UNC Basketball: Ranking the Top 5 Plays of the 2014-15 Season so Far

With just over three weeks left in the regular season, North Carolina is setting itself up for the stretch run by getting a much-needed break. The Tar Heels have only played once since Feb. 2, and in that time, they've been able to rest aching bodies and get back to fundamentals in practice.

Might there have also been some reminiscing? Say, of some of the best plays made by UNC this season?

If not, there's still time. Carolina's next game is Saturday at Pittsburgh, and the team was set to travel to western Pennsylvania Friday.

In case anyone in the traveling party was short on media to keep them entertained, we've put together a collection of the Heels' best plays in 2014-15, ranked in order of greatest impact to the season.

5. Pinson Comes Out of Nowhere

When: Jan. 5

Freshman Theo Pinson hasn't been able to contribute to UNC's efforts this season as much as was hoped. Some of that was the 6'6" wing adjusting to the college game as well as a foot injury that has kept him out of the past five games.

For the year, Pinson is averaging 3.3 points and 3.7 rebounds while playing only 14.6 minutes per game.

But when he has gotten into action, Pinson has shown some flashes of the instant-energy guy the Tar Heels were hoping for early on. The above dunk, in a losing effort to Notre Dame, showed off his speed and athleticism as Pinson seemingly flew in from the other side of the court for a putback dunk.

4. High-Flying Brice

When: Jan. 26

Brice Johnson has been very hot and cold this season, rarely being able to put more than two or three solid games together before the 6'9" junior forward would disappear from the offense. A lot of this had to do with his showing assertiveness, as he did when flying to the rim to grab an alley-oop pass from J.P. Tokoto in a 93-83 win over Syracuse.

Johnson, who is averaging 12.2 points and 8.0 rebounds this season, was 6-of-6 from the field and scored 17 points with 11 rebounds in that victory. It was his second straight double-double and fourth in six games at that point.

3. Hicks Dunks His Way to a Career Night

When: Feb. 7

Twice this season, in an effort to shake things up after some lethargic performances, Coach Williams has inserted Isaiah Hicks into the starting lineup. The 6'8" sophomore forward had 10 points in 17 minutes in a November win over UCLA that he started. Then he got his second chance to open the game on the floor at Boston College.

UNC was coming off two straight losses, and its strength inside was not evident in those games. Hicks took this to heart and had a career-high 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the 79-68 victory, including a couple of monster dunks including the one shown above.

Hicks likely will be back on the bench Saturday at Pittsburgh, but Williams knows he's there to turn to if the team needs a spark.

2. Tokoto Makes a Poster

When: Dec. 27

When it comes to dunking Tar Heels, there's really no competition. J.P. Tokoto stands (or rather, flies) head and shoulders above everyone else.

Nearly every game, the 6'6" junior forward has soared toward the rim and slammed one home. He does it so often we could have done a top-10 list of just his flushes.

If we had to pick one, though, it would be this monster jam in the late December blowout win over UAB. The Tar Heels were already up by 24 points early in the second half of a game they'd win by 31 when, after Kennedy Meeks blocked a shot on one end, the transition offense got going and the ball ended up in Tokoto's hands out on the perimeter.

The rest? Well, just watch and enjoy the flight.

1. Paige in the Clutch

When: Jan. 10

Only a handful of North Carolina's games have come down to the final minute, and the results have been mixed. Notre Dame was able to steal one in Chapel Hill with some late defense and clutch shooting, and UNC held off North Carolina State on the road by making its free throws down the stretch.

In between, though, was the most memorable play of the year in one of the biggest wins this season.

Trailing Louisville by 13 points with less than nine minutes to go and Marcus Paige hobbled by an ankle injury, the Tar Heels began a furious comeback to cut the deficit to one with 2:09 left. They went ahead, 70-69, on a Brice Johnson jumper off a feed from a still-gimpy Paige with 39 seconds left, only to have Louisville's Terry Rozier put the Cardinals up by one 11 seconds left.

Then it was time to turn to Paige and let him do his magic.

His running floater as he fell off the baseline with less than nine seconds left gave UNC the 72-71 victory, continuing the junior guard's reputation for second-half heroics.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.