It wasn't always pretty, but the North Carolina Tar Heels broke out of their slumber in the second half to defeat the Wyoming Cowboys, 76-63.

Here are the Tar Heels' winners and losers from Tuesday night.

Winners

Sayon Keita

This was by far Keita's most impressive and convincing outing of the season. Dating back to the preseason, the former FC Barcelona center had shown flashes of his potential, but overall, he's been underwhelming, to say the least.

It took some time for Keita to establish himself in this game, but once he did, the seven-foot center was utterly dominant. The freshman big man took flight in the second half,  joining forces with Terrence Brown and unleashing an avalanche. Keita finished the game with 13 points, eight rebounds, and six blocks while shooting 6-of-9 from the field. This was the first game Keita didn't look sped up and let the flow of the game come to him.

Maximo Adams

Adams will be a fan favorite this season, as he's been as advertised since committing to North Carolina. Within seconds of coming off the bench, the 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward recorded a block and made two consecutive threes.

Once again, the former 4-star recruit needed only a handful of shots to produce 13 points and nine rebounds while shooting 4-of-7 from the field. Having Adams as a second-unit asset will prove instrumental for the Tar Heels' success this season. There's a legitimate argument that Adams has been the best, most consistent, and complete player for North Carolina through three games.

Isaiah Denis

The sophomore guard was dreadful in the opening two games of the season, but that was far from the case on Tuesday night. With the starting five lagging through the first half, the Tar Heels needed bench contributors to step up. We already mentioned Adams, but Denis was also monumental in keeping North Carolina on top heading into halftime, knocking down all four of his shots during that span for 11 points.

Denis wasn't as active in the second half, but he showed why head coach Michael Malone was so high on him as a potential breakout asset for the Tar Heels in 2026.

Losers

Neoklis Avdalas

Avdalas dished multiple impressive passes for easy dunks and layups, but the Virginia Tech transfer was an afterthought in the win. Avdalas scored a point while shooting 0-for-2 from the field and 1-for-5 from the free-throw line.

Better days are ahead, but it was a disappointing outing for the 6-foot-9 guard, to say the least.

Alexandros Samodurov

Following a 13-point, seven-rebound outing against Wofford, this was an opportunity for the Greek center to build upon that impressive performance.

However, Samodurov was irrelevant on Tuesday night, logging eight minutes off the bench. For the first time this season, we saw Malone shrink the rotation and consolidate the minutes.