North Carolina Tar Heels: 27-7, 14-4 in the ACC
Head coach: Roy Williams (14th season)
Players to watch: Justin Jackson (18.1 PPG, 37.7 3PT%); Joel Berry II (14.8 PPG, 41.5 3PT%); Kennedy Meeks (12.6 PPG, 9.1 RPG)
Season recap: With the Tar Heels’ two best players from last year’s national runner-up gone, many wondered how North Carolina would respond this season. Head coach Roy Williams’ side put those concerns to rest with another ACC regular-season title—the program’s eighth in 14 seasons. Led by ACC Player of the Year Justin Jackson and second-team All-ACC point guard Joel Berry II, the Tar Heels once again have one of the most balanced offenses in the nation thanks to a four-player rotation up front that makes North Carolina the best rebounding team in the country.
After starting the year out strong with dominant nonconference wins against Oklahoma State and Wisconsin in Maui, North Carolina dropped close contests at Indiana and against Kentucky in a 103-100 thriller in Las Vegas. The Tar Heels looked shaky in their ACC opener—a 75-63 loss at Georgia Tech—before ripping off seven straight wins to grab first place in the ACC standings.
Despite losing two of four in the heart of conference play at Miami and at Duke, North Carolina sealed the regular-season conference title with a late four-game winning streak sparked by the resurgence of junior swingman Theo Pinson. The Tar Heels avenged their loss to Duke in the season finale Saturday, but could not take down the Blue Devils for the second time in less than a week, falling 93-83 in the ACC tournament semifinals to their rival. The selection committee still deemed North Carolina worthy of a No. 1 seed despite the second loss to Duke, and the Tar Heels will look to justify that decision by making another Final Four.
How they make a run: Jackson and Berry continue making enough 3-pointers to keep defenses honest, and North Carolina wears teams down inside to reach a second straight Final Four.
How they falter: The Tar Heels' inconsistency on defense catches up to them when an upset-minded opponent slows the game down and gets North Carolina into early foul trouble.
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