By R.L. Bynum

RALEIGH — In starting ACC play 4–0, No. 7 North Carolina has shown it is one of the best teams in the country with the productive combination of relentless play on defense and under the boards.

But if the league-leading Tar Heels (12–3) can improve offensively, they will be a solid threat to win the national championship.

“This is the fourth straight game that we’ve outrebounded an opponent,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said after Wednesday’s 67–54 victory at N.C. State. “We’ve identified what allows us to be really good at rebounding and defending.”

Davis said his team’s experience during a rigorous non-conference schedule, including games against No. 4 UConn, No. 5 Tennessee, No. 6 Kentucky and No. 9 Oklahoma, is paying dividends in ACC play.

“I just believe the level of teams that we play — in the different situations that we’ve been in — has hardened us and given us a toughness,” Davis said. “Our guys are just gaining strength from being in those situations. I just really feel like the experience in the early season has given us the confidence to be able to step into environments like this and be able to execute on both ends.”

The numbers show how good Carolina has been on defense and under the boards but not as good offensively.

Since the Oklahoma game, according to the Bart Torvick website, Carolina has the second-best adjusted defensive efficiency in the country (81.0) but the 137th-best offensive efficiency (107.3).

The lockdown defense kicked in after Davis delivered a message to his team before the win over the Sooners.

“I said, ‘We haven’t committed, made a full commitment, and there’s no half-commitment. You’re either committed or not.’ And that’s it,” Davis said. “We have been committed to us being the best defensive team that we can become — or the best rebounding team — and I said, ‘For us to have success, that commitment has to come.’

Davis said that commitment has been there since the start of the 81–69 win on Dec. 20 over Oklahoma in Charlotte.

“It doesn’t guarantee that we’ll win,” Davis said. “But it does guarantee that it keeps us in games. We’re contesting shots. We’re staying with shooters; we’re getting through screens. We’re making it difficult for shooters to come off, and we’re rebounding and boxing out and keeping them out of the paint.”

Carolina’s rebounding domination has been impressive, snagging 78.2% of the opponents’ misses since getting outrebounded 42–32 by Kentucky, according to Chris Gallo. Carolina has allowed only 16 second-chance points in the last three games: one to Pittsburgh, eight to Clemson and seven to N.C. State.

There are plenty of other numbers that show how impressive UNC has been defensively:
— UNC’s three lowest points-per-100-possessions values by Power 6 opponents have been in the last three games: 81.4 against Pittsburgh, 87.3 against Clemson and 75.0 against N.C. State.
— The Heels have held three consecutive road opponents to fewer than 60 points for the first time since 1999 (72–54 win at Florida State on Jan. 6, a 56–51 win at N.C. State on Jan. 16 and a 52–40 win at Wake Forest on Jan. 23).
— The last three ACC opponents, according to Gallo, have an effective field-goal percentage of 37.3, the three lowest by opponents this season (Pitt 34.6%, Clemson 37.1% and N.C. State 28.8%) and have made only 20.8% of their 3-point attempts (Clemson and State combined to make only 3 of 38 3-point attempts, which is 7.9%).
— The Wolfpack’s 54 points were their fewest by that program against UNC in 23 seasons (60–52 UNC win on Jan. 28, 2001).
— State’s 23.9% shooting was its worst against Carolina in at least 70 years.
— The Pack had the lowest points-per-possession value by a UNC opponent this season at 0.78 of a point (according to StatBroadcast).

Unfortunately for the Tar Heels, plenty of numbers show how the offense has sputtered of late and that they aren’t playing at the sort of pace that the program has been known for over the years.

Here are a few:
— UNC’s three worst shooting games this season have been the last three: 36.5% at Pittsburgh, 41.7% at Clemson and 38.7 at N.C. State.
— Carolina scored a season-low 93.1 points per 100 possessions against N.C. State after it matched the value for the Kentucky game against Pitt (100.0) and had the fifth-worst against Clemson (103.2).
— The number of possessions in the last three games (according to StatBroadcast data) was the fewest this season: 66 against Pittsburgh, 59 against Clemson and 68 against N.C. State.
— The State game was the least-efficient offensive game of the season with 0.985 of a point per possession (according to StatBroadcast), the first time it’s been below 1.0 this season.
— The Tar Heels have the 14th-best effective field-goal percentage in the ACC (according to Gallo).
— Carolina has only 28 fast-break points in the last three games and had none against Clemson.

Despite all of that, UNC keeps winning.

