Let’s get something out of the way from the start: Pitt is bad. We all know they are bad, the standings confirm they are bad, and there’s a pretty good chance that they’ll finish in the bottom three of the ACC, completely eliminating them from the ACC Tournament.
You can’t take too much out of the fact that Carolina won—except that there have been seasons and teams before where Carolina could have let one of these teams nip them. And without Caleb Wilson, Henri Veesaar, and James Brown plus Pitt actually
having some depth on the inside, you don’t have to stretch too far to see how this could have gone sideways. With Wilson out for the foreseeable future, it’s going to be on the bigs that are healthy to carry the team so they can still get into the NCAA Tournament in as strong a position as they had before.
One of those players is Jarin Stevenson, and on Saturday he gave UNC fans at least a little reason to hope that they can tread water until Wilson and Veesaar are healthy.
Stevenson took the assignment on Saturday and was one of four players to score in double figures on Saturday, but he was arguably the most important. Stevenson was an impressive 6-7 overall, his only missing come from three where he was 3-4, and also had two assists with three rebounds and a block. He also, importantly, wasn’t credited with any turnovers showing the ability to take care of the ball and bringing his experience front and center.
When Henri Veesaar does come back, he’ll likely be the beneficiary of the Veesaar passes that had been going to Wilson, and while no one and I repeat no one can replace Wilson, Stevenson gives the team a different look that will force teams to spread out their defense. If teams decide to double Veesaar to take away his post presence, it should create more opportunities for Stevenson to score. On Saturday he showed he’s going to have to be taken seriously even with the only other post option for Carolina being Zayden High.
Other Tar Heels took advantage of Pitt as well: Seth Trimble also scored 19, but he had to get there with 5-13 shooting, missing both of his threes. Where he was effective though was his driving to the rim which would draw fouls from Pitt, and he was able to go 9-11 from the line. One would expect him to want to take a bigger role in the offense with Wilson out, and you had to wonder if he was putting a little extra pressure on himself to step up.
Luka Bogavac had one of his best days as Tar Heel, hitting for 15 points and took the most shots on the team going 6-15. He was 3-7 from behind the arc, but ten of those points came in the first half when he and the rest of his teammates had more success shooting. In the second half he was only 2-7, though he still looks more comfortable taking shots than he has during most of the season. He’s also likely going to be a beneficiary of the minutes that Wilson will miss, and him making threes will help ease some worries.
Finally, you have to give a shout out to Zayden High. With Veesaar and Brown out, Coach Hubert Davis was forced to both start and use High for more minutes than just about anyone would feel comfortable going into the game. To his credit, he responded in his 32 minutes by scoring 15, being a +13 while on the floor, snagged seven rebounds, and also had two assists. Even when Veesaar comes back it’s clear we’re going to see more of High until Wilson comes back, and here’s hoping when the competition steps up he does as well.
Still, in the end Stevenson had the most consistent game for Carolina in their first game without Caleb Wilson. It’s why he’s the player of the game, and here’s hoping it’s a sign of how he’ll do the rest of the season.
