UNC Basketball: The Most Telling Statistics for Tar Heels in 2014-15

Through 23 regular-season contests, the North Carolina Tar Heels have put up some pretty impressive statistics. 

The Tar Heels are 17th in the nation in scoring and fifth in rebounding, but their success has come from stats that some glance right over when they look at the box score. 

A few stats have even shown some weaknesses for North Carolina, who sits in fourth place in the ACC with a 7-3 conference record. 

Here is a look at some of the most telling stats from the Tar Heels' season so far. 

J.P. Tokoto's Lack of Success over the Last 7 Games

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J.P. Tokoto's production has dropped off in a major way over the past seven games for the Tar Heels. 

The junior forward, who was riding a hot streak into conference play thanks to a double-double against William & Mary, has scored in double figures on two occasions during his dry spell. 

To his credit, he did show up in the loss to Louisville Saturday by putting up 11 points and 11 rebounds, but that has been his only key contribution of late. 

The criticism of his recent play only got stronger after he contributed a single point in 30 minutes against Virginia in Chapel Hill Monday night. 

Since the January 14 game against NC State, Tokoto is averaging 7.5 points per game and is 21-of-51 from the field. On top of those stats, he has recorded over five rebounds on just two occasions during the seven-game span. 

Due to his failure to consistently produce, Tokoto has put more pressure on his teammates to succeed during the toughest part of the team's schedule. 

Luckily for Tokoto, he has a chance to improve his numbers against some of the weaker teams in the ACC over the next few weeks. 

Marcus Paige's Increase in Field-Goal Percentage

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Throughout nonconference play, Marcus Paige put up some horrendous numbers from the field, but he has improved his field-goal percentage since the start of ACC action. 

In North Carolina's 10 conference contests, Paige has only had two brutal shooting days. Other than his 6-of-17 night against Notre Dame and his 3-of-10 showing in the win over Virginia Tech, the junior guard has been an accurate shooter. 

In his last five games, Paige has shot 49 percent from the field, which has led to five consecutive double-digit-point performances. He has averaged 16.6 points per game during that stretch, which is over two points better than his season average. 

Paige has increased his overall field-goal percentage to 40 percent, and he has a chance to improve on that further during the stretch run of ACC play. 

With only two games remaining against ranked opposition, both of which are against Duke, there is a legitimate chance Paige could hover around a field-goal percentage of 45 percent by the end of the regular season. 

5th-Best Assist Total in the Nation

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North Carolina is among the nation's best in a few stat categories, but the one that stands out the most is its fifth-best total in assists. 

The Tar Heels average 17.3 assists per game thanks to the production of Paige and Tokoto, who both average over four assists per contest. 

Behind Paige and Tokoto on the team chart in assists are five other players who contribute at least one dish per game. 

Due to the unselfish nature of the team, the Tar Heels have been able to earn the 17th-best total in points at 78.8. 

The success in distribution early in the season will only help them in March, especially if teams begin to focus on shutting down Paige. 

Even if a future opponent looks to silence Paige on offense, he can still find open looks throughout the game if North Carolina's passing game is on point. 

The same goes for the frontcourt players, but Paige will probably be the one player affected the most by the team's high assist total.

High Number of Free-Throw Attempts

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Compared to the other four legitimate contenders for the ACC regular-season title, North Carolina has made the most trips to the foul line. 

The Tar Heels have attempted 544 free throws through 23 games, and they have converted on 69.3 percent of them. 

Louisville has taken the second-most trips to the line of the five ranked teams in the ACC with 538, and it has made 66.4 percent of its shots. 

Duke has attempted 506 free throws, while Notre Dame and Virginia's respective totals of 442 and 363 are significantly lower. Both the Fighting Irish and Cavaliers shoot over 70 percent as a team from the line, but those numbers are skewed by the lower number of shots both have taken. 

What these numbers prove is the Tar Heels are fine with drawing contact and winning games from the charity stripe. 

If this trend continues over the next few weeks, the Tar Heels will be in good shape heading into the postseason. If they improve their free-throw percentage by a few points as well, they should be able to close out wins in close games with their superior free-throw shooting. 

Frontcourt Points Against Louisville

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In the 78-68 overtime loss to Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center, North Carolina's big men failed to make a major impact in the point department. 

In a game where Louisville forward Montrezl Harrell had 22 points and 15 rebounds, Kennedy Meeks and Brice Johnson combined for 11 points and 14 rebounds. 

While the rebounding numbers aren't that bad, the point totals are a bit concerning after both players reached double digits against the Cardinals at the Smith Center on January 10. 

Expect those numbers to be in the minds of the two players when they face Duke's Jahlil Okafor on February 18 and March 7. 

How the frontcourt pair deal with Okafor on the offensive side of the court will be a good litmus test as to where they stand heading into the NCAA tournament. 

If they are able to produce numbers like the first Louisville game, North Carolina has a ton of potential to turn into a big-time threat come March. 

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