UNC finally finds scoring help as role players emerge in ACC play

One of the biggest things North Carolina has struggled with is finding players other than Seth Trimble , Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson who can consistently contribute on the scoreboard.

While defense has been the biggest issue throughout ACC play, along with poor free throw shooting throughout the entirety of it, finding another player to step up has been an issue as well. However, that seems to have finally been resolved, at least for now.

Here are three role players who have stepped up in a huge way as of late.

Derek Dixon

Derek Dixon was named UNC’s point guard shortly before its loss to Cal, and he has been a revelation for the Tar Heels . He has averaged 12 points and four assists per game on 46.4% shooting from the field and 56.2% from 3-point range.

In UNC’s upset win over Virginia , Dixon had 11 points and a season-high seven assists, with eight of those points and six of those assists coming after halftime. He also hit a big 3-pointer with five seconds left in the first half to cut UVA’s lead to nine points, and it was a momentum-shifting play.

In each of his starts, his plus-minus has gone up:

• 5 vs. Cal

• 17 vs. Notre Dame

• 22 vs. Virginia

Luka Bogavac

In UNC’s first three ACC games, Luka Bogavac went 2-for-13 from the field (15.3%) and had scored just eight points during that stretch, all of them against SMU. However, since he was relegated to the bench, he has found his shooting stroke.

He is averaging 10.7 points and 3.0 rebounds on 43.3% shooting from the floor and 35.2% from 3-point range over the last four ACC games. In his last outing, Bogavac scored 14 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc.

Jarin Stevenson

Jarin Stevenson has exploded over the last two games.

He was a major reason Carolina beat Virginia last Saturday, as he scored all 17 of his points on 6-for-9 shooting from the floor and 2-for-4 from 3-point range. He also had a great game off the bench against Notre Dame, finishing with eight points, five rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal.

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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball: Role players step up, give Tar Heels offensive balance