Coming off a big win against Kansas that must have felt like taking the weight of the world off the program’s shoulders, UNC was probably ripe for a sleepy letdown game. The Tar Heels definitely missed
the presence of Seth Trimble but they did enough to keep it rolling with an 89-74 win against Radford in Chapel Hill on Tuesday.
Things got shaky early when freshman Caleb Wilson got whistled for two fouls. It set the tone early and seemed to get in Wilson’s head a bit. The referees were very liberal with the whistle all night, leading to four Highlanders fouling out before it was over with. Radford was called for 33 fouls and UNC was called for 22, leading to a combined 80 attempts from the free throw line. The Tar Heels shot just 63% from the stripe, leaving 18 points on the board.
Luka Bogavac led the way for Carolina in scoring after gaining some confidence in seeing his shot actually make it through the basket. He was not efficient, shooting 7-18 from the field and 3-11 from long distance, but his 19 points were a team-high. Just behind him was Henri Veesaar who made seven of his 11 free throws and finished with 18 points. Jarin Stevenson went down early after rolling his ankle under the basket, but was able to return and finished with 15 points. He made just two shots from the field but feasted at the free throw line with 10 of his points coming from the charity stripe.
Wilson had his first off night with the foul trouble and his shot not falling the way it did in his previous couple games. He still finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds for Carolina’s lone double-double, but it was clear that he wasn’t as effective as he had been in previous wins. To his credit, he picked up his third foul in the first half and then did not foul again for the remainder of the game.
The win was definitely not a pretty one, especially as the Tar Heels seemed to sleepwalk through the first half of the first half. Thankfully, they were able to turn it on and Bogavac finding his shot definitely helped infuse some energy there. You’d hope for better than 38% shooting against a team like Radford, and 8-31 from three is a pretty ugly stat in addition to all the missed free throw opportunities. The team was able to give some bench guys extended burn, which led to a solid night for Jonathan Powell off the bench with eight points including two three-pointers. He did, unfortunately, also contribute four fouls to the effort, but still.
Carolina has to find a way to stem the tide without Trimble for the next several weeks. Part of that is not underestimating an opponent in the easier part of their schedule. Were it not for the big 22-9 run the Tar Heels went on at the end of the first half, the story of this one might have been very different. As it stands, it’s a good learning opportunity to carry forward.
The Tar Heels welcome NC Central to Chapel Hill on Friday.
