Telling statistics from UNC’s basketball season

GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA - MARCH 19: Henri Veesaar #13 of the North Carolina Tar Heels and Lazar Djokovic #17 of the VCU Rams tip-off during the first half in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 19, 2026 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) | Getty Images Normally, there is a lot of dissection and analysis at the end of a UNC basketball season.

This season ended a little differently; Hubert Davis’s abrupt firing has put most of the focus on the coaching search for the next Carolina head coach. And rightly so; as a fan, I’d rather look forward than relive one of the worst collapses in NCAA tournament history. Nevertheless, I think there’s something to be gained from parsing through last season’s stats to try and understand what went wrong (and even what went right).

These aren’t necessarily top line stats like three-point shooting or points per game. Rather, I wanted to share some interesting tidbits I think were either compelling or relevant to how UNC’s season went. Free Throw Shooting : This one is probably obvious.

UNC has struggled at the charity stripe the entire season. While there are many reasons UNC ultimately frittered away a 19-point lead against VCU, poor free throw shooting has to be near the top of the list. Carolina finished 12-20 from the line and repeatedly missed free throws down the stretch that could have helped them hang on until the final horn.