With freshman point guard Elliot Cadeau getting better every game, and showing the sort of aggressiveness he had in the second half against N.C. State, the Tar Heels have plenty of room to grow offensively.

UNC season statistics

ACC standings

Team	League	Overall
No. 4 North Carolina	17–3	25–6
No. 11 Duke	15–5	24–7
Virginia	13–7	22–9
Pittsburgh	12–8	21–10
Clemson	11–9	21–10
Syracuse	11–9	20–11
Wake Forest	11–9	19–12
Virginia Tech	10–10	18–13
Florida State	10–10	16–15
N.C. State	9–11	17–13
Boston College	8–12	17–14
Georgia Tech	7–12	14–17
Notre Dame	7–13	12–19
Miami	6–14	15–16
Louisville	3–17	8–22

Saturday’s games
No. 4 North Carolina 84, No. 11 Duke 79
Virginia Tech 82, Notre Dame 76
Florida State 83, Miami 75
Boston College 67, Louisville 61
Wake Forest 81, Clemson 76
Pittsburgh 81, N.C. State 73
Virginia 72, Georgia Tech 57
ACC tournament
March 12–16, Capitol One Arena, Washington

Date	Month/day	Score	Opponent/event (current ranks)	Record
	October
27	Friday	W, 117–53	vs. St. Augustine’s	Exhibition
	November
6	Monday	W, 86–70	vs. Radford	1–0
12	Sunday	W, 90–68	vs. Lehigh	2–0
17	Friday	W, 77–52	vs. UC Riverside	3–0
			Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas
22	Wednesday	W, 91–69	Northern Iowa	4–0
23	Thursday	L, 83–81, OT	Villanova	4–1
24	Friday	W, 87–72	Arkansas	5–1
			ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge
29	Wednesday	W, 100–92	vs. No. 6 Tennessee	6–1
	December
2	Saturday	W, 78–70	vs. Florida State	7–1, 1–0 ACC
			Jimmy V Classic in New York
5	Tuesday	L, 87–67	No. `1` Connecticut	7–2
			CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta
16	Saturday	L, 87–83	No. 12 Kentucky	7–3
			Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte
20	Wednesday	W, 81–69	Oklahoma	8–3
			—————————
29	Friday	W, 105–60	vs. Charleston Southern	9–3
	January
2	Tuesday	W, 70–57	at Pittsburgh	10–3, 2–0 ACC
6	Saturday	W, 65–55	at Clemson	11–3, 3–0 ACC
10	Wednesday	W, 67–54	at N.C. State	12–3, 4–0 ACC
13	Saturday	W, 103–67	vs. Syracuse	13–3, 5–0 ACC
17	Wednesday	W, 86–70	vs. Louisville	14–3, 6–0 ACC
20	Saturday	W, 76–66	vs. Boston College	15–3, 7–0 ACC
22	Monday	W, 85–64	vs. Wake Forest	16–3, 8–0 ACC
27	Saturday	W, 75–68	at Florida State	17–3, 9–0 ACC
30	Tuesday	L, 74–73	at Georgia Tech	17–4, 9–1 ACC
	February
3	Saturday	W, 93–84	vs. No. 13 Duke	18–4, 10–1 ACC
6	Tuesday	L, 80–76	vs. Clemson	18–5, 10–2 ACC
10	Saturday	W, 75–72	at Miami	19–5, 11–2 ACC
13	Tuesday	L, 86–79	at Syracuse	19–6, 11–3 ACC
17	Saturday	W, 96–81	vs. Virginia Tech	20–6, 12–3 ACC
24	Saturday	W, 54–44	at Virginia	21–6, 13–3 ACC
26	Monday	W, 75–71	vs. Miami	22–6, 14–3 ACC
	March
2	Saturday	W, 79–70	vs. N.C. State	23–6, 15–3 ACC
5	Tuesday	W, 84–51	vs. Notre Dame	24–6, 16–3 ACC
9	Saturday	W, 84–79	at No. 13 Duke	25–6, 17–3 ACC
			ACC tournament Washington
14	Thursday	W, 92–67	Quarterfinals: Florida State	26–6
15	Friday	W, 72–65	Semifinals: Pittsburgh	27–6
16	Saturday	L, 84–76	Final: N.C. State	27–7
			NCAA tournament
21	Thursday	W, 90–62	First round in Charlotte: Wagner	28–7
23	Saturday	W, 85–69	Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State	29–7
28	Thursday	L, 89–87	Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama	29–8