‘Back in the groove’: How Seth Trimble’s return helps UNC basketball’s chances at Duke
It was late Tuesday night and North Carolina’s Seth Trimble was trying to find the right words to explain away another tough loss.
The Tar Heels had just been beaten 73-65 by Pittsburgh, further eroding its NCAA tournament chances. Trimble was leaning against a wall in a Petersen Events Center hallway, talking to the media, offering up answers.
The Heels overdribbled on offense, he said. At other times, they were stagnant. One fact he could not avoid: UNC missed its last seven shots of the game. And there was the defense, a whole different issue.
Only later came the first mention of Duke.
That game. The one Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium on the first day of February.
“That’s our rival, Duke, the No. 2 team in the country right now, with incredible players,” Trimble said. “If we want to sit around and mope about this loss, it’s not good. The second we leave this arena, our heads have to be toward Duke and what we need to do at Cameron to get a win.”
The return of Jalen Washington is needed. The UNC center, injured Saturday late against Boston College, was held out of Tuesday’s game. The Heels rebounded well as a team against Pitt but Washington’s interior, shot-altering defense was missed.
Having Trimble back and in the starting lineup again has answered another need for the Tar Heels. For the second straight season, the 6-3 junior has had to deal with a concussion that kept him out of games and taken away a player considered the Heels’ most effective overall defender with his quickness, anticipation and hops.
Trimble’s first start since before Christmas came Saturday against Boston College in UNC’s 102-96 overtime win at the Smith Center. During his postgame interview, a thigh cramp caused him to hop out of his chair.
“I’m OK, it’s OK,” he said, smiling as he walked it off.
But it was a reminder of the exertion and effort he and the Heels put into winning the game. Playing 43 minutes, Trimble had 18 points and 12 rebounds.
“It’s good having him back in the groove,” UNC guard R.J. Davis said.
It was Trimble’s second double-double of the season and he followed with another Tuesday with 10 points and 12 boards. The shooting touch was not there against Pitt — he was 3-of-14 from the field, missed all five 3-point shots and had two shots blocked — but he had a team-high four offensive rebounds and did not have a turnover in 36 minutes during a game in which the Panthers scored 22 points off UNC mistakes.
Trimble was out for more than two weeks as he dealt with the effects of a concussion, missing three games. Returning Jan. 7 against SMU, he was used off the bench in five games before UNC coach Hubert Davis reinserted him into the starting lineup against BC.
“Coach Davis put a lot of trust in me in putting me back in the starting lineup and I think that was a big jump for me,” Trimble said after the BC game. “I was kind of struggling trying to find my rhythm coming off the bench because I hadn’t done it this year and especially coming off the injury. But he put me back in the starting lineup and good things happen.
“He told me the other day that I needed to get back to the Seth who was relentlessly attacking, shooting without hesitation and craving to get stops on the defensive end.”
Trimble suffered the concussion during a UNC practice after Christmas and said the proper precautionary steps were taken. It was a “tough time,” he said, much like last season when he was concussed in a practice and sidelined for two games.
Trimble’s absence this season allowed freshman Ian Jackson to jump into the starting lineup and to shine with his quick-twitch explosiveness. Jackson began reeling off 20-point games until the back-to-back losses to Stanford and then Wake Forest, when his offense was stymied and limited.
Trimble was marginally effective coming off the bench. In the loss at Wake, he scored four points in a season-low 18 minutes, going 2-of-8 from the field. But Davis had Trimble starting against BC and he responded well.
“Part of my game is to bring that energy and that spark that the team needs,” Trimble said.
He did against BC. With the Heels on the brink of what would have been a crushing loss, Trimble scored the last four points of regulation to tie the score and get the game into overtime.
Trimble first hit two free throws with 18.9 seconds left. After a BC turnover, he then made a tough left-handed shot in traffic with 6-9, 270-pound Chad Venning of BC hovering over him.
“Rhythm wise, I think he’s a lot closer to where he was prior to him sitting out two and a half weeks,” Davis said Monday. “Two and a half weeks is two and a half weeks, and it’s just not easy to come back and just back into the flow.
“Seth is just one of those players who has the ability to make an impact in so many different areas. Without him against Boston College we don’t even have a chance to win.”
Trimble said after the BC game that he wanted the team to “fall in love” with playing relentless defense and that he wanted to be one of the leaders showing the way.
“I think we have some players on this team who really love playing defense but I don’t think everybody does,” Trimble said.
The Heels likely will have to “love” it — or else — against the Blue Devils to have a chance to duplicate last year’s win in Cameron. They’ll also need Trimble, and others, making providing a spark, having an impact.
