Raynor's Take: Looking at UNC's win against Ohio State

Brilliant at some points, sloppy at others, the No. 24 North Carolina men's basketball team pulled out an eight-point win over No. 12 Ohio State Saturday, 82-74. The victory improves UNC to 8-3 on the season, and perhaps more importantly, proves that Roy Williams' Tar Heels can play with the toughness he's been begging them for when they come to the court focused. The Daily Tar Heel wasn't in Chicago, but here are a few things we noticed back at home in the Tar Heel State. We'll start with the obvious: 

Free throws  

The foul shots in the final minutes — my goodness. Before knocking down their last four in a row, the Tar Heels had a stretch where they missed eight of 11 free throws, including three from the usually-pristine Marcus Paige and four from freshman wing Justin Jackson. Jackson even had a mouth-dropping air ball in the mix for one of UNC's 12 missed opportunities from the charity stripe, which could certainly concern Williams. UNC entered Saturday's matchup shooting 70 percent from the foul line, but shot 63.6 against the Buckeyes. Williams joked after the game to CBS that all of his athletes might have track scholarships by Christmas Eve. Needless to say, they'll probably do a bit of running when they land in Chapel Hill. 

But there were bright spots as well — plenty of them. So let's take a look: 

Ball movement

The Buckeyes came out in a zone against UNC, but that didn't stop the Tar Heels from showcasing some of the best ball movement we've seen all season. J.P. Tokoto, whom Williams has commended for emerging as a passer, found Brice Johnson on a couple of alley oops and also had a nice pass off an offensive rebound in the first half to Kennedy Meeks for the easy two points. The Tar Heels came up with 23 assists, compared to Ohio State's 16, and made 29 field goals. The guards had fluid ball movement in and out of the paint, playing a nice high-low game with the bigs, who attacked the zone aggressively. Tokoto had a team-high six assists, while Jackson and Paige followed closely behind with five and four, respectively. 

Big men finding their shots 

When they weren't muscling their way in for easy layups, UNC's big men were shooting over the zone. Brice Johnson led UNC with 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting and is becoming one of UNC's most lethal weapons. His turnaround jumper is cleaner and he seems more confident. We also saw Joel James swish in a few jumpers, as well. James chipped in eight points on 3-for-4 shooting and is slowly but surely proving that he can make a difference on the offensive end. He had a solid game against UNC-G to tie his career-high of 11 points and he's using his sturdy frame to shoot over defenders. 

"First-half Marcus"

He earned the nickname for his consistent ability to pull UNC up by its boot straps late in games, specifically in the second half — but on Saturday we all got a glimpse of "First-half" Marcus. Paige, who finished the day with 16 points, had nine of them at the break to lead UNC at halftime. He started it off with a floater from the baseline with 10:38 left in the first half, and then knocked down a 3-pointer less than 90 seconds later. The highlight came when Paige buried a 3 from the top of the key with 53 seconds left in the half and was fouled. He made the foul shot to convert the 4-point play and the Tar Heels went into the locker room with a 12-point lead. 

Old-school look 

Last but certainly not least. UNC suited up in 1980s throw-back jerseys and Jordan sneakers as the Tar Heels traveled to the United Center, Michael Jordan's old stomping grounds in Chicago. You'll see on the men's basketball Twitter account that the team all took a picture in front of the legend's statue. They looked fresh, and The Daily Tar Heel loved it.