UNC basketball vs. SMU game preview, info, prediction & more

The No. 12 North Carolina Tar Heels will travel to Dallas for their first Atlantic Coast Conference road game of the season to take on the SMU Mustangs. 

In its last outing, UNC opened ACC play with a 79-66 win over Florida State at the Dean Smith Center, improving to 13-1 and extending its streak of holding every opponent under 75 points to 14 games — the program’s best start in that category since the 1981-82 national championship season.

Seth Trimble paced a balanced effort with 20 points, seven rebounds, four steals, two assists and a block, shooting 6-for-13 from the field and 8-for-11 at the line in his first 20-point outing of the year. 

Caleb Wilson was dominant again, finishing with 22 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and two blocks for his 10th double-double, while becoming the first freshman in school history to score 20 or more points in six straight games. Henri Veesaar added 12 points and 12 rebounds, giving UNC its third straight game — and seventh this season — with double-doubles from both Wilson and Veesaar. 

Kyan Evans chipped in 15 points on 5-for-12 shooting from three.

SMU enters the matchup at 11–2 after a 110–63 rout of Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 30. BJ Edwards recorded his second triple-double of the season with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, while Boopie Miller added a double-double with 14 points and 11 assists. The Mustangs are dangerous offensively, led by Miller (19.9 ppg, 4th in the ACC), Jaron Pierre (18.7 ppg, 8th in the ACC) and Edwards (13.5 ppg), and feature scoring threats across the rotation.

Saturday’s game at Moody Coliseum in Dallas is expected to be a near sellout, as it marks North Carolina’s first-ever visit to SMU’s home floor. Given UNC’s emotional high from the Florida State win and SMU’s firepower and home-court advantage, this shapes up as a classic trap game — one the Tar Heels can’t afford to take lightly and one that figures to stay close throughout.

Keep reading below for our full game preview of North Carolina’s ACC opener, including the Tar Heels’ key to victory, something to watch, statistical leaders for each team, streaming information and their complete schedule.

Keys to Victory

North Carolina cannot afford a slow start, especially without the home-court advantage.

The Tar Heels have developed a habit of sluggish openings this season, driven by inconsistent shooting from the opening tip. In their latest example, they managed just one basket in the first six minutes of their win over Florida State and finished 29-for-68 from the field (42.6%), including 7-for-29 from 3-point range (24.1%).

Outside of Trimble, Wilson and Veesaar, no Tar Heel shot better than 33% from the floor. Luka Bogavac, Derek Dixon, Jonathan Powell and Jarin Stevenson combined to go 3-for-18. If you remove Kyan Evans’ production from beyond the arc, the rest of the team made just two of its 17 3-point attempts (11.7%), underscoring how much work this offense still has to do.

As mentioned above, SMU has one of the best backcourts in the ACC, and you could argue it’s better than Carolina’s with B.J. Edwards, Boopie Miller and Jaron Pierre running the show. 

Another key is slowing its offense

The Mustangs’ offense averages 91.1 points (second in the ACC, 16th nationally), 19.0 assists (third in the ACC, 19th nationally) and 16.5 fast-break points (first in the ACC). They also value the ball, ranking 39th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio. The Mustangs are not a high-volume 3-point shooting team, ranking 15th in the ACC in 3-point attempts, which makes their scoring output even more impressive.

While North Carolina has often been able to play through its slow starts, largely because of Wilson’s contagious, relentless energy, doing so on the road against a quality team like SMU — which is as efficient offensively as any team the Tar Heels have faced — is a different challenge. That is especially true in front of a crowd that has never seen Carolina play in person. It’s going to be raucous.

What to Watch Out For

UNC’s backcourt vs. SMU’s backcourt.

North Carolina’s offense has mostly been driven by its frontcourt, with Wilson and Veesaar leading the charge and Stevenson providing versatility off the bench on both ends of the floor. However, UNC’s backcourt has been inconsistent outside of Trimble.

SMU has mostly been driven by its backcourt, but its frontcourt is solid, too, with undersized but talented Corey Washington and 7-footer Samet Yigitoglu.

This is the best backcourt UNC has faced yet because of the high volume of points produced by SMU’s three-headed monster of Edwards, Miller and Pierre. Bogavac needs to bounce back from his rough last outing, and Evans needs to build on his production. Dixon and Powell need to step up as well.

Statistical leaders

Points

UNC: Caleb Wilson (19.8)

SMU:Boobie Miller (19.9)

Rebounds

UNC:Caleb Wilson (11.2)

SMU: Samet Yigitoglu (6.7)

Assists

UNC:Kyan Evans (3.6)

SMU:Boopie Miller (7.1)

What you need to know

WHAT? North Carolina Tar Heels (12-1) AT SMU Mustangs(11-2)

WHEN? Saturday, January 3 at 2:15 p.m. ET

WHERE? Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas

TV? The CW

RADIO? SiriusXM (Channel 193)

LINE? N/A

LAST MEETING? UNC 82, SMU 67 on Jan. 7, 2025 in Chapel Hill

ALL-TIME SERIES: UNC leads, 1-0

PREDICTION? UNC 85, SMU 77

UNC basketball 2025-26 schedule

October 4: Blue-White Scrimmage (White 55, Blue 50)

Oct. 24: at BYU (preseason, L 78-76)

Oct. 29: vs. Winston-Salem State (preseason, W 95-53)

Nov. 3: vs. Central Arkansas (W, 94-54)

Nov. 7: vs. Kansas (W, 87-74)

Nov. 11: vs. Radford (W, 89-74)

Nov. 14: vs. NC Central (W, 97-53)

Nov. 18: vs. Navy (W, 73-61)

Nov. 25: vs. St. Bonaventure in Fort Myers (Fla.) Tip-Off (W, 85-70)

Nov. 27: vs. Michigan State in Fort Myers (Fla.) Tip-Off (L, 74-58)

December 2: at Kentucky (W, 67-64)

Dec. 7: vs. Georgetown (W, 81-61)

Dec. 13: vs. USC Upstate (W, 80-62)

Dec. 16: vs. ETSU (W, 77-58)

Dec. 20: vs. Ohio State in CBS Sports Classic (W, 71-70)

Dec. 22: vs. East Carolina (8 p.m.) (W, 99-51)

Dec. 30: vs. Florida State (7 p.m.) (W 79-66)

January 3, 2026: at SMU (2:15 p.m.)

Jan. 10, 2026: vs. Wake Forest (6 p.m.)

Jan. 14, 2026: at Stanford (9 p.m.)

Jan. 17, 2026: at California (4 p.m.)

Jan. 21, 2026: vs. Notre Dame (7 p.m.)

Jan. 24, 2026: at Virginia (TBA)

Jan. 31, 2026: at Georgia Tech (2 p.m.)

Feb. 2, 2026: vs. Syracuse (7 p.m.)

Feb. 7, 2026: vs. Duke (6:30 p.m.)

Feb. 10, 2026: at Miami (FL) (7 p.m.)

Feb. 14, 2026: vs. Pitt (2 p.m.)

Feb. 17, 2026: at NC State (7 p.m.)

Feb. 21, 2026: at Syracuse (1 p.m.)

Feb. 23, 2026: vs. Louisville (7 p.m.)

Feb. 28, 2026: vs. Virginia Tech (TBA)

March 3, 2026: vs. Clemson (7 p.m.)

March 7, 2026: at Duke (6:30 p.m.)

March 10-14, 2026: ACC Tournament in Spectrum Center (Charlotte, N.C.)

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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball vs. SMU: Game preview, prediction, info and more