Despite being 14-3 on the year and the No. 14 team in the nation (not for long), it seems like the wheels are falling off a bit for UNC basketball following the loss to Stanford. It was a game the Tar Heels had no business losing and people are still fuming about it.
Tyler Hansbrough said the quiet part out loud on UNC's struggles
However, there's one aspect of the game other than questionable defense that should have people upset. That'd be the free-throw shooting. In the 95-90 loss, UNC was 20-of-32 from the charity stripe, a lowly 63 percent on the night.
Unfortunately, brutal FT shooting is nothing new for this group. On the season, the Tar Heels are shooting 67.9 percent, which is ranked No. 307 in the country. What?! Yup, things have been a nightmare for the Heels there and it's something that simply can't continue.
North Carolina's free-throw shooting has been a nightmare for Hubert Davis
That percentage alone is probably keeping Roy Williams up late at night. And you know what, it's something that head man Hubert Davis can't allow to continue. So, what can be done for North Carolina to turn things around in that department?
Before every single player, including Caleb Wilson, is allowed to leave the gym after practice, they've got to make 50 free throws. Nope, scratch that, make it 75. Okay then, you got it - bump it to 100 and don't look back!
In all seriousness, there needs to be some sort of a penalty put in place to make sure things are cleaned up there. We all know the importance of FT shooting, as it can make-or-break things for a team. Everyone saw that for UNC in the loss to Stanford.
Make half of those missed free throws in Palo Alto, and we'd be having a totally different conversation right now. Luckily for UNC, there's still plenty of campaign to right some wrongs that have been showcased thus far. With that said, improving the FT efforts has to be at the top of the list. Losing games because of these mental mistakes can't continue to be the case.