North Carolina has been mighty impressive so far this season, especially given its tough nonconference slate. The Tar Heels are 12-1 with key wins over Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio State and St. Bonaventure. Carolina is also heading into ACC play as the No. 12 team in the country and has the tools to win an ACC title and, potentially, a national title if all the pieces come together.
However, the rugged ACC schedule will ultimately determine how good the Tar Heels are. Here are some questions about UNC — two encouraging, and one more concerning.
Does UNC have the best frontcourt in the country?
There hasn’t been a better frontcourt in the country than Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson.
Veesaar is averaging 16.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. He is shooting 64.1% from the floor, which ranks 19th in the country. He is also shooting 50% from 3-point range (33rd nationally), has a 70.6 effective field goal percentage (14th nationally and best in the ACC, according to KenPom) and a true shooting percentage of 70.5 (18th nationally). Wilson, meanwhile, is putting up 19.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.4 steals per game, all team highs. He is on pace to break several UNC freshman records, is on the watch list for multiple national awards and is projected to be a top-five NBA draft pick.
In UNC’s 99-51 win over East Carolina on Monday, Veesaar (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Wilson (21 and 12) each notched their sixth double-double of the season and their second in a row together. They have already matched the fourth-most games in UNC history in which two teammates posted double-doubles in the same season.
You also cannot forget about Jarin Stevenson, who has been a Swiss Army knife for the Tar Heels this season. He can play the three, four or five for Carolina when called upon and is averaging 6.5 points and four rebounds per game off the bench.
How good is UNC with Seth Trimble back?
Seth Trimble, who averages 14.5 points per game, is the most important player on the Tar Heels because of his leadership, his speed in transition and his tenacity on defense.
The Tar Heels are a much better team when he’s on the floor. With Trimble playing, UNC averages 87.7 points and 20.2 assists per game while shooting 50.1% from the field and 35.1% from 3-point range. In the nine games he missed, Carolina averaged 78.6 points and 15.8 assists while shooting just 41.8% from the floor and 32.8% from beyond the arc. It’s safe to say that Carolina are a much better team with Trimble in the lineup and that’s scary for the rest of the country as the Tar Heels went 8-1 when Trimble didn’t play and that’s with wins over Georgetown, Kentucky, Ohio State and St. Bonaventure.
Can North Carolina solve its issues at the free throw line?
If there has been one glaring issue for the Tar Heels all season, it has been their free throw shooting. They are hitting just 68.4% at the line, which ranks 281st nationally and 14th in the ACC.
In their win over ECU on Monday night, Carolina went 19-for-30 (63.3%) from the stripe. The game before that, the Tar Heels shot a dreadful 53.8% at the line in their win over Ohio State on Dec. 20.
To underscore how rough it has been at the line, North Carolina hasn’t made 70% of its free throws in a game since its loss to Michigan State on Nov. 27. With Carolina not playing again until Dec. 30, it will be a full month since the last time the Tar Heels hit the 70% mark at the stripe.
It’s a concerning trend for UNC, because free throws — as simple as they may look — can be the difference between winning and losing a national title. Just ask the 2007-08 Memphis and 2018-19 Duke teams.
