A Disappointing Day for the UNC Basketball Team

Saturday afternoon didn’t go as planned for the UNC Basketball team. The squad traveled to Dallas for their first Atlantic Coast Conference road game of the 2025-2026 season, marking just their second true road game of the year. Unfortunately, the day turned out to be a tough one, especially on the defensive end.

The defense was worse than expected, and it seems like many fans felt that way too. Every time SMU had possession, it seemed like the basketball was finding its way into the net. And they weren’t wrong—SMU was incredibly efficient on offense, and their performance only got better in the second half. It’s hard to believe how much better they became, but they did.

Despite SMU’s strong first-half performance, the Tar Heels managed to stay competitive, going into the break tied at 39. However, the second half was a different story. North Carolina struggled significantly, giving up an astonishing 58 points in the second half. They were outscored by 14 points in that half, allowing a total of 97 points for the game.

Defensive Struggles and Historical Context

Looking at the current UNC Basketball team, it’s important to note that they hadn’t allowed over 75 points all season. This isn’t a bad defensive team, at least not through 14 games. Before the game against SMU, the Tar Heels were ranked 19th in adjusted defensive efficiency. That ranking dropped dramatically after Saturday’s result.

Now, considering historical context outside of the 2025-2026 season, watching the second half might have made you think, “I don’t remember the last time a team had this good of an offensive performance against a UNC team.” You’d be right—it hasn’t happened often.

In fact, KenPom was created in 1997. Since then, there has only been one instance where a UNC defense performed worse based on KenPom ratings. That game was in 2015 against Pittsburgh, where the Tar Heels lost 89-76.

Looking specifically at field goal percentage, the Tar Heels allowed SMU to shoot 60% for the entire game. The last team to achieve this was the Syracuse Orange in 2024, when they shot 62.5% in a 86-79 loss for North Carolina.

A Rare Offensive Performance

In the second half, SMU shot an impressive 71.4% from the field, including 60% from beyond the arc on 9 of 15 shooting. A team hasn’t reached that number in a single half since 2019, when Gonzaga achieved a 72% performance.

It’s clear that the defensive performance from the Tar Heels was extremely poor, and such a situation is rare. Hopefully, this is a one-time occurrence, and we won’t see it again for a long time.

But there’s a question: Did SMU expose a weakness for the now 13-2 Tar Heels? Will future ACC opponents look to take advantage of this?

Let’s hope that part isn’t true and that the team can use the upcoming seven days off to review film, regroup, and ensure this doesn’t happen again.