We knew heading into today that UNC would be without their best player in Caleb Wilson as he is sidelined with a broken bone in his left hand. It was announced before the game that the Tar Heels would also be without the other half of the front court duo in Henri Veesaar, who was sick. Pittsburgh is not exactly having a good season, but they did hang around for a half or so against Duke, and missing nearly 40 points per game on average is hard to replace. It turned out just fine for Carolina as other guys stepped up and the Tar Heels never trailed in their 79-65 win.
Carolina built their 46-32 halftime lead largely on the backs of Jarin Stevenson, Seth Trimble, and Luka Bogavac. The three combined for 37 of their first half points as the Heels shot 53% from the field. Without Wilson and Veesaar, Cameron Corhen racked up 17 points for Pitt. The Panthers turned the ball over 12 times to UNC’s four. Even though the Heels were out-rebounded, they made enough shots to win.
Advertisement
Stevenson and Trimble finished with a team-high 19 points each. Trimble got to the line 11 times and made nine of his free throws. Stevenson made three of his four attempts from long distance. Bogavac and Zayden High, starting for the missing Veesaar, had 15 points each. Eleven of High’s points came in the second half in which he was Carolina’s leading scorer. Derek Dixon was tied with High for the team high in rebounds with seven. He also had seven assists and just one turnover.
It was good to see other players step up in Carolina’s time of need. UNC did go cold in parts of the second half, including closing the game without a field goal over the last four+ minutes while Pitt made all but one of their final seven shots. That made the final score look closer than it did for the vast majority of the game where Carolina led by as many as 22.
The next game will definitely be tougher with the Heels missing important personnel. While no one expects Wilson back so soon, it would be a big help if Veesaar could be healthy for Tuesday night when UNC travels to Raleigh to take on NC State.
