UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Rallys Together to Overcome the Loss of Their Two Big Men and Cruise Against the Pittsburgh Panthers

by Derrick Clyburn

The North Carolina basketball team faced off against the Pittsburgh Panthers after losing Caleb Wilson to a fractured wrist for an indefinite period of time. They also find out before the tipoff that they would be without Henri Veesaar due to an illness and a lower extremities injury. No one knew what to expect with their two best post players not available for the game, except the players who were going to replace them.

Zayden High was the next man up with UNC down two post players, and he did not disappoint. He played under control and within himself and was an offensive threat. He had 8 first-half points. High wasn’t alone. Seth Trimble, Jarin Stevenson, and Luka Bogavac played well on both ends of the floor, and they all were in double figures before intermission.

In the second half, the Tar Heels continued to play together as a team, moving without the ball, looking for the easy shot. Seth Trimble showed senior leadership and searched out where to probe the Panther defense to attack the basket. He was 9-11 from the free-throw line. Luka Bogavac and Jarin Stevenson hit timely 3-pointers, as did Jaydon Young and Jonathan Powell. All nine of the Tar Heels who played contributed to a team victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers.

UNC Stats

	1	2	T
Pittsburgh 9-17	32	33	65
11 North Carolina 20-5	46	33	79

North Carolina

Starters	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
S. Trimble	19	3	0	5/13	0/2	9/11	1	34	2	0	2
J. Stevenson	19	3	2	6/7	3/4	4/4	0	36	0	1	0
Z. High	15	7	2	7/11	0/2	1/2	4	32	1	0	0
L. Bogavac	15	1	4	6/15	3/7	0/0	1	33	1	0	1
D. Dixon	3	7	7	1/5	1/3	0/0	1	30	1	0	1

Bench	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
J. Powell	5	2	1	2/3	1/2	0/0	1	15	0	0	0
J. Young	3	3	0	1/5	1/4	0/0	1	10	0	0	0
K. Evans	0	0	2	0/1	0/1	0/0	0	10	0	0	0
E. Davis	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
J. Holbrook	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
E. Smith	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total	79	26	18	28/60	9/25	14/17	9	–	5	1	4

Pittsburgh

Starters	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
C. Corhen	23	6	6	10/17	3/4	0/0	2	36	0	0	1
R. Siulepa	14	2	1	6/10	0/2	2/4	3	33	0	1	0
B. Dunning Jr.	10	8	2	4/10	2/7	0/0	0	36	1	1	2
N. Indrusaitis	7	3	1	3/5	1/2	0/0	4	26	1	0	0
O. Witherspoon	6	2	3	2/8	0/1	2/2	4	24	1	0	4

Bench	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
D. Minor	3	7	1	1/5	1/3	0/0	0	28	0	0	2
M. Moore	2	1	2	0/0	0/0	2/2	3	12	0	0	2
K. Mullen	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	5	0	0	0
B. Mayhew	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
J. Nelson	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
H. Lau	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total	65	29	16	26/55	7/19	6/8	17	–	3	2	11

UNC Bright Spots 

Seth Trimble had 19 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals. 

Jarin Stevenson had 19 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 block. 

Zayden High had a career-high 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists. 

Luka Bogavac had 15 points, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 1 rebound. 

Needs Work  

The Tar Heels need to learn how to put teams away. When they have a large lead, they must learn how to have a killer mentality. Just because you are up doesn’t mean the game is over. The Heels cannot take their foot off the gas and relax on both ends of the floor because it allows teams to hang around, and it will cost you in the future if you continue to do so in games. 

Final Observations 

The Tar Heels improve to a 20-5 record and are 15-0 at home. The Heels played an inspirational game today. They stepped up in this game without their two best players. Zayden High had a big game holding down the post, and getting career-highs in points, minutes, and rebounds. We need to see this Zayden for the rest of the season, even when we get our complete team healthy. Both Luka Bogavac and Jarin Stevenson stepped up to take over some of the scoring load as well.

North Carolina has depth that helped them overcome the injury losses. Hubert Davis did a great job of keeping the players focused with the next man up mentality. They played with a lot of energy and intensity and hit the open shots. Hopefully, Henri Veesaar will be back for the NC State game on Tuesday at 7 pm on ESPN.