UNC Basketball: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the Tar Heel’s ACC season V

With another three conference games in the books, what can we take away from the Tar Heels play during that time?

Louisville realized playing at the Hill isn’t like playing at home.

The shots don’t fall. The crowd isn’t on your side. It’s just not an easy environment.

The Tar Heels win over Louisville not only gave the team a two game lead in the ACC, it also ended another three-game stretch in ACC play.

Last time we looked at the good assist-to-turnover ratio, the bad free throw shooting, and the ugly three-point shooting of the Tar Heels, who went 2-1 but lost to rival Duke.

In the past three games, the Tar Heels have continued to be good at assisting without turning it over. Though not as good as the last time when they had an amazing 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio, the Tar Heels still kept it positive with a 1.4 ratio that was hurt mostly by their game against Louisville.

The Tar Heels also improved their free throw shooting, going a combined 31-for-44 from the charity stripe. Their 70.4 percentage was nearly nine points higher than the past three games.

UNC also continues to their sub-par mark from behind the arc. The team shot a combined 21-of-60 in the three games, maintaining a 35 percent clip from the previous three games.

This is still three points higher than the team shot last year and Justin Jackson has already hit 78 threes this season, despite only having 63 in his first two seasons combined.

Anyways, that was then. Let’s take a look at the now. Without further ado, the good, the bad, and the ugly of the previous three games.

The Good

Three point defense. Though the Tar Heels three-point shooting isn’t any better, their defense of the three is. In the prior three games, the Heels allowed teams to shoot 42.6 from behind the arc. In the past three games, they held teams to just 23.4 percent on 15-of-64 from behind the arc.

The Tar Heels were even tougher in their past two games, holding teams to a combined 7-of-40 from downtown, equating to a dismal 17.5 percent. UNC is already tough to beat down low with its bigs, when they keep teams shooting poorly from behind the arc, they are nearly unbeatable.

The Bad

Isaiah Hicks’ foul troubles. Since returning from injury, Hicks is averaging 3.6 fouls a game in only 46 total minutes of play. That’s a foul every four minutes. Hicks is too valuable of a player to be sitting on the bench, especially as the tournaments approach.

On the positive side, Hicks has not fouled out of any of the three games. He has also been productive in his short time grabbing 24 rebounds, though he’s only scored nine total points.

The Ugly

Luke Maye in transition. By now you probably have seen it. The opposing team misses a shot or turns it over and Luke Maye is sprinting down the floor ahead of everybody. Joel Berry II or Kennedy Meeks throws him the ball, only to see Maye fumble it out of bounds or struggle to corral it and letting the defense catch up.

Now don’t take this wrong, Luke Maye is having a far better season than anyone expected him to. His five points and four rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench have been huge for the Tar Heels. His ability to knock down the three helps to stretch defenses.

Despite all that, his transition offense has not been pretty. Hopefully it will improve, though it is definitely something for him to focus on in the off-season.

In the end, there is only one three game stretch remaining. If the Heels go 2-1 they clinch the division outright for the second consecutive season. But that’s no easy feat in the ACC. These last three games will be tough and UNC will clearly be in the line of fire of other schools aiming to take them down.

Is this where the Tar Heels are struggling? Is UNC doing better in other areas? Let us know in the comments below.