UNC Stat Check: Pre Louisville

UNC's getting ready to begin a tough stretch in the ACC starting with Louisville, time to see where this team is 21 games into the season...

Record: 19-2
Conference Record: 8-0
Home Record: 12-0
Road Record: 3-2
SOS: 49
RPI: 7
KenPom: 4

Points For: 85.8
Points Against: 70.3
Conf Points For: 83.8
Conf Points Against: 70.6

Offensive Points Per Possession: 1.15
Defensive Points Per Possession: 0.96

• 2FG%: 54.9 (2nd in ACC, 17th nationally)
• 3FG%: 30.8 (15th in ACC, 315th nationally)
• FT%: 72.7 (5th in ACC, 65th nationally)
• TO's/PG: 10.4 (5th in ACC, 21st nationally)
• Turnover Rate: 14.0 (2nd in ACC, 7th nationally)
• Assists Per Game: 18.6 (2nd in ACC, 7th nationally)
• Assists to Turnover: 1.794 (1st in ACC, 2nd nationally)
• Opp FG%: 42.0 (6th in ACC, 99th nationally)
• Opp 2FG%: 44.9 (4th in ACC, 56th nationally)
• Opp 3FG%: 37.2 (14th in ACC, 289th nationally)
• Opp TO rate: 19.0 (2nd in ACC, 66th nationally)
• Rebound %: 57.2 (1st in ACC, 18th nationally)

The stats to this point tell us that UNC has done their damage inside, scoring 61.82% of their points from two. No surprise there, as Brice Johnson has been a force with Kennedy Meeks returning and Isaiah Hicks doing damage off the bench.

Carolina can be hurt from deep where they shoot poorly and have defended poorly to this point of the season.

Joel Berry II currently leads the Tar Heels in minutes played, FT%, 3FG%, and assists. His development from the 2014-15 season is a major reason behind the success of the 2015-16 UNC team to this point.

While averaging 11.8 PPG Justin Jackson has struggled with his outside shot to the tune of 13-61 (21.3%). Assuming he turns a corner (he finished last year at 30.4% after coming on strong late) you can expect UNC's overall 3FG% to rise during the final month of ACC play.

Isaiah Hicks has been the most efficient shooter for the Tar Heels as they enter the Louisville contest with a True% of 72.3. To put that in comparison; Brice Johnson is second on the roster at 66.7, followed by Kennedy Meeks at 60.6.

This leads us to the strength of the 2015-16 UNC roster. They have depth to the point where they can play both large and small; with multiple players coming off the bench that would start at most if not all other programs.

Nate Britt comes in shooting 36.5% from deep, averaging 6.9 PPG in 17 minutes of action. The aforementioned Hicks in averaging 9.9 PPG in 18.3 minutes, while Theo Pinson has 5.6 PPG, 2.9 APG and 3.7 RPG in 20 minutes per game.

Kenny Williams, who came to Chapel Hill with the reputation as a shooter, has only seen 5.2 minutes of action per game and is 0-11 on the year from deep. There may not be many more minutes for him this season; barring injuries or foul trouble on the perimeter, but one can expect him to start hitting his three point field goal opportunities sooner rather than later.

While UNC has played their softer portion of the ACC schedule to this point; Tar Heel fans can hang their hats on the fact they come into Louisville undefeated, having survived games where Marcus Paige and Justin Jackson have struggled shooting the ball.

Did you notice how long it took me to mention Marcus?

Paige is shooting 9-44 (20%) and averaging 5.4 points per game in the last 5 UNC contests...all Tar Heel wins.

How much would you have bet me preseason if I told you UNC would go undefeated during a 5 game ACC stretch in which Paige shot the ball that poorly, and didn't even average 6 points per game?

Now let's take a look at Justin Jackson over the last 5 games.

Jackson is shooting 20-50 (40%) while averaging 8.6 PPG during the same stretch. The shooting percentage isn't awful, or is it?

Take out the 5th game (Syracuse) in which Jackson was 8-11 from the field with 16 points and his stats from the last 4 look like this...

12-39 (30%) from the field, averaging 6.7 points per game.

UNC has won 4 straight ACC contests in which Paige and Jackson have combined to go 17-74 (22%) from the field while averaging a combined 10.5 points per game.

The Tar Heels may have not gotten into the meat of their ACC schedule yet, but you can hang your hat on the fact they haven't come close to reaching their ceiling. Next time someone brings up their soft schedule, you can let them know they've managed to win despite some of their top players severely underperforming on the offensive end.