North Carolina Loss Had These 2 Positives

North Carolina's bench totaled 23 points, which was the most it has scored all season. Yes, 16 of those points were accounted by Jarin Stevenson, but nevertheless, the Tar Heels were well-supported by the second unit.

While speaking with the media during his postgame press conference, head coach Hubert Davis highlighted Stevenson's performance.

• "Yeah, I mean, Jarin [Stevenson] is a versatile player with size and can do a number of things on both ends of the floor," Davis said. "He definitely got into a rhythm offensively - probably the best early stretch he's had this season."

The 6-foot-9, 216-pound forward recorded 16 points and four rebounds while shooting 5-of-6 from the field, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. If it were not for Stevenson, the Tar Heels would have been starting down the barrel of a double-digit deficit in the first half.

• "It just goes back to defense. It is what it is," Davis said. "For us to be the best team that we can possibly become, we have to be a good defensive team."

• "Heading into this game, we were one or two in the conference in field-goal percentage defense, and SMU shot 60 percent from the field," Davis continued. "That's just not going to get it done against them or anybody else."

Three-Point Shooting was a Consistent Feature of the Offense

Efficiency from beyond the arc has not been an aspect of North Carolina's offense this season, as the team was shooting sub-34 percent from three-point range, prior to Saturday.

Against SMU, the Tar Heels went 12-of-28 from beyond the arc (42.9 percent), which was the highest mark of the season for North Carolina. The Tar Heels were forced into shooting a high volume of threes to keep up with the Mustangs. However, we have seen North Carolina shoot this volume of three pointers before and not have success.

In the loss, the Tar Heels proved that they could adjust their offense and operate as a three-point shooting team.