UNC Basketball: 3 takeaways from shootout victory over Tennessee Vols

3) This is not last year’s Tar Heels

Caleb Love is thriving on an Arizona team that is ranked #2 in the nation. Dontrez Styles has blossomed in Georgetown, playing big minutes for Ed Cooley’s Hoyas while scoring nearly 18 points per game. D’Marco Dunn scored 11 points in his last game for Penn State. I even made a Tyler Nickel sighting while keeping tabs on the Virginia Tech game last night.

I wish nothing but the best for all the former Tar Heels that have found new homes, but there’s no comparing this year’s team to last year’s. Preseason dreams turned to postseason nightmares last season as UNC had the ignominious distinction of being the only team to ever miss the NCAA Tournament after beginning the year ranked #1, and although we’re not yet in December, Carolina already has compiled more quality wins than it did all of last year.

We’re only a few weeks into this campaign, but already the vibes are different. Carolina lost a choppy, physical game to Villanova last week in the Bahamas, but they showed the moxie to immediately follow that disappointment by bouncing back with two quality wins against elite competition.

Putting together a college basketball team is a lot like baking a cake, only there’s no fully stocked pantry to pick all the perfect ingredients when it comes to college hoops. Love, Styles, Dunn, and Nickel are all quality players, but for whatever reason, the recipe Hubert Davis cooked with last year died in the oven.

Last year’s Heels ranked near the bottom of the country in assist percentage, but with the addition of Cadeau and Ingram, that’s no longer an issue. Carolina shot 31.1% from three last year, ranking even lower in that category in Division I than in its ghastly assist percentage. The sample size is only seven games right now, but even if the Heels regress from their current 38% clip from deep, there’s no doubt that they’re far more dangerous from the perimeter this time around.

UNC will continue to be heavily tested in the coming weeks, as it will follow the Florida State tilt with a three-game ranked gauntlet against defending national champion UConn, a scary-looking Kentucky team that whipped previously undefeated Miami by 22 on Tuesday, and a ranked Oklahoma team that hasn’t lost yet.

Carolina fans are riding high after two great wins, but the next few weeks should give a better indication of whether this team is merely good enough to make the tournament, or if it’s capable of making a run when it gets there.