UNC Basketball: Biggest Takeaway from Tar Heels' Postseason so Far

The ACC is pretty darn good. We already knew that though.

Kennedy Meeks and Brice Johnson can be dominant on the interior. We knew that as well.

Nate Britt and Joel Berry, along with Marcus Paige, can ignite the team to victory. Whoa, didn't see that one coming!

Heading into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, that has been the biggest takeaway for the North Carolina Tar Heels. Their backcourt and perimeter scorers have shown the ability to take on an offensive responsibility the likes of which UNC rarely unleashed throughout 30-plus regular-season games.

With Wisconsin on the horizon, the Badgers should be worried about the suddenly versatile Heels.

In the second round, against Harvard, UNC played a great game in essentially all departments except one. No player topped 14 points, yet eight players hit at least two field goals. The team shot over 55 percent, won the rebounding battle handily and even equaled the Crimson from three on nearly half as many attempts.

The only problem was turnovers. Meeks was sloppy, as were a number of Heels. Paige and, to a lesser extent, Berry were calming influences on the offense. UNC may have been fortunate to escape with a W, but its guards were responsible for the salvaged win.

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In the round of 32, the story was quite different. North Carolina showed no clear edge in many departments against the Arkansas Razorbacks. Both teams committed a ton of fouls and hit a lot of foul shots. Both sides grabbed a ton of rebounds, offensively and defensively. Turnovers were a problem for both sides. It was an all-around brawl.

Johnson did work on the boards, but both he and Meeks were very much neutralized by foul trouble and mistakes. Depending on how you compartmentalize Justin Jackson, the entire frontcourt couldn't get things going.

That's where the guards came in. This game was won by the perimeter guys, a group whose play was even more dominating if J.P. Tokoto is included in the crew.

Paige and Britt combined to score 32 points on 18 field-goal attempts. They went a combined 14-of-14 from the foul line and hit all four of the team's threes.

It's been a little like something out of a novella. The big, powerful stars struggle with errors and are forced to ride the bench. To the rescue come the little guys who (minus Paige) don't play much and don't contribute much. No one would believe they can do it.

This was simply a facet that, had North Carolina shown it consistently during the regular season, not only would it have won more games, but the Tar Heels also wouldn't even be ranked fourth, preparing to play a region's top seed. They might have been a No. 1 seed themselves.

The actual deep shots still come few and far between. UNC didn't morph into Duke overnight. But the play of the starting backcourt along with Britt and Berry has nonetheless been the biggest takeaway of the team's postseason road thus far.