Photo courtesy of gobonnies.com
BY: WILL NUNN; CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, SPORTS EDITOR
The St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball team travels to Fort Myers, Fla. for a matchup with No. 16 North Carolina in the Fort Myers Tip-Off Tuesday.
Tuesday marks the second all-time meeting between the Bonnies and the Tar Heels, and the first since UNC picked up a 91-72 victory on March 15, 1968.
Bonaventure (5-0) boasts a well-rounded offensive output, with three players averaging double-figure scoring and seven players averaging at least five points per game.
Junior guard Darryl Simmons II leads the Bonnies with 18.6 points per game, shooting 47.8% from the field and 40.6% from three. Senior forward Frank Mitchell averages 16.0 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, and has logged three double-doubles in five games this season. Senior guard Cayden Charles adds 14.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, and has scored at least a dozen points in each game this season.
North Carolina (5-0) comes to Fort Myers among the nation’s most well-rounded squads. The Tar Heels sit 36th in the country in offensive rating and 22nd in defensive rating, one of just 21 schools to rank in the top 40 nationally in both categories.
The Tar Heels are led by one of the premier freshmen in all of college basketball, Caleb Wilson. The 6-foot-10 forward from Atlanta, Ga. averages 20.6 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game.
Junior center Henri Veesaar complements Wilson in the North Carolina frontcourt, averaging 14.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, shooting 64.3% from the field. Junior guard Luka Bogavac, adds 12.6 points per game.
North Carolina will be without senior guard Seth Trimble, who has missed the past three games after fracturing his left forearm during a team workout. Trimble averaged 14.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game during his two appearances. He will remain sidelined for 6-8 weeks.
The game will tip off at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Suncoast Credit Union Arena and will be broadcast live on Fox Sports One and the Bonnies Online Network.
