No. 18 Tar Heels adapt to Trimble-less lineup in win against Radford

That meant getting a look at international prospect Luka Bogavac in his first college start, aggressive play from Alabama transfer Jarin Stevenson — who briefly exited after his own injury scare with his right ankle — and getting through some early shooting struggles.

“This lineup change, it just happened a couple of days ago,” coach Hubert Davis said. “So there’s an adjustment period for all of us in trying to find a rhythm with this group, with this team.”

It will take some time to adjust without Trimble, both from an experience standpoint with the 6-foot-3 guard in his fourth year with the program and the fact that he's the team's top perimeter defender. He showcased that by scoring 13 of his 17 points after halftime while leading the defensive effort on star Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson in Friday's 87-73 win.

Two days later, the school announced that Trimble would be out for an undetermined period of time due to the injury in a team workout Sunday afternoon. Team spokesman Steve Kirschner said Trimble was injured when something fell on him in the weight room, and he had surgery Monday.

Still, Trimble was an active participant on the bench Tuesday night as his team charted its Trimble-less course.

“He even gives us tips sometimes on the sideline,” said Stevenson, who had 15 points and seven rebounds. “Like, when I came on the sideline, there was one time I cut when I shouldn't have cut. And he told me, ‘Just stay in space right there.’ So he's giving little tips and cheering us on.”

So that takes care of the leadership. Now it's about sorting through how the Tar Heels will perform on the court.

Bogavac, a 22-year-old from Montenegro who is part of a wave of international players hitting the college ranks this year, moved into the starting lineup with Trimble out. The versatile 6-6 wing finished with 19 points, three rebounds and five assists in 31 minutes, though he had to shake off an 0-for-6 shooting start along with missing his first two free throws.

It came only eight days after he made his college debut, coming after UNC cleared him of a school-level eligibility concern hours before the season opener.

“I have the space to be more comfortable,” Bogavac said. “I think maybe I'm a little bit nervous, which is why I missed a lot of shots tonight. So I think with the time, eventually it will get just better, and me, I will feel more comfortable because everything is new for me."

Davis felt the Tar Heels had some struggles settling in early with the new rotation along with Radford throwing different defensive looks. That contributed to the Tar Heels missing 10 of 11 3s to open the game and needing until the latter stages of the first half to finally assert firm control against the Big South opponent.

UNC got another set of strong showings up front from Arizona transfer big man Henri Veesaar (18 points) and rising-star freshman Caleb Wilson (13 points, 14 rebounds despite a shaky shooting night) as a core strength of this group. But UNC shot just 38.5%, made just 8 of 31 3s (25.8%) and missed 18 of its 49 trips to the line — the most free throws for the Tar Heels in any game since attempting 50 against Maryland in 2004.

It wasn't pretty, but it was a successful follow-up to Friday's Kansas win all the same.

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