2018-19 UNC Season Preview
After some growing pains, experience combined with young talent will win out

This could be one of the most interesting, maddening and ultimately satisfying basketball season for North Carolina fans ever. Coming off a season where the Tar Heels were embarrassed in a second round NCAA game, Carolina has the experience to remember and the talented youth to make the faithful forget about it.

Even though 2017-18 leaders Joel Berry and Theo Pinson are gone, the Tar Heels return a slew of players who have seen plenty of minutes for Coach Roy Williams.

Preseason All-ACC Player of the Year Luke Maye, a senior, leads the way. He has made believers of those who thought in his freshman year that he could be a contributor by his senior season.

The 6-foot-9 forward has been a star each of the last two seasons but seemed to wear down a bit late as he was called on to do more than his share of scoring. He'll likely not have that problem this season.

Kenny Williams, Carolina's starting shooting guard, should be the Tar Heels best deep-range shooter as he comes into his senior campaign with confidence.

Add in a healthy Cameron Johnson, the 6-foot-9 Pitt transfer who can play inside and out, and the Tar Heels look almost set with scorers. Almost.

All they need is someone else who can score from the three or four position. Well, the Tar Heels have got him in newcomer Nassir Little, perhaps the Tar Heels top recruit since Harrison Barnes in 2010. While Barnes was a better shooter than him, Little has Barnes in every other category.

As a wing player, Little has good size at 6-6 and 220 pounds. He's strong, athletic, smart and his already a polished defender. Little has ideal size, strength, and athleticism on the wing, where his 7-1 wingspan will come in handy for the Heels. He joins a team that led the nation in rebounding a year ago.

Little, who got all A's in high school – did I say smart?, led his team to back-to-back state titles, averaging 20 points and nine rebounds his senior year. He was the MVP of the McDonald's All-America game as he scored 28 points. He's the real deal – the kind of player that will force the going pro watch each season (if he stays).

He should start from the very beginning. Another freshman that figures to start a lot of games this season is dynamic point guard Coby White, who looks to replace the steady influence of Joel Berry. He won't. Not immediately anyway. White is talented but not steady. UNC fans will probably curse the screen at times as he plays faster and more out-of-control than the Tar Heels are used to at the point position. Maybe by season's end, he'll settle in but right now he looks like someone who tries to do too much sometime – and as a result will make some mistakes.

Underachiever Seventh Woods, a junior who has had injury issues over the years, hasn't proven to be much of a shooter or scorer. But can he be that steadying influence at point guard that the Tar Heels need? He figures to split time with the hyper freshman White.

The progress of White and Woods will likely determine how far the Heels will go this season.

Experienced returning guards off the bench Brandon Robinson and Andrew Platek can be counted on for valuable minutes.

That leaves the bigs and what they can do to control the boards and provide some inside scoring. Sterling Manley, Garrison Brooks and, to a lesser extent, Brandon Huffman – all sophomores - clogged up the middle last season which sometimes turned out to be a negative at times as teams punched it back out and hit threes off the Heels.

Perimeter defense will be a key and with Little on the club, the Tar Heels may go a bit smaller. Brooks had the most minutes of any non-starter last season and he may again this year. Manley is more of a scoring threat inside however and his development will be interesting this season. Huffman, with the addition of three talented freshman, may not play as much as most people thought he would when he arrived at Carolina.

The third freshman recruit is 6-7 Leaky Black, who can play either guard position but who has been practicing mostly at the point. He will one day be an instrumental part of the Tar Heels but barring injuries this year, he'll have to wait.

The Tar Heels are 10 deep and playing time is usually paired down to eight or nine main players but NCAA time.

Carolina has a tough non-conference schedule and will lose some games before the ACC schedule. Duke and Virginia are favored during the conference season so the Heels could pile up some loses.

But this senior-laden team with one or two of the best freshmen in the nation should be a contender come ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament time. My guess is that the Tar Heels will go 30-10 or 29-11 and will fall in the ACC finals but make it to the Final Four, perhaps losing in the championship game. Then again, if the Heels stay healthy, the seniors do what they are supposed to do and Little is as good as he seems, this could be another national championship year for the Tar Heels.

- Clifton Barnes

Heels' season ends amid raining threes
After an even first half, Auburn blitzed North Carolina with 12 three pointers in 18 attempts in the second half to blow past the Tar Heels 97-80 and end their season in disappointing fashion. (3/29)

The Tigers advance to the Elite 8 after sinking 17 total three pointers and scoring 19 points off 14 UNC turnovers.

After leading by as many as five points in the first half, Auburn scored six straight in the last minute of the first half to take a 41-39 lead at the break.

Surprisingly being outscored in the paint in the first half 24-12, North Carolina actually was in good shape down by just two. The Tar Heels have often come out energized in the second half this season and taken control of games.

Instead, Auburn extended its streak. After two Tiger threes and a two in the first minute and a half on the second half to make it 49-39, UNC coach Roy Williams uncharacteristically called a timeout to try to halt the run.

Carolina cut the deficit to six at 60-54 with 13:39 left after senior Luke Maye hit a hook follow.

But Danjel Purifoy came off the Auburn bench to can three three-pointers in just over a minute to stretch the lead out to 73-57 with just under 10 minutes to go.

If that weren't bad enough, Anfernee McLemore, one of eight different Tigers who hit threes, banked in a wild three to extend the lead to 76-57.

The Tar Heels never got closer than 10 the rest of the way. While Coach Williams refused to use it as an excuse, it must be said that grad senior Cam Johnson, Carolina's leading scorer, was playing sick as was freshman Nassir Little, who had been Carolina's best player in the NCAA Tournament.

Coach Williams said that Little, who had two potential dunks blocked, didn't have the lift he normally has and that Johnson was "just not the same Cam."

Johnson was throwing up after the game. Both players had fevers earlier in the week.

Nonetheless, Johnson scored 15 points but hit only two of seven three pointers. Freshman Coby White also tallied 15 but he was an even worse zero of seven from beyond the arc. Seniors Luke Maye and Kenny Williams, who was especially distraught when the outcome became obvious, rounded out the double figure scoring with 13 and 10 points.

The Tar Heels end the season 29-7 despite winning 17 of their last 20 games with the other losses coming to teams that were No.1 in the nation at the time - fellow ACC foes Virginia and Duke.

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