North Carolina guard Luka Bogavac came off the bench to tally 10 points, three rebounds, five assists, and two steals, helping the Tar Heels demolish Central Arkansas 94-54 in their season opener at the Smith Center Monday night. Cleared to play earlier that day after missing preseason, Bogavac entered at the 16:12 mark of the first half.
The 6’6″ Montenegrin shot 3-of-9 overall, including 1-of-5 from three-point range, and 3-of-4 from the line, leading the Tar Heels’ bench against the Bears. Bogavac outscored starter Jarin Stevenson, which might earn him starting consideration for North Carolina’s next game against No. 19 Kansas on Saturday. However, an analyst covering North Carolina prefers the freshman off the bench.
Analyst Not in Favor of Starting Luka Bogavac Against Kansas
In Friday’s Locked On Tar Heels Podcast, host and college basketball analyst Isaac Schade prefers Bogavac to come off the bench against Kansas as he wants North Carolina coach Hubert Davis to stick with his original starting five consisting of Kyan Evans, Seth Trimble, Jarin Stevenson, Caleb Wilson, and Henri Veesaar.
Schade wants the flow of offense to continue with them as starters, and putting the Montenegrin guard over Stevenson at the small forward spot would disrupt the rhythm. The analyst likes to see him starting after the Kansas game, with the Tar Heels having lighter opponents in Radford (Nov. 11), NC Central (Nov. 14), and Navy (Nov. 18).
“Bring Luka off the bench. Play him starters minutes, but go with that (the initial starting five). And then after this game, you’ve got three straight games leading into the Fort Meyers Invitational during Thanksgiving week,” Schade said. “That’s, in my opinion is when you start inserting Luca into the starting lineup, but tonight don’t mess with it.”
The second reason why he wanted the freshman guard to play off the bench is the potential mismatch that Alabama transfer Jarin Stevenson could exploit against the smaller Jayhawks.
Schade based his Kansas projected starting lineup on the Jayhawks’ season opener against Green Bay last Monday. They started with Melvin Council, Darryn Peterson, Kohl Rosario, Tre White, and 6’10” Flory Bidunga at the post.
Council is 6’4″, Peterson and Rosario are 6’6″, and White is 6’7″, which lit up Schade, as Wilson and Stevenson, who are both 6’10”, will have smaller guards to force their way inside the paint. The analyst focused on Stevenson’s apparent mismatch with Rosario, as the small forward has been in the NCAA for three years. He’ll be facing a senior high school student who reclassified to play for Kansas this season.
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“That means Jarin Stevenson at the three would have Cole Rosario on him, who not only is a freshman but is a reclassified freshman. He’s supposed to be a senior in high school right now, and you got junior Jarin Stevenson, you got to deal with. Sending that lineup out to start could overwhelm Kansas in a good way.” Schade said.
North Carolina has lost its last five meetings against Kansas, including the 92-89 setback last season. A win would not only break that losing skid, but it would also allow the Tar Heels to begin the season at 2-0.