North Carolina believed it was in a good place in the backcourt despite several key departures, including point guard Elliot Cadeau, who transferred to Michigan. As it turns out, the Tar Heels miss him more than they expected.
North Carolina has struggled throughout most of the season to figure out who it wants to roll out in the backcourt. For most of the year, the starting guards have been Kyan Evans, Luka Bogavac and Seth Trimble. While Trimble has had the best season of his career in Chapel Hill, the newcomers Bogavac and Evans have struggled.
Bogavac struggled shooting throughout December, and those issues continued through the first four games of ACC play before he was benched. While Bogavac’s struggles are partly due to adjusting to a different style of play that is a far cry from what most teams run in Europe, Evans has simply fallen off hard.
A season ago, Evans averaged 10.6 points while shooting 47.1% from the field and 44.6% from 3-point range, which ranked 24th in the country. However, those numbers have dropped significantly at Carolina, as he is now averaging 5.7 points per game while shooting 35.5% from the field and 32.5% from beyond the arc.
In conference play, he has continued to struggle, averaging 5.7 points per game while shooting 31.7% from the field and 36.7% from 3. He was benched for Derek Dixon before UNC’s loss to Cal.
Cadeau, on the other hand, has excelled as Michigan’s point guard, averaging 10.0 points and 5.2 assists on 45% shooting from the field and 41.2% from 3-point range. He has also been one of the reasons the Wolverines are the No. 3 team in the country.
