Seth Trimble and the North Carolina Tar Heels came into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 6 seed in the South bracket. Standing on a 24-9 record with a 12-6 mark in ACC play, UNC entered its opening matchup against the VCU Rams with high hopes, but the Tar Heels’ March Madness dreams were cut short on Thursday night when they were upset by the No. 11 seed VCU Rams 82-78 in overtime.
Sophomore guard Terrence Hill Jr. led the way for the Rams, scoring a team-high 34 points while shooting 7-of-10 from behind the three-point arc. Hill Jr also led VCU in assists with five and minutes played with 40. Freshman guard Nyk Lewis contributed 16 points while leading the team in rebounds with 7. Junior center Henri Veesaar led UNC in points with 26 and rebounds with 16.
Trimble finishes his fourth and final year at UNC, and is set to attempt to got the NBA. The Wisconsin native arrived at Chapel Hill as the No. 3 overall recruit in the 2022 class. He has spent four seasons at UNC, improving his scoring each season and even doubling his assist total from last season, going from 1.3 to 2.8.
Trimble was interviewed after the game and was visibly overwhelmed. When asked by a reporter how he can encapsulate the season, the senior guard took a deep breath and began to share.
“I mean it’s been, like, the best journey that I could ever dream of,” Trimble said. “You know I faced everything here. I succeeded, I failed, each and every day I put in so, so much, and a lot was given back to me. A huge part of that was because of where I was, and the jersey i put on, the university I attended. And I’m just super, super grateful for that.”
VCU will face off against the winner of the No. 3 seed Illinois Fighting Illini vs the No. 14 seed Penn Quakers on Saturday.
Related: Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg Announces Career News Amid NCAA Tournament
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Mar 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the College section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.