Seth Trimble’s sideline spirit: How UNC adjusted and learned in win over Radford

About an hour and a half before North Carolina tipped off against Radford, Seth Trimble was on the Smith Center hardwood. He wasn’t warming up, but working the crowd — posing for photos, signing posters and chatting with fans, his left arm wrapped in a cast.

Trimble joked he hadn’t been playing well anyway — a statement his teammates, his coach and even Bill Self would certainly object to — so he appreciated the reset that came with the broken bone in his left forearm, a result of a weight room mishap on Sunday. The senior captain estimates he’ll be out six to eight weeks. Even so, just a day removed from a Monday afternoon surgery, he made sure his presence was felt throughout No. 18 North Carolina’s 89-74 win over Radford on Tuesday night.

Trimble was all smiles in the huddles, encouraging his teammates. When freshman Caleb Wilson went to the bench after early foul trouble, Trimble pulled him aside for a chat, offered a pat on the back and dapped him up.

Even sidelined, Trimble remained front and center.

“He’s a huge part of this team, great leader… he’s been cheering us on, breaking down the huddles,” junior Jarin Stevenson said, later adding, “He’s like a firecracker. I feel like he brings a lot of energy [and is] great at getting us organized defensively and offensively.”

UNC could have used that organization early.

Stevenson rolled his right ankle two minutes into the game. Wilson was in and out of the lineup in the first half with fouls. Radford took advantage, staying aggressive and briefly grabbing a lead with just over eight minutes left in the first half.

“We struggled at the beginning of the game, but I don’t think it was just not having Seth in the lineup. I think that contributed it,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said after the win. “Radford’s switching defenses, Jaren [Stevenson] twisting his ankle, him going out, Caleb [Wilson] getting in foul trouble. And so it caused us to play some different lineups.”

UNC eventually found its footing, closing the first half on a 23-10 run to take a 13-point lead into the locker room.

The Tar Heels extended the margin to as many as 26 in the second half. Still, inconsistency lingered. North Carolina went scoreless over the final four minutes, shot just 26% from three-point range and 38.5% overall.

Davis emphasized that the new-look lineup — with Luka Bogavac starting in Trimble’s place — only came together a couple of days before.

“There’s an adjustment period for all of us of trying to find the rhythm with this group, with this team, and so we were trying to find it tonight,” Davis said, “and we’ll continue to get better at it with practice tomorrow.”

With Trimble watching from the bench, UNC’s rotation churned as eight different Tar Heels logged double-digit minutes. Bogavac, the 6-foot-6 junior from Montenegro, responded to his promotion with a team-high 19 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals.

He missed his first five shots from beyond the arc but found his rhythm late, scoring 12 points in the second half.

“Maybe I’m a little bit nervous, so this is why I missed a lot of shots tonight,” Bogavac said. “So I think with time, it will get better, and me, I will feel more comfortable — because everything is new for me.”

Trimble has done his best to make Chapel Hill feel like home for Bogavac. Since the wing arrived on campus, he said Trimble has shown him around town, taking him out to his new favorite spots — Italian Pizzeria III, Stony River Steakhouse and Grill, and Iza Whiskey & Eats.

“He’s a great person and player,” Bogavac said. “He’s a really good human.”

While UNC adjusted lineups, transfer bigs Henri Veesaar and Stevenson combined for 34 points, including 17 made free throws. Wilson, despite battling early foul trouble, notched his first career double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

After the win, Davis praised Stevenson’s increased aggression. The junior scored 15 points from a variety of spots — at the line, in the post, on putbacks and in transition — after totaling just eight points over the previous two games.

“He has the ability to do that,” Davis said. “And, number two, that’s exactly what we need with his size. Obviously, defensively, he can do a number of things, but on the offensive end, he scored in many different ways… that’s something that we’re going to need for the remainder of the season.”

The Tar Heels will need it as they navigate this stretch without Trimble on the floor. But that doesn’t mean Trimble won’t be there.

“He’s always gonna be there for us,” guard Kyan Evans said. “He’s gonna help us out the best he can. And he’s in a little different role now, but he’s gonna be great at that.”

This story was originally published November 12, 2025 at 10:30 AM.