By R.L. Bynum

Incoming Carolina freshman Sayon Keita added another productive outing at the NextGen EuroLeague Finals on Friday, collecting seven points and 12 rebounds in FC Barcelona’s 110–80 victory over Žalgiris Kaunas.

The win pushed Barcelona to 2–0 in Group B. Keita’s team will meet Next Gen Team 3SSB at 9:45 a.m. ET Saturday in the final group game for a spot in Sunday’s championship game.

Keita, a 7-foot, 215-pound center from Mali who will arrive in Chapel Hill as part of UNC’s incoming class, continued to make his mark around the paint as Barcelona overwhelmed the defending champions.

Friday’s performance came one day after Keita authored one of the tournament’s most eye-catching stat lines in Barcelona’s opener. On Thursday, he produced 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks in 18 minutes as Barcelona defeated Crvena Zvezda Belgrade 97-83.

While Barcelona’s perimeter shooting drew attention in the rout, Keita’s work on the glass led to numerous second-chance points.

Incoming Duke freshman Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje led the way for Barcelona with 24 points, including five 3-pointers, as the Spanish team built a 56–35 halftime lead and kept widening the margin.

Subscribe to read Tar Heel Tribune ad-free

Subscribe for a cleaner, smoother reading experience without the flashing banners, slow-loading elements, or those especially annoying pop‑up ads that interrupt the flow of the story. You’ll also get the first version of each story emailed to you. The only ads you’ll see are static, non-intrusive ads for UNC‑related books, and there are none currently on the site.

Roster assuming all players with eligibility other than Caleb Wilson, Henri Veesaar and the seven players who entered the transfer portal return, which would put UNC two under the 15-player limit. The class for next season is listed.

W — Northwestern transfer. X — Virginia Tech transfer; Y — N.C. State transfer; Z — Utah transfer

Michael Malone’s coaching staff: Chuck Martin, Bryan Tibaldi, Sean May and Pat Sullivan; Deon Thompson will be a graduate assistant, and Brandon Robinson will reportedly have a support staff position.

PlayerClass next seasonPos.HgtWgtNext
schoolLuka BogavacSeniorW6–6215Oklahoma StateJames BrownSeniorC6–10240HowardDerek DixonSophomoreG6–5200ArizonaKyan EvansSeniorG6–2175MinnesotaZayden High JuniorC6–10230South FloridaJonathan PowellJuniorG6–6190PittsburghIvan MatlekovicJuniorC7–0255

Thursday through May 28 — Kevin Thomas at USA Basketball U18 national team tryouts in Colorado Springs
Thursday through Sunday — Sayon Keita at EuroLeague NextGen Finals in Athens, Greece
May 27 (11:59 p.m.) — NCAA early-entry withdrawal deadline
June 13 — Deadline for international players to withdraw from NBA draft and maintain college eligibility
June 23–24 — NBA draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn

(Other than the ACC/SEC Challenge, games without links revealed from reporting by Alex Rosinski or Rocco Miller)
(11 of 14 games)
Nov. 2 — vs. Western Carolina
Nov. 6 — vs. Wofford
Nov. 10 — vs. Wyoming
Nov. 13 — vs. Georgia
Nov. 20 — vs. Marshall
Nov. 27 — vs. West Virginia at the Dick Vitale Invitational at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center
Dec. 1 or 2 — vs. SEC team in ACC/SEC Challenge (announced last year on June 12)
Dec. 12 — at Georgetown
Dec. 19 — vs. Kentucky in CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden, 2:30 p.m.
Dec. 21 — vs. The Citadel
November or December — vs. Butler

Photo via euroleaguebasketball.net

Related