankie Fidler had been given them. I don’t know that moving Fidler back into a starting role makes sense, given Wednesday’s start without him and Jase Richardson’s presence on this team coming off the bench. If there’s another move to be made, you’d think it would be Richardson entering the lineup.
But Fidler certainly didn’t play like someone who wasn’t hurt by it or sulking. Fidler hit 5 of 6 shots, scoring 13 points and was a steadying and consistent hand offensively in a game MSU absolutely needed him to be.
In overtime, he was there to steal a long pass and to grab a big rebound. He looked like a player MSU can count on — and count on off the bench.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow in on X at @Graham_Couch and on Blue Sky at GrahamCouch.
(WLOS) — In a tragic update, one of the baby barn owls being monitored by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has died after a great horned owl entered the barn and killed the owlet. The barn owlets had attracted worldwide attention through the wildlife commission’s ongoing observation efforts.
Officials with N.C. Wildlife said it is not yet clear which owlet was killed, but confirmed it was one of the three youngest.
The wildlife commission said it captured a photo of the great horned owl and the adult female barn owl fighting on top of the box, calling it an “extremely rare encounter to capture on camera.”
PHOTOS: OWLETS ‘HOO’ GAINED WORLDWIDE FAME ARE GROWING QUICKLY INTO YOUNG ADULTS
The wildlife commission said that while this loss is tragic, it is a common encounter because great horned owls are a top predator of barn owls. Officials also said this will likely not be the last encounter.
Over the next few weeks, the commission said viewers will likely see the remaining owlets start exploring, leaving the barn and learning to hunt. The fledglings may leave the barn as early as July to start hunting on their own, according to the commission.
You’ve got to feel terrible for former North Carolina standout Henri Veesaar right now. When he announced that he was leaving Chapel Hill to take his game to the NBA, plenty of eyebrows were raised. However, he was getting first-round grades, which made the decision a bit easy for him. That call has come back to backfire on him.
The first round of the NBA Draft has wrapped up, and the star big man never heard his name called. You’ve got to be kidding. There was always a bit of a worry that Veesaar would fall to the second round, but the recent buzz calmed worries there. Now, though, this setback has surely proverbially slapped him in the face a bit:
UNC’s Henri Veesaar does not get selected in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft. He slips into the second round.
Turned down between $3-4 million to return to UNC? Maybe more?
— Ross Martin (@RossMartinNC) June 24, 2026
Henri Veesaar falling to the second round of the NBA Draft is a bit of a stunner
It’s no secret that Michael Malone and his new UNC staff were quite aggressive in their pursuits of bringing him back to Chapel Hill, as he would have easily had the Tar Heels in the Top 15-20 conversation. At first, with mock drafts popping up with him as a second-rounder, it felt like a return to the ACC was going to be in the works. The narrative changed there not long after, though.
He indeed bolted for the NBA Draft, with the assumption that he was going to be a first-rounder. Veesaar took a bit of a chance there, and things just did not go to plan for him. Let’s make one thing clear here too: we’re not happy in any way. With Veesaar leaving, Carolina fans were wishing him the best, the same way they were for Caleb Wilson.
Wilson ended up getting his life-changing news early during draft night, with the Chicago Bulls taking him off the board at No. 4 overall. Things were only made better for Wilson and North Carolina as a whole with Hubert Davis on hand for the former 5-star freshman’s big moment. It was a surprise not many of us were ready for.
On the flip side of things, Veesaar was left waiting for his special moment, but it never arrived. Is it possible that he’s having some serious regrets over things? We don’t want to speak for Veesaar or make any assumptions, but this just sucks as a whole for him. After averaging 17 points and eight rebounds per game, while taking home all-conference honors, it’s a bit of a stunner that his draft slide has taken place like this.
Had Veesaar returned to school, North Carolina’s 2026-27 outlook would have been looking much stronger. Instead, Malone went overseas to bring in Sayon Keita and Alexandros Samodurov to help carry the load near the glass. That helps, but replacing Veesaar was always going to be a difficult task, as he’s a dominant force. We can play the ‘what if’ game all we want had he stayed in Chapel Hill for one more season, but that’s pointless. Still, it’s now feeling like Veesaar got some bad advice, and that playing for Malone would have been the best thing for him next campaign.
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This spring, more than 62,000 people from North Carolina and
around the world watched as six barn owl eggs hatched live on the North Carolina Wild Life Resource Commission’s “Owl Cam.”
“We have folks who have watched from almost every
state, as well as Canada, Switzerland, Germany, the UK, France, the
Netherlands, Portugal, New Zealand, Italy, Estonia, Ireland, Argentina, Sweden,
Spain and more,” said Wildlife Conservation Engagement Coordinator Austin
Hill.
When asked what he thinks people connect with most while
watching the owls, Hill said the camera offers a rare look into the lives of
barn owls.
“We don’t see them too often at all, and it’s giving
people a glimpse into the life of a barn owl,” Hill said. “It’s very
rare that we’re able to see inside the nest of any creature that’s hidden in a
cavity.”
Hill said viewers enjoyed watching the owlets hatch, grow,
learn to fly and experience all the clumsy moments in between.
At this time all the owls have fledged, meaning they have all learned how to
fly.
“The oldest three owls fledged on the (June)
15th, they’re all females and then the male, the youngest, fledged on
the (June) 20th and you’ll start to see them popping around the
barn,” Hill said.
The webcam will continue to show the adult owls delivering
food to the nest as the owls prepare to leave the barn and learn to hunt.
The
young owls will learn by watching the behaviors of their parents. Depending on their development, the owls could
leave as early as July or as late as September or October.
NCWRC installed the owl nest box in 2011.
It was installed in an undisclosed remote location in Western North Carolina
and used for agency monitoring.
The idea of having a live webcam was a recent idea
created during and Educational Division
meeting.
“It allows us to see what happens in the nest of an
elusive raptor and behaviors we wouldn’t be able to observe from outside the
box,” Hill said. “We’re building out some K-12 curriculum to go along
with the camera so it can extend into the classroom.”
Once the young owls leave, the camera will go offline sometime this fall.
Hill
said staff will perform maintenance on the barn, relocate one of the cameras
and then put the system back in place in hopes that the same owl pair returns
this winter to begin its courtship and mating season. If that happens, the
process can start all over again.
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