UNC Basketball: Tar Heels' Keys to a Strong Regular-Season Finish

The North Carolina Tar Heels have had an excellent season to this point, but we were once again reminded nothing comes easy in college basketball.

The Tar Heels saw their 12-game winning streak come to an end Monday night with a 71-65 loss at the hands of the Louisville Cardinals. While they still remain in first place in the ACC with an 8-1 record, the schedule doesn't get any easier from here. The final nine games on the schedule feature five on the road and seven against opponents currently ranked in the RPI top 50.

In order for North Carolina to stay on top of the conference and remain a contender for a national title, it will need to focus on improving some of the things that aren't going well. There is still a lot to like with this team, but here are the biggest keys to success going forward.

Make Shots

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Yes, this is obvious. The players are clearly trying to make shots, and telling them to do so doesn't help. However, it's been a major cause of concern this season and especially in recent weeks.

After going just 3-of-17 from three-point range against Louisville, North Carolina is down to just 30.2 percent for the season. In conference play, that number has plummeted to just 23.5 percent, with Joel Berry the only one shooting better than 25 percent in this stretch.

Interestingly, UNC also takes the highest percentage of two-point jumpers in college basketball as opposed to getting to the rim, according to Hoop-Math. This has worked for much of the season, but they are often low-percentage shots, and when they don't fall, it leads to a rough day like against the Cardinals.

The Tar Heels can't abandon the three because opponents will then just stack the paint and create difficult scoring opportunities on every possession, but eventually these shots have to start going in.

Limit Second-Chance Points

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North Carolina has one of the top frontcourts in the nation with Brice Johnson leading the way and Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks also making huge impacts. According to KenPom.com, the squad is ninth in the country in offense rebounding percentage, giving the team additional chances on the offensive end to make an already impressive offense even better.

The team has been solid collecting boards on the defensive end but not quite as dominant. This was especially seen in the loss to Louisville when the Cardinals brought down 15 offensive rebounds out of 38 attempts.

According to the team's official Twitter account, UNC allowed 17 second-chance points in the loss, its most since allowing 21 to Texas earlier in the year. Unsurprisingly, this was also a loss for the Tar Heels.

Louisville is one of the better offensive rebounding teams in the nation, but North Carolina will face more tough tests on the schedule in the form of Pittsburgh, Duke, North Carolina State and others. If this defense is fortunate enough to see another team miss a shot, it can't allow extra chances or it will lose.

Get Marcus Paige Going

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The offensive depth has been impressive this season, and the ability for multiple players to step up from game to game is a big boost to this team. However, it will be difficult to beat the best teams on the schedule if Marcus Paige doesn't play to his ability.

Paige is shooting just 35 percent from the field in nine conference games while averaging 10.8 points per game. He has made just five of his 36 three-point attempts in the last six games. He isn't shy about taking shots, but they simply aren't falling for the preseason All-American.

ESPN's Seth Greenberg provided some advice for the coaching staff, tweeting, "Confidence is powerful. I would clip every Marcus Paige made and put it together and let him see how good he is."

There is no denying Paige's ability when he's at his best. The guard averaged 17.5 points per game as a sophomore and has been a lights-out shooter in each of the last two seasons. Whether it is an undisclosed injury, confidence or just bad luck affecting him, fans better hope things turn around quickly.

The Tar Heels have the talent to beat weaker opponents without their best perimeter player, but they will struggle against the league's best in the coming weeks if the senior doesn't step up.

Stay Aggressive on Defense

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Compared to the start of the season, North Carolina has improved tremendously on the defensive end. While Damion Lee had a lot of success for Louisville, the overall defense wasn't much of the problem in the loss. In fact, it was the fifth game in a row opponents failed to top one point per possession against UNC.

Beyond just teams missing shots, the Tar Heels have played with more intensity and focus on that end of the court, forcing turnovers at a much higher rate. Louisville gave the ball away 15 times, while Boston College had 23 turnovers in a blowout loss. You have to go back to Georgia Tech to find the last team that didn't have at least 13 turnovers against North Carolina, a span of seven games.

Basic logic says it's difficult to score if you can't get off a shot.

North Carolina always had the ability to have an elite defense, but the group struggled with consistency, especially on the perimeter. While there are still ways to improve, the attitude shown on defense has been a major key to the recent success in ACC play and it must continue.

Keep Confidence on Road

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Winning on the road is never easy in college basketball, especially in conference play. The loss to Louisville was an understandable one and not something that should keep anyone up at night.

With that said, the best teams find ways to win on the road even against tough opponents. Virginia had a dominant win in the same building just two days earlier, showing it was not impossible to beat the Cardinals. Unfortunately, UNC once again came out flat with poor shooting and bad mistakes to suffer their third loss of the season.

North Carolina is now just 3-3 in true road games, and the team has now lost six in a row to ranked opponents on the road dating back to last season. This would be understandable for an average team trying to earn a bubble spot, but this squad is trying to compete for a national championship.

It will never be easy getting wins in a hostile environment, especially with Virginia, Duke, North Carolina State and Notre Dame still on the schedule. Still, this is a veteran team that needs to play with more confidence and expect to win each time out regardless of the situation. If the players can do this, they will be difficult to beat going forward.

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