North Carolina entered the season as the favorite to win the national championship. The Tar Heels have projected top-10 NBA picks Harrison Barnes and John Henson, one of the best pass-first point guards in the country in Kendall Marshall and low-post scoring threat Tyler Zeller.
But North Carolina hasn’t showed its dominance so far this year.
Coming off a 90-80 loss to UNLV, the Tar Heels will continue to get tested this week against No. 9 Wisconsin on Wednesday and top-ranked Kentucky on Saturday.
North Carolina won’t have many more opportunities this season to showcase its talents against some of the top teams in the country. Two late-season meetings against No. 3 Duke are the only games remaining vs. a ranked opponent on the Tar Heels’ schedule after this week.
North Carolina entered last season with high expectations, but three November losses exposed some of the Tar Heels’ early flaws.
Marshall’s emergence as the starting point guard and Barnes’ offensive maturity and improved shot selection helped get North Carolina back on track in time to dominate ACC play and advance to the Elite Eight.
There aren’t any freshmen of that caliber on this year’s roster to spark a turnaround. But if the Tar Heels end this week with their third loss of the season, they can count on another weak ACC schedule to help rediscover their winning ways.
– Jeffrey Tomik
