Junior guard Luka Bogavac wasn’t supposed to start on Tuesday night against Radford.
That certainly wasn’t the plan— at least not until two days earlier, when the news of senior guard Seth Trimble’s broken arm shook the UNC men’s basketball program.
The early season challenge was supposed to be beating Kansas. Now, the Tar Heels have to overcome the loss of their captain and starting shooting guard.
So, head coach Hubert Davis gave Bogavac the nod. Just over a week ago, the guard hadn’t even been cleared to play. But in Tuesday night’s 89-74 win over Radford, the Montenegro native recorded a team-high 19 points in his first collegiate start.
“It’s been an adjustment for him as well,” Davis said. “It’s only his third game, and so I was really proud of his effort.”
While new to college basketball, experience is something Bogavac doesn’t lack.
Over the past two seasons, the 22-year-old played 55 games for SC Derby, Podgorica in the ABA League— a professional basketball league in Southeast Europe. Having experienced the peaks and valleys of team performance, he stresses to his new teammates the importance of staying focused.
“I just try to lead the team and just try to bring them together— to bring us together,” Bogavac said. “Just to have one more goal, to win every single game.”
Early on, North Carolina looked disjointed. Injuries and foul trouble forced Davis to shuffle through lineups, many featuring players still new to the program. Cold shooting from the field allowed the Highlanders to go on a 13-2 run, taking a three-point lead midway through the half.
Just a few days after beating the Jayhawks, UNC looked like— and almost was— a completely different team.
“The mood was a little bit down after [Trimble’s injury] happened, and we came out flat, and that’s on us,” junior center Henri Veesaar said.
At the center of the early shooting woes was Bogavac himself, who missed his first six field goal attempts— five of which came from outside the arc.
He tries not to focus on the intangibles, but it has been a wild ride recently for the newcomer. From fighting for eligibility to being thrust into the spotlight, all while adjusting to a new country, nothing has come easy so far.
“There was a lot of extra stuff outside of basketball that was in my head,” Bogavac said. “Sometimes I couldn’t be really relaxed and just think about basketball because it was also my life outside of basketball. Everything was changed.”
He knows he missed a lot in the first half. But shooters shoot. When Bogavac caught a pass on the right wing late in the first half, a poor start and jumping closeout didn’t deter the guard from letting it fly.
That three-pointer sparked a turnaround for the junior, who then connected on six of his next eight field goals, leading a second-half surge that saw the UNC lead grow as high as 26.
“I just have this push to continue to play defense and to also play offense,” Bogavac said.
With Trimble being North Carolina’s marquee perimeter defender, his absence is critical on the other end of the court. Stepping into Trimble’s role, Bogavac has done his fair share on the defensive end.
Whether it was his two steals, aggressive off-ball defense, or his team-leading plus-minus, his defensive intensity was present on Tuesday night. But when replacing a player like Trimble, the standard is set high— and Bogavac seems to know this.
“I think I could do a better job tonight about defense,” Bogavac said. “I think I showed some good things, but I think I should, and I must, play better.”
But the guard is more than just a three-and-D player. His five assists against Radford were tied for the most by a Tar Heel that game.
In the second half, he scooped an underhand lob to first-year forward Caleb Wilson.
“One of the things I tell the guys all the time is ‘I want you to play with your personality,’” Davis said. “And that’s what Luka does.”
Tuesday’s win was just the first of an indefinite number of games without Trimble for North Carolina. In the meantime, Davis and the Tar Heels must adjust. Although his performance was far from perfect, Bogavac proved in his first start that he can not only elevate his play, but his team’s.
“I think once [Trimble] comes back, he will see the group better than when he left,” Bogavac said.
