No. 16 North Carolina is unbeaten but will take on the additional challenge that comes with a change of scenery.
The Tar Heels will head away from home for the first time to play a pair of neutral-site games starting with a matchup against St. Bonaventure on Tuesday night in the Fort Myers Tip-Off at Fort Myers, Fla.
“Get back to getting on the road and different environment — see how we handle that,” North Carolina forward Jarin Stevenson said. “I feel like we’re going to do well, and yeah, it’s going to be fun.”
North Carolina and St. Bonaventure both hold 5-0 records yet still have plenty to prove.
“We got to work on our communication,” Stevenson said. “I feel like our team is very good. We just got to clean up a lot of things.”
The Tar Heels will be coming off a one-week layoff following a 73-61 victory over Navy last Tuesday.
“I think we have played great so far,” North Carolina center Henri Veesaar said. “We have won all our games.”
St. Bonaventure has been home for its past four games since opening in a neutral-site event against Bradley. Now the Bonnies will take on a nationally ranked team for the first time since the 2023-24 season.
St. Bonaventure earned a 75-61 victory over Robert Morris on Thursday when Frank Mitchell and Cayden Charles became the first Bonnies teammates since 2022 with double-doubles in the same game.
“We can all get better,” Bonnies coach Mark Schmidt said. “We can coach better. We can play better. That’s the goal. The only thing that’s guaranteed right now is five wins, and five wins isn’t good enough.”
Even with a perfect record so far, Schmidt can see areas for improvement.
“The offense has to be smoother,” he said.
North Carolina freshman Caleb Wilson, who has averaged 20.6 points per game, has grabbed double-digit rebound totals in each of the past three games and has averaged 10.0 boards for the season.
“His game ignites us,” coach Hubert Davis said. “It ignites the crowd. It gets us going. … That’s the type of person, the presence that he brings, but it definitely comes from his game.”
The Tar Heels never trailed in three of their five victories, although in last week’s win against Navy, North Carolina’s reserves contributed a season-low 10 points.
In Davis’ opinion, the reserves still provide a huge impact outside of scoring, with 11 bench players seeing time against Navy.
“I felt like each one of them did something, whether it was offensively or defensively, that made a positive impact to help us,” Davis said. “It doesn’t work without our bench.”
St. Bonaventure’s Joe Grahovac is 7 of 13 on 3-point attempts this season.
North Carolina will conclude the event Thursday vs. Michigan State, while St. Bonaventure faces East Carolina on Thanksgiving Day.
“It’ll be great games for us also to see where we are,” North Carolina guard Luka Bogavac said. “But for sure I think we are good and just preparing to be better.”
–Field Level Media
