If you stayed up past your bedtime Tuesday night, you likely witnessed another instant classic between the UNC and Kentucky basketball programs.The Tar Heels and Wildcats entered halftime deadlocked at 31, only for the Wildcats to quickly out-play the Tar Heels. North Carolina never wavered, despite facing a 6-point deficit late, using a combination of strong defense and timely shots to keep itself in the game.On a deep roster loaded with talent, freshman point guard Derek Dixon took over for UNC. Dixon scored five of the Tar Heels’ final six points, leading them to a clutch, 67-64 victory.A season ago, North Carolina (7-1) lacked quality victories needed for a convincing, NCAA Tournament case. Just three days into December, UNC has TWO big wins: one over Kansas, now another one against Kentucky (5-3).The Tar Heels suffered through several empty possessions in the second half, but their suffocating defense held the Wildcats nearly 11 minutes without a field goal. North Carolina emerged with one final defensive stop, intercepting Kentucky’s full-court heave in the closing seconds.Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar, once again, anchored UNC with a pair of double-doubles. Wilson scored 15 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, while Veesaar collected 10 rebounds and led all scorers with 17 points.The Tar Heels still need to fix their perimeter shooting woes (6-of-20, 30 percent), but Dixon and Luka Bogavac nailed a pair of clutch threes late. Bogavac gave North Carolina a 61-59 advantage, while Dixon gave UNC a 64-62 lead.As you can imagine, social media had plenty to say about Tuesday’s nightcap. Take a look at several reactions below:Celebrating another win over Big BlueWins over Kentucky never get old . . . Go Heels!!! pic.twitter.com/VhWkkQktnx— Countesses of UNC (@CountessesofUNC) December 3, 2025Derek Dixon’s late three for your viewing pleasureTHE FRESHMAN pic.twitter.com/ij50mSgUm1— UNC Zone (@unc_zone) December 3, 2025Hang it in the LouvreONIONS!!!! pic.twitter.com/x6FCQnrykd— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) December 3, 2025PG of the future?Hubert Davis showed incredible confidence in Derek Dixon down the stretch and it paid off. An incredibly poised performance by the freshman PG as North Carolina beats Kentucky at Rupp Arena. The Tar Heels may have found their PG of the future. And the present.— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) December 3, 2025Initial postgame thoughtsInitial UNC/Kentucky thoughts:-Derek Dixon should be the PG moving forward -stellar defense in the second half, in a grinder of a game. -Caleb Wilson a double-double in Lexington??? DIAPER DANDY -perimeter shooting still struggled but Luka & JP made timely threes.…— Josh “Fitty” Marlow (@HTB_Josh) December 3, 2025UNC-Kentucky Thoughts-That was ugly but that is a HUGE win-Check out the stones on Derek Dixon-Rebounding, especially on the offensive glass was phenomenalCaleb wasn’t phenomenal but he made plays when he needed to-Veesar continues to thrive when it matters-Need to work on…— Anthony Pagnotta (Flounder) (@HTBAnthony) December 3, 2025HUGE!BIG TIME DUBBBBB!!!!!!!!!!— Brice Johnson (@bjohnson_23) December 3, 2025A big win for the ACC as a wholeACC 6, SEC 3North Carolina 67, Kentucky 64 at RuppFreshman Derek Dixon makes a huge play with the ball in his hands in crunch time to give the Tar Heels the win. Henri Veesar was terrific with 17 points and 10 boards and even in an off-game, Caleb Wilson had 15 and 12.— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) December 3, 2025Will Kyan Evans start any future games?We’re paying Kyan Evans $2 million to do nothing— HubertsBurner (@UNCballTalk) December 3, 2025Debating how big Tuesday’s win isHubert Davis’ biggest win since _________— Michael Koh (@michaelkohwchl) December 3, 2025Don’t mess with the Tar Heels!LFG STOP PLAYING WITH US‼️ GDBATH‼️— Theo pinson (@tpinsonn) December 3, 2025Yeah…they did that!Hubert Davis and the boys held a 20 million dollar roster to no made shots for 13 minutes— NonStopCarolina🐏 (@NonStopCarolina) December 3, 2025Two Dukies on the call for another UNC game? No thanks.Never ever ever EVER EVER EVER put Vitale and Jay Williams on the call together for a Carolina game @espn !If we want to spend the evening hearing about dook, watching dook highlights, hearing about how ratatouille was the best coach ever, we’ll watch their games— Nicole/Nicolasa (@LilNiK8) December 3, 2025Henri Veesaar was huge down the stretchEveryone is going to be talking about Dixon (rightfully so) for winning the game. Let’s not forget Veesaar kept us in that game.— UNC Barstool (@UNCBarstool) December 3, 2025This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC basketball: Social media reactions to comeback win over Kentucky