By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — No. 18 Carolina is without its senior leader for at least a few weeks, but boasting a pair of players sure to have long NBA careers will make it easier to get through that stretch.
Luka Bogavac, in his first college start, and Caleb Wilson showed why scouts love them. With Seth Trimble looking on with a cast on his left forearm, the 3–0 Tar Heels shook off a slow start to pull away for an 89–74 victory Tuesday over Radford.
UNC coach Hubert Davis acknowledged the early struggles.
“I don’t think it was just not having Seth in a lineup. I think that contributed,” Davis said. “But Radford’s switching defenses, playing zone, Jarin [Stevenson] twisting his ankle, Caleb getting in foul trouble, caused us to play some different lineups that either one, we hadn’t played thus far or two, haven’t played extended minutes.”
Bogavac (team-high 19 points, three 3-pointers and two steals) was slow to find his shooting range, missing his first five 3-point attempts. But Davis praised his resilience and versatility:
“Luka has the ability to be able to score in many different ways. He’s a four-level scorer … and also can get fouled and get to the free-throw line.” Davis added that Bogavac’s confidence never wavered: “I really felt like what got him going was getting to the basket, getting a layup in transition. When your shot isn’t going in, you always try to get a little bit closer and try to find that rhythm.”
Bogavac also showed off his point guard skills with five assists, including a creative hooking alley-oop pass to Wilson for a dunk in the second half.
“We didn’t teach that, but it worked,” Davis said. “The creativity of his passing … he is a gifted passer, and he sees his teammates when he drives to the basket or makes his moves.”
Wilson (13 points, 14 rebounds) fought foul trouble but still finished with his first double-double and spiked a Radford layup attempt. He saw a lot of double-teams but did a good job of quickly passing out of them.
As for Trimble, Davis said his leadership remains vital even when he’s only watching from the bench.
“Seth has always been one of our leaders,” said Davis, who paused at one point while talking about Trimble, showing how emotional he is about the injury. “He was in our huddles, communicating to the guys, and he will continue to do that for the remainder of the season.”
Davis also shared a personal story to encourage Trimble, recalling a hand injury that kept him out of the New York Knicks lineup for six weeks but ultimately made him a better player.
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“Use this as a positive, even though it’s unfortunate,” Davis said.
The foul trouble early to Wilson and Kyan Evans forced Davis to give a lot of playing time to younger players.
“It is a wonderful opportunity for a number of guys that’ll get extended minutes and help us with our depth moving forward,” he said.
Leading four Tar Heels in double figures was center Henri Veesaar (18 points, seven rebounds, one block).
Jarin Stevenson (15 points, seven rebounds) continued to be impressively dogged under the boards. He drew seven fouls and was 10 of 12 from the free-throw line, both career-highs.
“I thought he was the most aggressive he has been thus far,” Davis said. “He scored in many different ways — from three, free-throw line, post-ups, offensive rebounds, in transition.”
Stevenson injured his right ankle when he painfully collided with a basket support in the first 85 seconds of the game, but returned 10 minutes later.
“Just tweaked it,” Stevenson said. “A lot of pain at first. But [athletic trainer] Doug [Halverson] got me right,” Stevenson said. “Did some exercises with him, and just recovery — trying to strengthen it, and just go from there.”
Consecutive Veesaar dunks, the second driving after pump-faking from 3-point range, capped a 10–2 run to give UNC an eight-point lead after 5½ minutes. UNC led 14–8 when Wilson picked up his second foul, and Radford outscored UNC 13–6 over the next four minutes with him on the bench. When he returned, it took him two minutes to pick up his third foul.
The Highlanders rallied to lead 19–16 on a jumper by former N.C. State guard Dennis Parker Jr. with 10:10 left in the first half.
Despite the early struggles, Davis was happy with his team responded.
“To be able to do that and to play against a really good Radford team, to be out of rhythm, to have different lineups and to figure out a way to come away with a win — that’s something to be proud of,” Davis said.
A Jonathan Powell 3-pointer ended an 8–0 run to put UNC up by eight with 4:13 left in the first half.
Bogavac’s first 3-pointer came in the middle of a 10–5 run to end the first half with a 44–31 lead. Wilson’s follow-up dunk four minutes into the second half — his first dunk of the game — capped a 10–3 run to balloon the lead to 18 with crisp half-court passing. UNC’s lead peaked at 26 on a Bogavac 3-pointer with 6:21 left.
Two former ACC players — Parker (23 points, six rebounds) and Clemson transfer Del Jones (22 points) — led Radford (2–1).
NOTES — Carolina is back at the Smith Center on Friday at 9 p.m. (ACC Network) to face N.C. Central in the fourth of five consecutive home games to start the season. The Eagles (0–3) host Bluefield State at 7 p.m. Wednesday after road losses to N.C. State (114–66) on Nov. 3, 81–62 to Virginia on Friday and 76–54 to Appalachian State on Sunday. … Carolina is 4–0 against Radford. The Tar Heels were a No. 1 seed in all three previous seasons that the teams met, including a first-round matchup in 2009 on UNC’s way to a national title. … Carolina players wore green warm-up shirts and the assistant coaches donned green shirts as a salute to the military on Veterans Day. … Radford used its challenge to question a first-half out-of-bounds call that went to UNC, but the call was upheld. … There were 55 fouls (33 by Radford) and 80 free-throw attempts. … Carolina’s 49 free-throw attempts were its most since attempting 50 vs. Maryland on Feb. 15, 2004. The 49 attempts were the fifth-most attempted in the Smith Center. … UNC’s 31 free throws were the most since it made 32 against Tennessee on Nov. 29, 2023. … UNC made more free throws (31) than field goals (25) for the first time since the win over UCLA last season when it made 24 free throws and 22 field goals. … Carolina is 87–19 in the last five seasons when opponents score fewer than 80 points.
No. 18 UNC 89, Radford 74
| Date | Month/day | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 17 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 11 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 9 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | W, 71–68 | vs. No. 1 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 10 | Tuesday | L, 75–66 | at No. 25 Miami | 19–5, 7–4 |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 79–65 | vs. Pittsburgh | 20–5, 8–4 |
| 17 | Tuesday | L, 82–58 | at N.C. State | 20–6, 8–5 |
| 21 | Saturday | W, 77–64 | at Syracuse | 21–6, 9–5 |
| 23 | Monday | W, 77–74 | vs. Louisville | 22–6, 10–5 |
| 28 | Saturday | W, 89–82 | vs. Virginia Tech | 23–6, 11–5 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 67–63 | vs. Clemson | 24–6, 12–5 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 76–61 | at No. 1 Duke | 24–7, 12–6 |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte | |
| 12 | Thursday | L, 80–79 | Quarterfinals: vs. Clemson | 24–8 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 19 | Thursday | L, 82–78, OT | First round: vs. VCU in Greenville, S.C. | 24–9 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
