By R.L. Bynum

The personnel dramatically changed from last season, but Coach Hubert Davis’ bench usage has not.

His familiar pattern leans heavily on a trusted core and keeps the rotation short, notably riding the iron-five starting lineup to the 2022 Final Four.

Last season, he consistently only played three reserves double-digit minutes, and that’s been the case in both games since Seth Trimble returned.

No. 12 Carolina (12–1) plays its ACC opener at 7 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN2) in the Smith Center against Florida State (7–6).

The Tar Heels rank 295th nationally in bench scoring (19.23 points per game). In the four games Trimble has started, the bench has averaged 21 points, but reserves only averaged 13 against Kansas and Ohio State.

The Tar Heels primarily used an eight-man rotation last season, with eight players logging double-digit minutes in 24 games (64.9%). That’s typical for most college teams.

After the core of six players who have started games — Trimble, Kyan Evans, Luka Bogavac, Jarin Stevenson, Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar — it’s clear that Davis has again settled into an eight-man rotation, at least for now, that includes Jonathan Powell and Derek Dixon.

Reserve centers Zayden High (6.4 minutes per game) and James Brown (5.6) appear to be in line for limited minutes for now, with Stevenson serving as the backup five in the last couple of games. High and Brown got their chances earlier in the season but didn’t contribute much.

The backcourt combinations have rarely left much playing time for Virginia Tech transfer Jaydon Young (averaging 5.8 minutes) and freshman Isaiah Denis (4.0).

Based on the number of players who have played at least 10 minutes, Davis is using his bench less than last season. The only players outside of that eight-man rotation who have played double-digit minutes in any game are High (11:14 against Central Florida) and Young (13 against ETSU).

Three times, Davis has played only one reserve at least 10 minutes: against Kansas with Trimble in the lineup (Powell played 6:09 and Dixon 7:52), against Radford (Dixon played seven minutes) and against Michigan State (Dixon played eight minutes).

The game at Pittsburgh last season was the only one in which only one reserve played 10 minutes. Two reserves played 10 minutes in seven games (at Notre Dame, at N.C. State, vs. Stanford, vs. Boston College, vs. Pittsburgh, at Virginia Tech and vs. Duke in ACC tournament), and four reserves played 10 minutes in five games (vs. Elon, vs. Alabama, vs. Florida, vs. N.C. State and at Florida State).

UNC rotation playing time

Opp.	Evans	ST	LB	Wilson	HV	JS	Powell	Dixon	Others — x
CA	24:59	24:20	20:14	24:54	25:06	19:08	15:16	13:21	High 11:14
KU	32:08	36:05	19:23	30:39	37:34	23:28	6:09	7:52	None
R’ford	24	—	31	22	28	25	22	7	None
NCCU	27	—	25	29	24	21	19	16	None
Navy	30	—	33	27	31	34	16	8	None
St. B	25:01	—	29:48	32:03	35:27	36:34	17:47	15:48	None
MSU	33	—	35	33	28	28	23	8	None
UK	18	—	29	35	36	34	21	24	None
G’town	20	—	31	35	36	31	14	27	None
USCU	23	—	32	32	30	23	24	21	None
ETSU	29	—	7	14	25	24	24	14	Young 13
OSU	15:40	36:16	13:13	34:14	32:11	26:44	14:33	24:00	None
ECU	17:24	26:03	23:51	23:47	26:17	16:43	19:07	11:25	None

X — Other players with at least 10 minutes; ST — Seth Trimble; LB — Luka Bogavac; HV — Henri Veesaar; JS — Jarin Stevenson

UNC season statistics

Team	League	Overall	NET*
California	0–0	12–1	46
No. 12 North Carolina	0–0	12–1	15
No. 6 Duke	0–0	11–1	3
No. 21 Virginia	0–0	11–1	23
Miami	0–0	11–2	34
Virginia Tech	0–0	11–2	62
No. 16 Louisville	0–0	10–2	17
SMU	0–0	10–2	36
Stanford	0–0	10–2	76
Clemson	0–0	10–3	37
N.C. State	0–0	9–4	31
Notre Dame	0–0	9–4	81
Syracuse	0–0	9–4	88
Wake Forest	0–0	9–4	68
Georgia Tech	0–0	8–4	190
Florida State	0–0	7–6	129
Pittsburgh	0–0	7–6	115
Boston College	0–0	6–6	191

* — Through Tuesday games
Sunday’s results
Pittsburgh 80, Penn State 46
N.C. State 76, Ole Miss 62
No. 11 Vanderbilt 98, Wake Forest 67
Purdue Ft. Wayne 72, Notre Dame 69
SMU 99, Central Arkansas 82
Clemson 68, Cincinnati 65
Miami 105, North Florida 67
California 74, Columbia 56
Monday’s results
No. 12 North Carolina 99, East Carolina 51
No. 21 Virginia 95, American 51
Syracuse 77, Stonehill 48
Boston College 72, Fairleigh Dickinson 61
Florida State 87, Jacksonville 63
Saturday’s game
Cal State Northridge at Stanford, 8 p.m., ACCN Extra
Sunday’s games
Le Moyne at Boston College, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Cal State Fullerton at SMU, 3 p.m., ACCN Extra
Florida A&M at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Tuesday, Dec. 30, games
Florida State at No. 12 North Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Pittsburgh at Miami, 7 p.m., ACC Network
No. 16 Louisville at California, 9 p.m, ACC Network
Notre Dame at Stanford, 9 p.m., ESPN2

Date	Month/day	Time	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
24	Friday	L, 78–76	vs. No. 10 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. 9 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	7 p.m.	vs. Florida State	ESPN2
	January
3	Saturday	2:15	at SMU	The CW
10	Saturday	6 p.m.	vs. Wake Forest	ACCN
14	Wednesday	9 p.m.	at Stanford	ACCN
17	Saturday	4 p.m.	at California	ACCN
21	Wednesday	7 p.m.	vs. Notre Dame	ESPN2
24	Saturday	2 or 2:30	at No. 21 Virginia	ESPN or ESPNU
31	Saturday	2 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	ACCN
	February
2	Monday	7 p.m.	vs. Syracuse	ESPN
7	Saturday	6:30	vs. No. 6 Duke	ESPN
10	Tuesday	7 p.m.	at Miami	ESPN or ESPN2
14	Saturday	2 p.m.	vs. Pittsburgh	ESPN
17	Tuesday	7 p.m.	at N.C. State	ESPN or ESPN2
21	Saturday	1 p.m.	at Syracuse	ABC
23	Monday	7 p.m.	vs. No. 16 Louisville	ESPN
28	Saturday	6:30 or 8:30	vs. Virginia Tech	ESPN or ESPN2
	March
3	Tuesday	7 p.m.	vs. Clemson	ESPN or ESPN2
7	Saturday	6:30	at No. 6 Duke	ESPN
10–14	Tues.-Sat.	ACC tournament	Spectrum Center, Charlotte