UNC was able to celebrate its big win over Kansas for all of a day and a half.
The Tar Heels posted their biggest November win of the Hubert Davis era on Friday, when UNC rallied in the second half to beat the No. 19 Jayhawks by 13 in Chapel Hill.
It was the Heels’ first win over Kansas in more than two decades. Prior to that, UNC, under Davis, had been just 1-8 against higher-ranked non-conference opponents in their pre-ACC schedule.
Then, still basking in the afterglow, UNC lost one of its most important players during a Sunday afternoon team workout when senior guard Seth Trimble broke a bone in his left forearm.
He will undergo surgery this week, at which point the team will have an estimate of just how much time he’ll miss.
“So sad for Seth,” coach Hubert Davis said. “He’s such a great kid and teammate and has worked so hard for his senior year. … The good news is he will be back at some point this year, and I know he will continue to be a great leader for us until he can get back in the lineup.”
It’s a tough blow for a Tar Heel team that was expected to lean heavily on Trimble’s veteran leadership. With 10 newcomers on the roster, Trimble, in his fourth year in Chapel Hill, was the undisputed leader of the team.
He was also the defensive specialist. Praised regularly by Davis over the last three seasons for his defensive prowess, Trimble made no bones about his role on the team. In addition to leading on the floor and in the locker room, one of his main jobs is to “take away a team’s best player” he explained at ACC media day.
If anything, Trimble has taken it up a notch so far this young season. In an exhibition game at BYU, he split time guarding freshman sensation AJ Dybantsa and veteran guard Richie Saunders. The pair shot a combined 10-of-25, 2-of-10 from three. Saunders hit 52% of his shots from the field each of his last two seasons, 43% of his three pointers last year. In two games without Trimble on the floor, Dybantsa and Saunders are shooting 27-of-51, 4-of-11 from three and averaging 36.5 points combined.
The next exhibition was Winston-Salem State, and Trimble guarded Tyre Boykin, who averaged 15.6 points last season, hitting 46% of his shots and 43% from three. He finished 4-of-12, 0-of-2 for 11 points.
Camren Hunter was the assignment against Central Arkansas. The guard averaged 15.5 points in two previous seasons with the team. Trimble held him to 2-of-11, 1-of-4 from three and five points.
Then came Kansas, and star freshman Darryn Peterson. He had 22 points but didn’t take over the game the way the visiting Jayhawks needed.
“Even though Darryn got off 14 shots, that was a situation where he probably needed to get off 20 or 22 for us to have a realistic shot in here tonight,” said Kansas coach Bill Self, who went on to say Trimble, “blanketed Darryn in a way that to me was terrific.” Self also said Trimble may have been player of the game, despite 24 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals from UNC freshman Caleb Wilson. “The way he guarded Darryn and playing on top of everything,” he said.
Self was also impressed with Trimble in transition. “If he can get ahead of the field,” Self said, “nobody’s catching him from behind.”
Trimble has also been a bigger factor in UNC’s set offense. He scored 29 points in his two games, a 2.9 point per game increase over last year’s career high. He’s also dishing out 3.5 assists a night, an increase of more than two per game.
Trimble’s absence will take away a playmaker on offense and spread out the defensive responsibilities to a number of less experienced players on the roster. With Kyan Evans focusing on running the team and Luka Bogavac more of an offensive threat than defensive specialist, the best candidate to step in as a perimeter defender might be Virginia Tech transfer Jaydon Young, who has played a total of just six minutes in the first two games.
While the team hasn’t speculated on how long Trimble will be out, it appears that six-to-eight weeks is the average for an athlete’s recovery time, assuming he’ll be wearing a protective brace or cast.
That would take UNC to late December. Fortunately for the Tar Heels, there is no early ACC game on the schedule this season, so, if he returns before Dec. 3, he won’t miss a conference tilt. The big games where UNC will have to fend without him are a Dec. 2 game at Kentucky, likely to be favored over the Tar Heels, and two toss-up neutral site games against Michigan State and Ohio State.
Still, a best-case return would leave Trimble trying to get back into game shape against ACC opponents, and UNC trying to reintegrate him on both ends of the floor. That’s not ideal but still leaves two months before tournament play to sort things out.
Trimble has developed into a defensive specialist, glue guy and leader. The Tar Heels will be without all three for the foreseeable future.
