Good-Bad-Ugly Breakdown From UNC’s Memorable Win

North Carolina picked up a huge top-25 win over No. 24 Louisville. This was a huge win to keep UNC's hopes alive for a top-four seed in the ACC. The Tar Heels played one of their best games all season, despite missing star freshman Caleb Wilson.

A career night came from Seth Trimble, as he scored a career-high 30 points. In a 77-74 victory, UNC needed every single one of Trimble’s buckets. This was a huge statement game from not just the Tar Heels, but also from Trimble. He showed that he can step up in huge moments and be the leader that UNC needs during the absence of Wilson.

Here is the good, bad and ugly from UNC’s win over Louisville.

Good: UNC survived 3-point barrage

The Cardinals' identity is to shoot threes, and a lot of them. They shoot more 3-pointers than almost any team in the nation. Therefore, UNC knew what the Cards were going to do, but the question was, could they stop it?

It did not start off well for the Tar Heels, as the Cardinals hit five 3-pointers in the first seven minutes of the game. This resulted in a quick 23-13 lead for the Cards, but that did not deter UNC from staying on course.

The Tar Heels hanging in there through the three-point barrage from the Cardinals paid dividends for UNC as the game went on. From the last minute in the first half to the 12-minute mark in the second half, the Cardinals missed 10 3-pointers in a row. This opened the door for the Tar Heels, as they captured a 56-40 lead and never relinquished it.

Bad: UNC left open multiple 3s

With that being said, most of those missed threes were good looks for the Cards; they were just off last night. The Cardinals spammed dribble handoffs with big man Aly Khalifa and Mikel Brown Jr. The goal was to use the body of Khalifa to get Brown into an open rhythm three, and it was working.

Brown finished 6-for-14 from downtown and had a team-high 24 points. He shot nearly 50 percent from beyond the arc and missed multiple open attempts. UNC is lucky that Brown did not have more points. The Tar Heels have to do a better job of getting around screens and handoffs.

The main problem is that no one was stepping up and helping the guard who was being screened by the big. UNC big men have to step up and play the opposing guard until their teammate can get back in the fold. Head coach Hubert Davis has shown he is not afraid of switching, as the Tar Heels were switching every screen in the first half.

Ugly: UNC still can not put a team away

Once again, UNC cannot put away a team. This has been a problem all season; the Tar Heels will get a nice lead at the start of the second half, then fall apart in the last 10 minutes of the ballgame.

The Tar Heels were up by as many as 16 points in the half, and the Cardinals cut it to three with 50 seconds left to play. Thankfully, UNC pulled it out, and that is obviously all that matters, that they got the win, but this can be a problem once the tournament rolls around. The lack of killer mentality can bite the Tar Heels later in the season.

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