UNC-St. Bonaventure Preview: Tar Heels Tip Off in Fort Myers

No. 16 North Carolina (5-0) vs. St. Bonaventure (5-0)
Fort Myers, Fla. — Suncoast Credit Union Arena
Tuesday, Nov. 25 — 6:00 p.m.
FS1 (Jeff Levering, LaPhonso Ellis)

Quotables

“It’s much different than last year. Someone told me that our fourth game last year was in Hawaii, and our fifth game was in Maui. And so we’ve had five straight home games.” — UNC coach Hubert Davis following the win over Navy on Tuesday, when asked about the upcoming trip to Fort Myers.

“On the court, we could see there were a couple of maybe selfish plays, or (we) didn’t have much effort on some plays, or didn’t move the ball as well as we normally do. I think those are the things we can clear up and practice and watch film. We all see how bad it looks.” — UNC big man Henri Veesaar on the sloppiness displayed late against Navy.

Pregame Notes

UNC Falls Into Lull Late, Calls Players-Only Meeting: The Tar Heels seemed to let off the gas late in their 73-61 win against Navy. Carolina stretched its lead up to 24 points with less than five minutes to play, but proceeded to surrender a 15-0 run to the Midshipmen, shrinking the final margin of victory.

It was a shaky finish that sparked a players-only meeting amongst UNC following the game on Tuesday night, a spirited conversation called upon by the team’s vocal leaders. Carolina is 5-0 for the first time since the start of the 2022-23 season, with a marquee non-conference win over Kansas already on its resume.

Looking at St. Bonaventure: The Bonnies are also off to a perfect start this season through five games. St. Bonaventure outlasted Bradley (69-63) at a neutral site to open the year, before stringing together consecutive home wins over Canisius (89-70), Siena (75-66), Youngstown State (84-80) and Robert Morris (75-61).

The Bonnies, who are out of the Atlantic 10 Conference, welcomed in 11 newcomers this offseason — in the form of seven transfer additions and four international imports. St. Bonaventure was selected to finish eighth out of 14 teams in the A-10’s preseason predicted order of finish. The Bonnies are no stranger to knocking off power-conference teams, as they are 12-8 in their last 20 games against high-major opponents. That stretch includes wins over Notre Dame, Virginia and Marquette.

The Bonnies are led by longtime coach Mark Schmidt. He’s in his 19th year at St. Bonaventure and is the program’s all-time wins leader. Schmidt has directed St. Bonaventure to three NCAA Tournament appearances (2012, 2018, 2021) and twice has been named A-10 Coach of the Year (2016, 2021). Schmidt’s prior coaching stints include as the head man at Robert Morris (2001-07), and as an assistant at Xavier (1994-2001), Loyola (1993-94), Penn State (1991-93) and Division II program St. Michael’s College (1989-91).

This is St. Bonaventure’s first year with general manager Adrian Wojnarowski. He previously was a longtime NBA insider for Yahoo! Sports and ESPN, and built up a reputation as one of the top news breakers in the sport. He announced his surprise retirement from ESPN in September 2024.

Bonnies Feature Scoring Guard, Burly Big Man: Guard Darryl Simmons and big man Frank Mitchell drive the Bonnies. The two are at complete opposite ends in terms of size, with Simmons checking in at 5-foot-11, 175 pounds compared to the hefty 6-foot-8, 270-pound Mitchell.

Simmons leads the Bonnies in scoring at 18.6 points per game, along with dishing out three assists per contest. He’s in his first season at St. Bonaventure, after spending two years at Gardner-Webb. Simmons is an efficient scorer and a career 38.7-percent shooter from 3-point range.

Mitchell is at his third school in as many years. He made a one-year stop at Canisius before spending last season at Minnesota. Mitchell primarily came off the bench last year at Minnesota, providing 4.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. This season he’s supplying 16 points and a team-best 10.6 rebounds per game for St. Bonaventure.

Last Meeting: These programs previously have met just one time, as Carolina knocked off unbeaten St. Bonaventure 91-72 in the East Regional semifinals of the 1968 NCAA Tournament. Larry Miller led the way with a game-high 27 points and 16 rebounds. Charlie Scott added 21 points and Rusty Clark supplied 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Projected UNC Starters:
0 Kyan Evans (Jr., 6-2, 175) — 8 ppg, 5.2 apg, 3.6 rpg, 1.4 spg
8 Caleb Wilson (Fr., 6-10, 215) — 20.6 ppg, 10 rpg, 2.6 apg, 2 spg, 1.8 bpg
13 Henri Veesaar (Jr., 7-0, 225) — 14.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 2 bpg
15 Jarin Stevenson (Jr., 6-10, 215) — 7.8 ppg, 5 rpg
44 Luka Bogavac (Jr., 6-6, 215) — 12.6 ppg, 3.4 apg, 3 rpg

Projected St. Bonaventure Starters:
00 Frank Mitchell (Sr., 6-8, 270) — 16 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 2.2 apg
5 Dasonte Bowen (R-Jr., 6-2, 190) — 5 ppg, 3.8 apg, 3.6 rpg
8 Darryl Simmons II (Jr., 5-11, 175) — 18.6 ppg, 3 apg, 2.2 rpg
24 Cayden Charles (Sr., 6-3, 185) — 14.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.8 spg
32 Joe Grahovac (So., 6-10, 215) — 8.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.4 bpg

UNC Info
Schedule/Results
Roster & Bios
Stats

St. Bonaventure Info
Schedule/Info
Roster & Bios
Stats