You can't say they're slumping. If anything, North Carolina's three-point shooters have opened the 2012-13 season on fire. After two years of disappointing accuracy, the Heels finally have rediscovered the touch that enabled them to strike offensive balance during the 2007-09 era.
Carolina has shot threes better on a percentage basis than even Duke — 38-37 —which sports an undefeated record and No. 2 national ranking.
And yet, the Heels themselves have appeared spotty out of the gate. They've yet to defeat a top-100 opponent and in their two defeats fell behind by 29 points to both Indiana and Butler, failing to mount an effective scoring attack against quality opposition.
The overall numbers tell one story, and the carnage versus the Hoosiers and Bulldogs screams another. UNC's 6-2 record and 102-point outburst last weekend versus Alabama-Birmingham sound like the biscuit-loving Tar Heels of norm. They've broken triple digits in three of their first eight games, including once (versus Mississippi State, in Maui) on a neutral floor.
Pitted against IU and Butler, however, Carolina squeezed out just 71 and 59 points, respectively.
Numerous factors must be considered to explain such a profound discrepancy, but Carolina's uneven three-point shooting heads the suspect list.