North Carolina ended the season in disappointment after it blew a 19-point second-half lead in its 82-78 loss to VCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
With the season over, it’s time to look at what went right and what went wrong for the Tar Heels. There were a lot of bright spots and a lot of things that Carolina fans want to forget. Let’s take a look back at the offense and grade every aspect of it.
Here is how the Tar Heels ranked in several key offensive categories:
- Scoring Offense: 79.7 points per game (8th in the ACC, 84th nationally)
- Offensive Efficiency: 120.8 (7th in the ACC, 35th nationally)
- Field Goal %: 47.1 (4th in the ACC, 67th nationally)
- Effective Field Goal %: 54.3 (7th in the ACC, 74th nationally)
- 2-Point %: 56.5 (3rd in the ACC, 38th nationally)
- 3-Point %
- Free Throw %
- Assists
- Assist %
- Turnovers Per Game
- Turnover %
- Assist-to-Turnover Ratio
Overall shooting: B-
North Carolina shot 47.1% from the floor, which was the fourth-best mark in the ACC and 67th nationally. The Tar Heels had an effective field goal percentage of 54.3%, good for 74th nationally but seventh in the ACC.
Of the Tar Heels who played in more than half the games this season, five players shot 45% or higher: Henri Veesaar (60.8%), Caleb Wilson (57.8%), Zayden High (48.1%), Seth Trimble (47.1%) and Jarin Stevenson (47.0%).
However, Derek Dixon (36.5% FG), Kyan Evans (32.8% FG) and Jonathan Powell (38.1%) all struggled with their shooting throughout the year, which ultimately hurt the Tar Heels in the long run as the backcourt couldn’t get the production it needed.
Inside scoring: A+
North Carolina shot an effective 65.2% inside the paint. Stevenson, Veesaar and Wilson all shot 72% or higher from inside the paint. Before his season-ending injury, Wilson had 67 dunks, the most in the country.
Perimeter scoring: C+
North Carolina shot 34.2% from beyond the arc, which was 171st nationally and 12th out of 18 teams in the ACC. There were some nights when the Tar Heels looked great from the perimeter, but some nights when it looked all right to downright poor.
However, UNC’s offense didn’t run through the backcourt. It ran through its twin towers in Veesaar and Wilson.
Offensive rebounding: D+
For a program that thrived on rebounding, the Tar Heels did not live up to the standard. UNC was 183rd nationally and 11th in the ACC in offensive rebounds with 10.79 per game, and its offensive rebound percentage was 31.2%, 159th nationally.
It was worse in ACC play, as Carolina averaged 8.1 offensive rebounds per game, which was 12th in the conference, and had a 28.8 offensive rebound percentage, good for 10th in the ACC.
Ball movement: A-
UNC averaged 16 assists per game (sixth in the ACC, 61st nationally) and had a 57.2 assist-to-field-goal percentage (fifth in the ACC, 69th nationally). However, that’s not what made UNC’s ball movement great.
Why the Tar Heels get an A- is because they did not turn the ball over. The Tar Heels averaged only 9.6 turnovers per game (third in the ACC, 27th nationally), had a turnover percentage of 13.6% (second in the ACC, 19th nationally) and had a 1.67 assist-to-turnover ratio (second in the ACC, 22nd nationally).
Free throw shooting: F
The Tar Heels were terrible from the free throw line. Even then, that last statement was an understatement.
UNC shot 68.2% from the charity stripe, which was 315th nationally. That’s absolutely dreadful considering UNC averaged 22.1 free throw attempts per game, which was second in the ACC.
The Tar Heels validated those worries as they went just 12-for-20 (60.0%) at the line in their loss to VCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, their second straight one-and-done and third in four years. Veesaar went 0-for-2 from the stripe with a chance to tie the game in the final seconds.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball: Report card for offense in 2025-26 season