The No. 22 North Carolina Tar Heels have lost four of their last six games to follow up an eight-game winning streak. All 14 results came in ACC play and followed an 0-3 start in the conference.
So the Heels have known both success and struggle this year. Bouncing back from an 0-3 start by winning the next eight was particularly impressive. Then came the slip-ups to Louisville, which is still a very good team despite not living up to sky-high preseason expectations, and Syracuse, which was the “last team in” in ESPN’s Friday Bracketology. Their two losses since were both very close: in overtime to projected No. 7 seed NC State and on a buzzer-beater to No. 9 Virginia Tech.
The Heels failed to take care of business against lower-projected seeds in Louisville (No. 6 seed), Syracuse and NC State, but all those games were on the road. Then, they lost to one of the best teams in the country at home. All in all, it was a rough stretch, but North Carolina can still salvage its season and gain momentum heading into the ACC…
