By R.L. Bynum

If Carolina makes a deep run in March, it will be with lockdown defense.

The No. 7 Tar Heels (19–6, 11–3 ACC) haven’t reached the level they’ll need to do that since their 10-game win streak ended with the loss at Georgia Tech on Jan. 30.

Anybody who has watched UNC in the last five games knows that their defensive performance has fallen dramatically, and the numbers back that up.

Syracuse’s 62.5% shooting was the best against UNC in nine years, only bettered by the 64.5% Pittsburgh shot in 2015.

According to Bart Torvik’s site, Carolina had the second-best adjusted defensive efficiency in the country in the eight games before losing to the Yellow Jackets. In the games since then, that rank has plummeted to 129th (hat tip to Isaac Schade for pointing that out).

In UNC’s worst previous defensive game of the season, the Tar Heels’ offense was enough to compensate in a 100–92 home win on Nov. 29 over Tennessee since UNC had an adjusted offensive efficiency of 152.4. The second-best offensive efficiency this season of 132.0 against Syracuse wasn’t enough.

Carolina gave up a season-high 1.410 points per possession in the loss to Syracuse (topping the previous worst of 1.103 against the Vols). Its season-worst adjusted defensive efficiency of 127.6 was much worse than the 105 against the Vols.

The Tennessee game and the 93–84 home win Feb. 3 over Duke are the only times UNC has given up at least 74 points and won, with the Heels 2–6 in those games. They are 17–0 in all other games.

Nearly three weeks ago, UNC gave up 89.1 points per 100 possessions in ACC games, and now that’s up to 96.6.

Carolina’s ball-screen defense has got to get better. It’s been trending down in recent games, but Syracuse repeatedly beat the Tar Heels one-on-one off of pick-and-rolls and Carolina must make the adjustment.

With some adjustments and a return to the defense that fueled that 10-game win streak, Carolina could very well become title contenders in March.

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