The 3-point shot has revolutionized the game of basketball.
In the last ten years, five national championship teams have finished in the top 30 in 3-point accuracy. The two most recent champions, Villanova and Virginia, finished in the top 15 in 3-point shooting, shooting 40.1% and 39.5%, respectively.
But how has the revolution from deep shaped the recent successes and failures of North Carolina basketball.
Successes
Despite Head Coach Roy Williams' emphasis on play in the paint, the Tar Heels aren't immune to the rising importance of the 3-pointer. When there is individual 3-point success at UNC, national championships seem to follow.
Each of the last three UNC championship teams had at least one guard in the top-five list of most career 3-pointers in North Carolina program history. Joel Berry, Wayne Ellington and Rashad McCants occupy spots No. two, four and five on the list, respectively.
The other two players on that list are Shammond Williams, who helped the Tar Heels to three Final Fours in his career, and Marcus Paige, who hit an unforgettable game-tying 3-point shot with seconds left in the 2016 title game.
In the 2016-17 campaign, Justin Jackson joined Berry from beyond the arc by racking up 105 triples, the North Carolina single-season basketball record. Roy Williams' other two championship teams enjoyed team success from beyond the arc, with the 2009 team shooting 38.7 percent and the 2005 team shooting 40.3 percent.
