Playing in its first game without injured star Seth Trimble, Carolina endured a poor shooting night but still did enough to beat Radford, 89-74, at the Smith Center Tuesday night.
UNC led by 13 points at halftime despite a spirited effort from Radford, which overcame an early six-point hole to lead 19-16 after 10 minutes. The Highlanders led 21-20 at the 8:10 mark of the first half, but fell behind for good after Carolina rattled off a 24-10 burst to end the half with a 44-31 edge.
“I felt like we struggled at the beginning of the game, but I don’t think it was just not having Seth in the lineup,” said head coach Hubert Davis.
Davis substituted liberally throughout the game, and was forced to shuffle lineups more than expected early on. Starting forward Jarin Stevenson went down less than two minutes into the game with an ankle injury after colliding with the basket support, and star freshman Caleb Wilson was saddled with three fouls in limited minutes in the first half.
“I think that contributed to us not being in rhythm,” Davis said.
Stevenson eventually returned from his injury and logged his most productive game of the young season, scoring 15 points and grabbing seven rebounds in 25 minutes of action. His 10 made free throws and 12 free throw attempts were both career highs.
“I was just trying to get fouled, trying to get to the paint. That’s a big emphasis,” Stevenson said. “I tried to up my aggression… I’m just trying to do whatever I need to do to help this team win.”
“I didn’t know if he was coming back,” Davis said of Stevenson. “But I thought he was the most aggressive he [has been] thus far… that’s exactly what we need.”
Wilson didn’t reach 20 points for the third straight game, but he did record the first double-double of his collegiate career with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Luka Bogavac, making his first career start in Trimble’s place, led the Tar Heels with 19 points – though the Montenegrin national needed 18 shots to do so. Henri Veesaar (18 points) and Stevenson also reached double figures.
The Tar Heels finished the night 25-65 (38.5 percent) from the floor. Carolina benefited from frequent fouls, as 55 total were called on the two teams. UNC shot 31-49 (63.3 percent) from the free throw line. The team’s 49 total free throw attempts were the program’s most in a single game since 2004, while its 31 makes are its most since the 2023-24 season.
“There’s a lot more to do better,” Veesaar said. “We played way under our potential and we still had 89 points. If we would have executed the way we need to, we could’ve easily had 110. Defensively, we were horrible as well. They had a lot of offensive rebounds [Radford had 14]. That’s something we’ll have to clean up.”
Trimble, who broke a bone in his left forearm during a workout Sunday, attended Tuesday night’s game in a cast. Though the senior guard appeared to be in good spirits, he is still expected to miss several weeks.
“He’s done a really good job handling this,” Davis said. “He understands that he’s gonna be back, and he’s gonna be back soon.”
Tuesday’s win improves Carolina to 3-0 on the young season. The Tar Heels will be back in action when they host North Carolina Central at the Smith Center Friday night at 9 p.m.
Featured image via Todd Melet. For a full photo gallery of the game, click here.
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
