Luka Bogavac’s debut season at North Carolina has swung from promising to puzzling and back again, but the junior guard’s recent form off the bench has turned him into one of the Tar Heels’ most important contributors in ACC play.
Since being moved out of the starting lineup, the Montenegrin guard has delivered some of his most consistent basketball. Over UNC’s last four conference games, Bogavac is averaging 10.7 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 43.3 percent from the field and 35.2 percent from 3-point distance.
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He finished with 14 points on 4-for-7 shooting and 3-for-5 from deep in an 85-80 upset of then-No. 14 Virginia, including a step-back three-pointer over Thjis De Ridder with 55 seconds left in the first half. That shot — his third three-pointer before the break — ignited a 6-0 run that cut Virginia’s advantage to single digits at halftime.
“We need him,” Hubert Davis said on the ACC coaches’ Zoom Monday. “He can distribute, he can score off the catch. He can score off the dribble. He can do a number of things out there on the floor, and he’s been really good for us lately.”
Bogavac’s resurgence followed a difficult stretch after UNC’s winter break. He briefly stood out during the Tar Heels’ difficult West Coast swing, totaling 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting across the trip. His 13 points at Stanford marked his first double-figure scoring performance since Dec. 22 against East Carolina.
The junior opened the season as a key piece in the starting group. Bogavac started eight of North Carolina’s first 10 contests, averaging 12.5 points while shooting 40.8 percent from the floor. That production came despite his well-publicized eligibility situation; the university did not finalize his status until roughly 30 minutes before the season opener against Central Arkansas, when he was cleared to play.
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After that strong start, Bogavac hit a wall. Over the following six games, he averaged just 4.5 points and shot 8-for-27 overall (29.6 percent), including 3-for-16 from beyond the arc (18.8 percent). He then opened ACC play by going 2-for-13 from the field (15.3 percent) in the Tar Heels’ first three league games, scoring only eight total points — all of them coming against SMU.
His improved efficiency and decision-making as a reserve now give North Carolina another reliable option within an already potent attack. The Tar Heels lead the ACC in scoring at 84.7 points per game and in effective field goal percentage during conference play at 57.5 percent, and Bogavac’s revival adds yet another dimension to that offense.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball: Luka Bogavac’s growing impact off the bench
