Heel Tough Blog: BYU Exhibition Takeaways

KSL News

Last night, the Tar Heels traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah, to take on the preseason-ranked #8 BYU Cougars in an exhibition matchup, and ultimately fell short 78-76, in a game that showed a lot of promise for a UNC roster featuring 11 new players. One of those 11 newcomers, Luka Bogavac, was not in uniform, as he awaits clearance from the University after being deemed eligible by the NCAA. With that in mind, Hubert Davis started a bigger lineup, going with Kyan Evans and Seth Trimble in the backcourt, and Jarin Stevenson, Caleb Wilson, and Henri Veesaar up front, and the results were more than satisfactory. Wilson totaled a double-double, scoring 22 points and grabbing 10 boards; meanwhile, Veesaar added 14 points and 8 rebounds. Seth Trimble played the most minutes of any Tar Heel, and led Carolina in scoring, pouring in 17 points, on 6-12 shooting, despite not making a single three-pointer. Both teams struggled to shoot the basketball well; UNC shot just 46%, and BYU shot an even worse 42%. Those numbers take an even bigger dive from the outside, where Carolina shot 21% from behind the arc, and BYU shot 20%, even with them making two big threes down the stretch. The biggest difference in the game? Turnovers and offensive rebounds. Carolina coughed the ball up 19 times, leading to 16 Cougar points, and they allowed 18 offensive rebounds, leading to 12 second-chance points. Here are some quick takeaways from UNC’s first exhibition game this preseason: 

1. Caleb Wilson is As Good as Advertised: This game featured two of the best freshmen in college basketball, and both lived up to the hype. BYU’s AJ Dybantsa scored 18 points and showed a type of offensive game that will translate well to the next level. His counterpart, Caleb Wilson, was as equally impressive, scoring 22 points, on 9-17 shooting, with 10 rebounds, to give him a double-double. The most impressive aspect of Wilson’s game is his competitive energy and spirit, which is very reminiscent of Harrison Ingram, whom he’s been compared to since arriving on campus. It’s been a long time since Carolina’s best player was a freshman, but last night showed that’s the case for this season, and as he grows and progresses, so will Carolina as a whole. 

2. Poor Shooting Night: Neither team shot the ball well from the outside, which was a little surprising given how good BYU shot the ball last year, and all the shooters Hubert Davis added this offseason. UNC starters combined to go 2-13 from three, with Jarin Stevenson being the only starter to make a three. Off the bench, Derek Dixon and Jonathan Powell both made one to round out the perimeter makes. Now you wonder how different this stat looks if Luka had been on the court, but what was noticeable was the difference in looks that Carolina got, as compared to a year ago. If Carolina can generate the looks they got last night, the shooting will improve as the season gets underway, and they get into a rhythm and flow offensively. 

3. Turnovers: Against Memphis in the preseason exhibition last year, UNC was careless with the basketball, and that was the case last night, as Carolina gave it up 19 times, leading to 16 BYU points. Carolina starters committed 11 of those turnovers, including 5 by Alabama transfer, Jarin Stevenson. The good news is that these are correctable mistakes, which you know the UNC coaching staff will emphasize when they review the film, showing you the benefit of playing in an exhibition like this. A silver lining from last night was Kyan Evans, who had 5 assists, against 1 turnover, and Seth Trimble was the lone UNC starter to not turn it over, a good sign for the backcourt.  

4. Rebounding: With Carolina’s added size and length, Carolina is expected to be better on the boards, and last night was an uneven showing. UNC did outrebound BYU, 40-38, but they allowed 18 offensive rebounds for the opponent. With Luka Bogavac on the sidelines, Hubert Davis opted to start Jarin Stevenson, and the trio of him, Caleb Wilson, and Henri Veesaar combined to record 20 rebounds. It wasn’t just BYU that had success on the offensive glass, as Carolina grabbed 16 offensive boards, leading to 14 points. After all the rebounding struggles at times last year, UNC is in a position to be one of the best rebounding teams in the ACC and the country, which will pay dividends once the season gets underway in nine days. 

5. Seth Trimble Shines in New Role: With RJ Davis gone, this is officially Seth Trimble’s team, and his backcourt, and he looked the part last night, scoring 17 points, on 6-12 shooting, including two massive dunks in transition. Add in his 7 rebounds, and he played the most complete game of any Tar Heel last night, in a team-high 34 minutes.

6. End of Game Execution: Carolina learned a lot about itself last night, including in the final 4:30 minutes, where they were out-executed by BYU. The Cougars made 5 of their last 6 field goals, and scored on 7 of their final 8 possessions. Now, to Carolina’s credit, they almost matched BYU shot for shot, with Hubert Davis doing a great job drawing up plays out of timeouts, including one for Henri Veesaar, who made a tough shot, out of the pick and roll. With UNC getting the final shot, Davis drew up a play to get Trimble to the rim, who switched hands in the air, and failed to give himself a shot at making it. How different does the end-of-game execution look if Luka Bogavac was on the floor? We’ll never know, but considering how well Carolina competed defensively for the majority of the game, they’ll need to finish possessions once the regular season gets started, with a nationally ranked Kansas set to visit UNC the first week of the season. 

Up Next: Carolina returns home and will host Winston-Salem State on Wednesday night in the final preseason exhibition before the start of the regular season. Tip is set for 7:30 PM on ACC Network Extra.