UNC Basketball: Highs and Lows of Tar Heels' 2014-15 Season

Every team, no matter how successful or otherwise, goes through both highs and lows during a given year. It's impossible for every step a team takes to be in the same direction. The North Carolina Tar Heels are no different and may, in fact, be experiencing one of the most topsy-turvy seasons in recent school history. Here's how it breaks down.

⇑   Two out-of-conference, neutral site wins over ranked opponents before the calendar had even hit December.

⇓   A loss to Butler in which the Bulldogs grabbed 29 offensive rebounds and out-rebounded the Heels 57 to 40 overall.

⇑   Hanging with Kentucky until the game's final minutes and beating UK on the glass in the game. If not for the Wildcats shooting 7-of-15 from three, the outcome might have been different.

⇓   Taking it on the chin against Iowa. Even though the Hawkeyes shot a putrid 32.7 percent for the game, North Carolina out-missed them by shooting 27.9 percent itself. This was, perhaps not coincidentally, also in the discussion as Marcus Paige's worst game of the season.

⇑   "Shutting down" likely top-three NBA draft pick D'Angelo Russell in the win over Ohio State. Russell still finished with an 11, eight and five, along with three steals but shot just 4-of-17 from the floor.

⇓   A killer of a loss against Notre Dame that ruined a furious second-half rally by the Heels. The Irish's Jerian Grant was just 1-of-8, but his teammates picked him up in this one by the thinnest of margins.

⇑   Late-game heroics for the good guys in back-to-back one-possession wins over Louisville and N.C. State. These would be the start of a six-game conference winning streak for Carolina, propelling it back into the discussion of the ACC's elite.

⇓   Five losses in the span of seven games. They were all explainable individually for sure: The Louisville game went to overtime; Virginia has the best defense in the country and was healthy; Pitt shot the ball better than it ever has or ever will again!; and the Duke game was another back-and-forth OT loss.

Well, they are all explainable except for the loss at home against N.C. State. Be that as it may, individually, the quintet of losses don't seem so bad. But collectively, they combined for the most devastating part of UNC's season.

⇑   The chance to beat Duke at home to round out the regular season and give North Carolina three straight wins heading into tournament play.

⇓   The threat of losing to Duke...again.

⇑   This Brice Johnson.

⇓   This Brice Johnson.

⇑   The development of Isaiah Hicks and Nate Britt compared with where they were a season ago.

⇓   The development of Justin Jackson's outside shot compared with where it was, according to his ESPN Insider scouting report.

⇑   How dominant the Tar Heels have been in the paint this season. Thanks to the depth in the frontcourt and getting helpful contributions from everyone from Kennedy Meeks to Joel James, Carolina is an elite offensive rebounding and total rebounding team. It also scores inside the arc at a better rate than any other team in the country. This is a true strength the team can rely on against any opponent in any upcoming game.

⇓   The yang to that yin. If you get tired of scrolling, North Carolina ranks 350th out of 351 teams in three-point rate. For a more useful stat, UNC is still outside the top 100 nationally in effective field-goal percentage, despite its superb execution inside the arc.